2019 DC DATA SUMMIT SESSIONS

 

 

Workshop Descriptions by Session

Workshop Descriptions by Strand

Presenter Profiles

 

 

SESSION 1- 9:45am – 11:15am

 

Blended Learning

How to Analyze and Apply Blended Learning Data

Join us to learn from local experts in the field of blended learning as they share how their schools work with blended learning data and use it to inform instruction. Each expert will bring a data protocol they use in their work and walk the group through it. After the discussion, you’ll self-select into small groups to work with an expert on how you can apply their protocol (or adapt it) to your work. We recommend you bring some blended learning data files (or logins to programs with active data) with you to apply to the protocol. Appropriate for teachers, coaches, or leaders; all grade levels; beginner, intermediate, and advanced.

A laptop is required for this session and blended learning data is recommended.

Target Audience: Beginner Data User; Intermediate Data User; Advanced Data User

Speaker(s): Jessica Peters, KIPP DC; Chip Chase, Capital City PCS

Workshop Materials

 

Communicating with Data

Bridging the Data Communication Gap

Improving the within-school data communication process. Does this sound familiar?: Instructional lead/coach teacher notices a pattern in student outcomes and wants to better understand what's going on, and how they can make impact. Instructional leader asks data team to provide data they hope will answer their question. Data team produces an analysis or report. Report or analysis doesn't answer question/is hard to understand, and consequently isn't used. Both data and instruction are frustrated. We know there's data, we want to use it, but how do we bridge the gap?  This session seeks to close the gap, and get the instructional and data teams working together in using common language, developing actionable questions and hypotheses, and producing analyses and reports that provide useful, compelling, and understandable data to drive action.

 This session is designed for data analysts/managers seeking to be more involved in performance/instructional work, and instructional leaders looking to have more and better data.

A laptop with Microsoft Office is required for this session.

Target Audience: Beginner Data User; Intermediate Data User; Advanced Data User

Speaker(s): Jessica Enos and Tovah Koplow, TenSquare

Workshop Materials

 

Continuous Improvement

Continuous Improvement in Education

Continuous improvement is both a new, hot practice and something we’ve been talking about for years. The Gates Foundation is now investing millions of dollars into networks for school improvement.  But what exactly is continuous improvement (sometimes referred to as improvement science)? In this session we will discuss the principles of improvement science, how continuous improvement is about more that just trying to get better, and strategies to help you get started. This session is for school leaders, teachers, data managers.

A laptop with Microsoft Office is required for this session.

Target Audience: Intermediate Data User; Advanced Data User

Speaker(s): Kenli Okada, EmpowerK12

Workshop Materials

 

Data Analyst Advanced

AccelerateR Part 1: Data Cleaning and Exploratory Analysis in R

Data analysts know: the analysis is the easiest part. It's preparing the data for analysis that takes the most time. We are here to help! Stop repeating the same data cleaning steps over and over in Excel, and learn how to write code to clean and analyze data in R. R is a free program useful for data manipulation and analysis. R can automate your data tasks, from the simplest day-to-day work to complex analyses needed to guide your school's decision making. While there is a bit of a learning curve for writing code, it's worth it. R makes our work easier, and we want to share these skills with you! Join us for this gentle introduction to coding in R using RStudio. We will walk you step-by-step through loading, cleaning, and exploring your data in RStudio. The objective of this workshop is for participants to understand basic data manipulation and analysis in R. Then, bring your new data wizardry to Part 2 for more advanced analysis and graphing in R! The session is intended for intermediate data users. No prior knowledge of R is needed.

A laptop with R and Rstudio downloaded is required for this workshop. Directions on how to install the software will be provided prior to the event.

