DATA-DRIVEN INSTRUCTION

Data-Driven Instruction



Data-Driven Instruction

Introduction

In the period of the increase in accountability, almost all of the schools have adopted the data-driven instruction practice. The data-driven is a process in which choices are made on the basis of proper analyzing of the appropriate data. Majority of the administration in those schools which are fast improving, always refer to the data-driven instruction as one of the most vital practices which has contributed to their accomplishments. The access to better data allows the institutions to evaluate their supposition, needs identification and outcomes of the measure (Bernhardt, 2008). The data-driven instruction is used by the teachers and administrators to offer individual instructions for the students, to follow the development of the professional resources, for the identification of the success of instructional strategies, for the better allocation of the limited resources and for the better communication with the community and the parents.

In this paper, the four major areas of the data-driven instructions i.e. assessments, culture, action and analysis are discussed. Different lessons learned from different high achieving institutions have learned during the implementation of the data-driven practices.

Data Driven Instruction

The data-driven instruction is a method to make schooling more objective, less subjective, more scientific and less experience-based. Ultimately, the data-driven instruction is an improvement which makes schooling effective and systematic. Dropout statistics, consistent test score, percentages of English speaking proficiency of non-natives are composed, disaggregated through school grade and ethnicity, and then they are evaluated. After the data collection, the staff accesses the warehouses of the data and gets the electronic packets of the performance of the students which is used for the making of instructional decision to enhance the academic performance. According to the advocates, the data-driven instruction is a scientific process and is consistent to the success of the business which has utilized the data for the decision making, which has, resulted in the productivity increase (Bernhardt, 2008).

An early embodiment emerged decades ago, when the schools of United States were failing. The policy makers, as a response to all the criticism, constructed 'competency tests' which the students had to clear to graduate from high school. These competency tests evaluated how much the students have learned. The policy makers thought the results of these tests will enable the schools' administration and teachers to realign the lesson plans accordingly.

Evidently, the teachers assessed the informal learning before through the district and state designed tests. The teachers used to gather data through class discussions, pop quizzes, observing students in class and conferencing with individual students. The lesson plans were then revised on the basis of these data (Decker, 2005). The teachers used to rely on their past experiences with students and the learning process which they had designed from teaching in the past, year after year.

Both objective and subjective, these decisions were both data - and practice -driven. The teachers assessed the informal collection of data of the students and would alter the lesson plans accordingly. The evaluation of the annual test results showed ...