Finding the Right Data

Finding the Right Data

Introduction

Finding the right data for decision making is tedious task for the schools and teachers in contemporary times. It is vital that data collection should be done through planned process because this will directly aid the school improvement teams to develop performance enhancement goals which will ultimately do good to all the students. This underlying discussion will revolve in different types of data to be collected, common sources of these data and the guiding questions that can help to identify the right data which is to be collected.

Discussion

There are four kinds of data: achievement data, program data, demographic data, and perception data. Data collected will help to assess the progress of schools and level of success it has achieved. Figure below shows all types of data with their intersections with each other. The model is presented by Dr. Victoria Bernhardt (2004, 21).

Achievement Data

The student achievement data are of pivot importance on which greater emphasizes should be laid upon. It should be noted that achievement data can take many forms rather than standardized test which is common perception among the educators. A comprehensive assessment plan involves data collection on the basis of three tiers which vary in their purposes, frequency and form of feedback each can provide, and lastly target audience for which each tier is aimed. These tiers are can make use of data from each of three tiers. These tiers differ according to their function rate, and kind of feedback they offer, and the targeted audience.

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