Target Audience: Intermediate Data User; Advanced Data User

Speaker(s): Kendra Johnson-Tesch, The SEED Foundation; Amber Eby, LAYC Career Academy PCS

Workshop Materials

 

Data Analyst Basics

Take a Moment to (V)LOOKUP: Demystifying Excel’s V and HLOOKUP Functions

For those of us who still remember phone books, do you remember how you would find a number? You would start with a name that you were looking for, search down a list to find the name, and then look over the next column to see what the number is and copy it down. Definitely effective, but imagine how painstaking it would be to search for 75 different names or to search through a list of a million names. Excel offers us an efficient and reliable way to search long lists of data and “copy over” the values we need through the VLOOKUP and HLOOKUP functions. VLOOKUP and HLOOKUP are two of Excel’s most useful functions and also the least understood. This workshop will build data users’ confidence in using these functions by (a) unpacking the syntax and logic behind these functions, (b) carefully walking through how to perform these functions, and (c) exploring scenarios for when utilizing these functions would be particularly useful. This workshop is designed for data analysts, teachers, and/or school leaders with an advanced beginner to intermediate level of understanding of how to use Excel (e.g. how to use certain functions in Excel such as the “SUM”, “AVERAGE”, or “IF” functions).

A laptop with Microsoft Office is required for this session.

Target Audience: Intermediate Data User

Speaker(s): Dereck Norville-Bowie, National Board for Professional Teaching Standards

Workshop Materials

 

Data Informed Coaching

Coaching With CLASS: Making Meaning of Your Scores

This session will support participants who use the Pre-K CLASS tool, along with other grade level CLASS tools, to better make meaning of CLASS scores and what they represent. The goal of this session is to synthesize recent research on the impact of CLASS dimensions with participants’ understanding of the rubric and accountability targets to support integration of CLASS data into the everyday work of coaching and professional development for staff. In this session, participants will learn about how this research can be utilized to identify coaching goals to have the most impact on students and teachers. This session is for anyone working with the CLASS tool.

A laptop is required for this session. Bringing school data (interim assessment, budget, etc.) is recommended.

Find session materials here!

Target Audience: Intermediate Data User; Advanced Data User

Speaker(s): Rebecca Kimport, AppleTree Early Learning PCS

Workshop Materials

 

Data Out of the Box

A Tale of Two Report Cards: Connecting STAR and PMF Results

What does it mean to be a Tier 1 school or a 5-STAR school...and what’s the difference? The goal of this session is to support school leaders and data managers in interpreting and acting on the results of the two accountability frameworks for DC public charter schools. The session will include a detailed look at how measures of school quality compare between the two reports and how those measures contribute to overall scores. We will review the key differences, measures unique to each framework, upcoming changes and have some work time to analyze the data. This session is for individuals wanting to better understand the difference between the two frameworks.

 

A laptop with Microsoft Office is required for this session.

Target Audience: Beginner Data User; Intermediate Data User; Advanced Data User

Speaker(s): Pete Petrin, DC PCSB

Workshop Materials

 

Instructional

Setting a Strong Foundation for Early Learners Using Formative Data

Participants will learn how to collect and use early literacy formative assessment data to inform student achievement for reading comprehension in grades K-2. During this hands-on session, educators will learn how to craft text dependent questions for formative use, and how to use the data from student responses to make instructional decisions. Educators should bring a text they plan to teach in an upcoming unit. Presenter will provide:  Evidence statements, data review protocols and standards-aligned checklists. The session will end with a Q&A. K-2 teachers, assessment/data coordinators, school leaders.

 

Educators should bring a text they plan to teach in an upcoming unit.

Target Audience: Beginner Data User; Intermediate Data User; Advanced Data User     

Speaker(s): Dr. Bonnie Hain and Jenna Cohen, CenterPoint Education Solutions

Workshop Materials

 

 

Special Education

Tier 2 Instruction is not just for SPED! Using Data to Personalize Learning for Every Student

Lab time in Two Rivers Middle School is an opportunity to personalize learning for every student. Using a data-driven Tier 2 approach we have designed an instructional program that includes every student, teacher, and leader in meeting every students' needs. Participants will learn the value of this approach and the structures and tools we utilize to make this work. They will leave with ideas about how to apply this approach in their setting. This session is primarily for secondary school instructional leaders, but all secondary staff is welcome to attend.

