DDDM 5221 Data Lab Activity

Lab Objective. By successfully completing this lab, students should be able to:

  • be aware of technology related to District-, teacher-, and student-level decision making
  • work with a spreadsheet gradebook to alter test weightings
  • compare grades, pre-post test using t-test
  • review school-wide data from high stakes tests and school climate surveys to support planning
  • create a Kahoot! style exit ticket using a digital assessment tool.

Kahoot startup screen

Activity Guide:

  1. Connecticut Schools
    1. What is the current chronic absenteeism rate in CT?
      1. check the EdSight online public database.
      2. Retrieve the District Strategic School Profile for you target district
        1. What is that district’s chronic absenteeism rate?
      3. Retrieve the most recent Strategic School Profile for a specific target school in that district
        1. on what date are the school enrollments reported (would you expect much change?)
      4. See how schools report district and student level data through the CT EFS report every Oct 1st. Student level data are used for State and Federal reimbursement decisions.
      5. Finally, retrieve some performance data for that school (like SmarterBalanced) – Let’s share some real data briefly in lab,
  2. Sample gradebook
    1. Open the gradebook sheet in Excel or Google Sheets (Student Gradesheet 2019)
    2. As a lab class, look for patterns in the scores
    3. Discuss with lab class details of the sections and formulas
    4. In Column L adjust the weightings of the unit tests (Column E) to be 50% of final grade and adjust others accordingly.
    5. Insert Means and Standard Deviations for tests and final grades
    6. Adjust the letter grade cut scores (starting at L21)
  3. Discuss Surveys: Take this Qualtrics pre-survey about teaching… discuss how people take surveys (attitudes, approaches)
    1. Rosen, J. A., Porter, S. R., & Rogers, J. (2017). Understanding student self reports of academic performance and course-taking behavior. AERA Open, 3(2), 1-14.
  4. Create an exit ticket quiz for your target lesson plan (Week 1) using one of these common (free) online tools (Choose one you have not used before to optimize this learning opportunity) and administer it to your lab peers (if time allows).
    1. Kahoot! (requires sign up, can be done with Google– then login will ask you to upgrade for fee, click “continue for free”)
      1. then take a Kahoot! quiz (no sign up required)
    2. Classtime Signing up for this tool with your uconn.edu email will grant you a year free use of the full featured program
      1. Detail and evaluations are provided in the Resources section.
    3. Socrative
      1. Socrative teacher (requires sign up, can be done with Google)
      2. Socrative student (can be anonymous, only requires room name)
    4. Google Forms (requires a google account)
    5. Polleverywhere (requires sign up for “participating” or “presenting”) participants can be linked to class roster or not.
    6. Quizlet (requires sign up, can be done through Google)
    7. Quizizz (requires sign up and pick a school, can be done through Google)
    8. [Free for UConn students] Qualtrics survey tool (requires IRB CITI training and netID)
    9. Mentimeter (this tool builds interactive presentations with built-in quizes)
  5. (time permitting) Debate Alphanumeric grade vs standards-based grades:
    1. RESOLVED: Standards-based grades can improve student learning and teacher performance and should be adopted to replace all alphanumeric grading systems.
  6. (time permitting) Discuss how to deal with a pre-post test situation.
  7. (supplemental) Look at Next Generation Accountability Presentation April 2018 (ppt public presentation for Ellington)- identify problems and suggest solutions (collaborative interpretation). Also review the 2019 Ellington DIP

 

Other Resources

UConn Undergraduate catalog, particularly the page on grading.

UConn Graduate catalog, particularly the part on grading (scroll down).

SBAC practice test online (choose Connecticut, guest sign in, and choose grade level and content area)

Smarter Balanced Official Site

Tom Guskey handouts and slides on grading policy

ACSD Data Driven Decision Making in Education: The New Stupid