 

A laptop with Microsoft Office is required for this session. Participants are encouraged to bring school data and their school schedule.

Target Audience: Beginner Data User; Intermediate Data User; Advanced Data User

Speaker(s): Lashaunda Robinson and Molly France, Two Rivers Public Charter School

Workshop Materials

 

 

Structures and Systems

Building a Strong Student Data Ecosystem for Independent Charter Schools

This session in designed to give school and operational leadership a full overview of how to develop a sustainable student data function at their school. It will review the critical systems, people, process and reporting structures that need to be in place to allow schools to effectively utilize data to serve students and meet critical academic outcomes. It is ideally suited for schools within their first five to seven years of operations and schools looking to improve upon practices that streamline data reporting throughout their organization. This workshop is ideally suited for school leaders, operational directors, and/or instructional leaders who manage systems and data cycles throughout the school year.

 

A laptop with Microsoft Office and school data are required for this session.

Target Audience: Beginner Data User; Intermediate Data User

Speaker(s): Breanna Day and Dan Wick, EdOps

Workshop Materials

 

 

SESSION 2- 11:30am - 1:00pm

 

 

Blended Learning

Ignite and POP! Your Blended Learning

In the session we will share best practices and use consultancy protocols to address problems of practice. Ignite and POP your blended learning implementations in this fast-paced session that will cover many topics, including ones you bring with you. We’ll alternate between 5-minute Ignite presentations from area teachers, all about one of their blended learning passions (a great opportunity to learn about new products and best practices), and 15-minute discussions about solving a specific problem (problems of practice consultancy protocols). During these POP times, you can choose to help others find solutions for their problems of practice or bring your own blended learning problem to discuss in a small group. Appropriate for teachers, coaches, or leaders; all grade levels; beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Note: If you would like to bring a problem of practice to discuss and are uncertain how to prepare, reach out in advance and we will be happy to help.

 

A laptop is recommended for this session and blended learning data is recommended.

Target Audience: Beginner Data User; Intermediate Data User; Advanced Data User

Speaker(s): Jessica Peters, KIPP DC; Chip Chase, Capital City PCS

Workshop Materials

 

Communicating with Data

Using Power BI to Create Interactive Visualizations

This session will introduce participants to using Microsoft Power BI, a free visualization tool that comes with MS Office. We will use a sample dataset to show how you can slice data by subgroup, calculate aggregate measures, and share your reports online. This session is for data analysts and data managers with strong Excel skills that are interested in learning how to use Power BI.

 

A laptop with Power BI is required for this workshop. PC users should download and install the software prior to the event. Mac users can register for the online Power BI Service with a work or school email, but they should understand that Power BI is optimized for Windows and is not recommended for an organization that predominantly uses Macs.  

Directions on how to install the software will be provided prior to the event.

Target Audience: Intermediate Data User; Advanced Data User

Speaker(s): Stu Smither Wulsin, E.L. Haynes

Workshop Materials

 

Continuous Improvement

Understanding & Influencing Your PMF Score

This session is designed to provide leaders with a full understanding of the core metrics that compose each school type’s PMF score. Beyond providing a thorough breakdown of the components of the PMF, we will discuss effective strategies for managing each metric throughout the school year and allow schools to share monitoring and management practices they’ve implemented in key metrics. Participants should ideally walk away with a clear understanding of the methodology of calculation for each metric, understand which metrics are highest leverage and within control, and be able to implement at least one strategy to improve PMF metric goal tracking at their schools. This session is ideally suited for the following stakeholders: Executive Directors, Chief Academic Officers, Principals and Directors of Data or others that fill a similiar at their school.

 

A laptop with Microsoft Office is required for this session. Participants are encouraged to bring school data.

Target Audience: Beginner Data User; Intermediate Data User

Speaker(s): Laura Lund and Adam Labay, EdOps

Workshop Materials

 

Data Analyst Advanced

AccelerateR Part 2: Statistical Models and Graphing in R

In Part 1 of this workshop, we took some messy, disorganized data and prepared it for analysis. Now for the fun part! The objective of this workshop is for participants to learn how to use statistical tools in R. R is a free program useful for data manipulation and analysis. R can automate your data tasks, from the simplest day-to-day work to complex analyses needed to guide your school's decision making. In this workshop, we will work in RStudio to fit statistical models, interpret the output, and graph results using ggplot. We will also help you brush up your statistics skills by reviewing analysis assumptions and common misconceptions and fallacies. You will leave ready to apply our example to your own data and start digging deeper into the meaning of data for your school. Note: We will use the cleaned up dataset from Part 1, but you do not need to complete Part 1 to participate in Part 2. This session is intended for advanced data users who have some familiarity with R and basic statistics.

 

A laptop with R and Rstudio downloaded is required for this workshop. Directions on how to install the software will be provided prior to the event.

Target Audience: Intermediate Data User; Advanced Data User

Speaker(s): Kendra Johnson-Tesch; Amber Eby, The SEED Foundation, LAYC Career Academy PCS

Workshop Materials

 

Data Analyst Basics

Google Sheets - Querying and Dashboards

Do you rely heavily on Google Sheets and want to learn some shortcuts?  Then this might be the session for you.  In this session, we will focus on various Google specific functions.  We'll take a large data set and connect to other sheets where that data is being used again, so that it only ever needs to be updated in one place.  We will also then take that data set and use the Google Query function to build out basic dashboards based on certain criteria.  The session is designed for users with basic experience in Google Sheets and will review the most basic SQL functions as it applies to Google's Query function.  We will practice with a sample data set, but feel free to also bring your own data sets to practice with.  The session is intended for beginner and intermediate data users with some experience in Google Sheets or Excel.  Some background knowledge of what SQL is will help, but is not required.

 

A laptop with Microsoft Office or access to Google Sheets is required for this session.

Target Audience: Beginner Data User; Intermediate Data User

Speaker(s): Po-yee Pang, DC International School

Workshop Materials

 

Data Informed Coaching

Measuring Effectiveness of Coaching 2.0

In this workshop, we will review and discuss different measures to evaluate the impact of effective instructional coaching/ instructional leadership programs and activities. This session will offer participants an opportunity to evaluate the current coaching framework and measurement tools at their organization, and reflect on the fidelity and the level of quality of their programs.  Further, this session will be an opportunity for leaders to analyze the impact coaching has on teachers’ instructional practice using their current data frameworks. Instructional Coach Managers, School Instructional Leaders, or managers of Instructional Leadership programs, Principals, Data team members

 

A laptop with Microsoft Office and school data are required for this session. Participants will be asked to use their current instructional leadership and coaching frameworks and measurement tools to support in the brainstorm activities.

Target Audience: Beginner Data User; Intermediate Data User

Speaker(s): Amponsah Nkansah and Lara Burt, AppleTree Public Charter Schools

Workshop Materials

 

 

Data Out of the Box

Quantifying Negative Climate and Teacher Burnout to Revitalize School Culture

Topic: Quantifying Negative Climate and Teacher Burnout to Revitalize School Culture

Main Focus: Participants will zoom in on citywide and school data to identify areas that promote teacher burnout and negative climate to determine appropriate leadership interventions and strategies to improve school culture.

Goal: Participants will identify and analyze data that points to teacher wellness and positive school climate to identify growth areas and interventions. Instructional Coaches; Teachers

 

A laptop with Microsoft Office is required for this session. Participants are encouraged to bring Insight Data if possible and a sample data set will be available.

Target Audience: Beginner Data User; Intermediate Data User

Speaker(s): Rose Silva; and Jess Lane, AppleTree Early Learning Public Charter School

Workshop Materials

 

 

Instructional

Using an Equitable Lens to Analyze Student Work for Actionable Trends

In this session, participants will explore the demands of the Standards for Mathematical Practice and how educators can use this knowledge when looking at students’ work. Participants will also consider various student demographics as opportunities to better dissect data, while analyzing sample student work from a 5th or 9th grade PARCC Task. Please note that this protocol can be used when looking at student work at all grade levels and with all types of math items and tasks where students need to show their work depending on schools’ instructional priorities and specific goals. This session is appropriate for K-12 school leaders, math instructional coaches, and math teachers.

 

Target Audience: Beginner Data User; Intermediate Data User; Advanced Data User

Speaker(s): Zachary Parker, Ali Turro and Emily Pytell, The Achievement Network

Workshop Materials

 

Special Education

ANALYZING SPECIAL EDUCATION PARCC AND REPORT CARD OUTCOMES

During this session, participants will explore STAR report card data for students with disabilities and compare it to students without disabilities using the online EmpowerK12 DC Equity Tool. We will also analyze PARCC proficiency rate data by primary disability code and hours of service. Participants will learn how to interpret the data and be guided through a facilitated discussion on best practices for using this new information. This session is designed for a Data Manager or SpEd Director/Coordinator/Teacher Novice.

 

A laptop with Microsoft Office is required for this session.

Target Audience: Beginner Data User; Intermediate Data User

Speaker(s): Josh Boots, EmpowerK12; Julie Camerata, The DC Special Education Cooperative

Workshop Materials

 

Structures and Systems

Deletion and retention of student data: Compliance and beyond

The session will be on deletion and retention of student data, what the law says about the topic, and why just being compliant with the law may not be enough to truly protect student privacy. The goal is for the audience to leave with a better understanding of the complexity and finer nuances of the topic of data deletion/retention and guiding questions for school administrators to consider when designing a deletion/retention policy in their schools.   Data Managers, School leadership

 

A laptop with Microsoft Office is required for this session.

Target Audience: Beginner Data User; Intermediate Data User

Speaker(s): Adarsh Mahesh and Hannah Quay-de la Vallee, Center for Democracy & Technology

Workshop Materials

 

SESSION 3- 2:15pm - 3:45pm

 

Blended Learning

Edtech Edcamp

For the final session of the day, join us to discuss topics about edtech and blended learning that came up earlier in the day but you want to go deeper into, things that didn’t get addressed in earlier sessions, or anything else edtech that you are interested in. Edcamp is a completely participant-driven unconference format where anyone who attends can choose a discussion topic and everyone participates equally. You’ll have the chance to chat about multiple topics and then walk with us to the FOCUS Data Summit Happy Hour afterwards. Appropriate for teachers, coaches, or leaders; all grade levels; beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Note: As you think of ideas to talk about for Edtech Edcamp during the day, we will have a public Google Doc to share them and help us get the board started - look for it during breakfast.

 

A laptop is required for this session.

Target Audience: Beginner Data User; Intermediate Data User; Advanced Data User

Speaker(s): Jessica Peters, KIPP DC; Chip Chase, Capital City PCS

Workshop Materials

 

Communicating with Data

If You Declutter, They Will Come; Unlearning Bad Chart Design

Have you ever felt like you have really important data to communicate but your charts aren’t getting the message across as clearly as you would like? Your data are important. I know that and you know that. But sometimes your stakeholders don’t necessarily see how or they miss the key message(s). There is a likely reason for this: your charts either have unnecessary clutter that obscures your message OR you’re using the wrong chart type altogether. This workshop is designed to ensure that your charts are utilized and actionable by guiding participants through key principles of good chart design (and the research behind it!), showing participants how to declutter and streamline their charts, and walking participants through the steps for choosing the right chart type.  This training workshop is designed for any data analyst, teacher, and/or school leader that creates charts to communicate key data, but sometimes feels like their message gets lost or is not communicated as effectively as could be. 

 

A laptop with Microsoft Office is required for this session.

Target Audience: Beginner Data User; Intermediate Data User; Advanced Data User

Speaker(s): Dereck Norville-Bowie, National Board for Professional Teaching Standards

Workshop Materials

 

Continuous Improvement

Data Makes All the Difference: Transforming Student Learning and Achievement Through Focused Data Coaching

In this session, participants will learn how they can work together to coordinate leaders’ and teachers' use of data to boost student learning and achievement, and strengthen school culture. Drawing on findings from WestEd’s Two-Year Case Study of Perry Street Prep PCS’ school improvement process, session participants will explore how this type of data coaching enabled Perry Street Prep to build a coherent, coordinated system of improvement that dramatically raised student academic performance and improved school culture over the last several years. Participants will also review sample data and discuss how they can use this approach to systemically improve leadership capabilities and teachers’ instructional practices, and ultimately, impact student outcomes, at their own schools. School leaders, Instructional Leaders and Coaches, Teachers, and Data Analysts.

 

A laptop with Microsoft Office is required for this session. A sample data set will be provided. Participants are encouraged to bring their own student growth, achievement, or culture data.

Target Audience: Beginner Data User; Intermediate Data User; Advanced Data User

Speaker(s): Rachel Crouch and Kelly Smith, Perry Street Prep PCS; Alexandra Pardo and Tovah Koplow, TenSquare; Aimee Evan, WestEd

Workshop Materials

 

Data Analyst Basics

Detangling The Data Knots: An Introduction to Data Structures and Tidying

Setting up data correctly is crucial to be able to successfully conduct analyses. In this workshop, we will introduce the idea of combining multiple data sources to create a comprehensive data set for analysis. Data can be formatted in a few different ways, chief among them being “wide” versus “long” formats. This session will  both give participants important background on the concepts of wide vs. long data, as well as introduce them to data tidying practices. Further, participants will be given hands-on opportunities to organize multiple data sources into a comprehensive dataset and be guided through a checklist of data tidying steps with the support of the facilitators. After this session, participants will leave with knowledge of best practices for organizing data, leading to success in future data analyses.  They will also leave with ideas on how they might be able to utilize these practices at their campus and what analyses they might like to explore.   Individuals, at any school level, who want to better understand best practices for cleaning and organizing multiple data sources into a comprehensive data set to facilitate analysis. While this session will be more of an introductory course, attendees should have some previous experience using excel and/or google sheets for data management.

 

A laptop with Microsoft Office or access to Google Sheets is required for this session.

Target Audience: Beginner Data User; Intermediate Data User

Speaker(s): Lara Burt and Katrina Gagliano, AppleTree Early Learning PCS

Workshop Materials

 

Data Informed Coaching

Next Level Leadership

Participants will learn how DCPS' operational leaders cultivated strong partnerships with instructional school leaders to drive employee performance and productivity through the use of empirical data. Using the executive coaching model and DCPS' operations framework, we will discuss how to utilize these tools to advance operational growth, improve employee satisfaction, and inspire teams to make smart, data-driven decisions. After this session, you will be able to identify gaps in school-based operational systems using the operations framework, and identify strategic methods for resolving challenges that directly impact operational and instructional improvement. This session is for principals, assistant principals, and operations leaders. This session would be ideal for newer school leaders.

 

A laptop with Microsoft Office is required for this session. Participants are encouraged to bring school data.

Target Audience: Beginner Data User; Intermediate Data User

Speaker(s): Vashaunta Harris, Cinthia Ruiz, and Phallon Lattimore, DCPS

Workshop Materials

 

Data Out of the Box

Decoding Your Digital Analytics to Drive Online Marketing Strategies

In this session, we will talk about the benefits of using Google’s free analytics tracking software. For users without Google Analytics (GA) installed, we will go through ways to install it so you can begin monitoring web traffic. For users with GA installed, we will walk through your account and go over different areas that are notable. Finally, we will talk about the best digital marketing strategies for your school and how you can leverage your new GA knowledge to track you work as you make decisions around where to invest your time and energy. Key decision-makers about marketing the school.

 

A laptop is required for this session.

Target Audience: Beginner Data User; Intermediate Data User; Advanced Data User

Speaker(s): Elizabeth Eadie, Wellmade Design Company

Workshop Materials