Getting Excited About Data
Combining People, Passion, and Proof to Maximize Student Achievement
Foreword by Tony Wagner
Data-Based Decision Making
—Theodore Creighton, Executive Director
National Council of Professors of Educational Leadership
"The book is written in friendly language and is a quick read with many examples. The diagrams and sample questions throughout are invaluable!"
—Jill Hudson, Middle School Principal
Madison Middle School, Seattle, WA
How can we ensure that every student is making adequate progress in an era of school and district goals, state standards, and federal ESEA legislation?
Getting Excited About Data, Second Edition builds upon the best-selling first edition to provide additional guidance and support for educators who are "ready, willing, and able" to explore more sophisticated uses of data. New tools and activities facilitate active engagement with data and a collaborative culture of collective responsibility for the learning of all students.
Precise and on target, this excellent new resource enables educators to effectively use their schools' data to respond to the challenges of the No Child Left Behind Act, and provides:
- A knowledge base emphasizing the role of data in school effectiveness and successful change
- A focus on tapping the professional passion of dedicated educators who want to work for the benefit of students from an intrinsic motivation perspective
- Group activities that energize people in collaborative efforts
- Key questions to identify sources of the proof of success necessary to stimulate confidence and further action
- A clear understanding of the need for "up close, in real time" assessment to balance high-stakes, external tests
- Information on how to utilize data to establish priorities and integrate accountability requirements with goals that are data-based and grounded in school values
"It was a pleasure to read Getting Excited About Data. I found it precise and on target for enabling school personnel to effectively use their schools' data to plan improvement."
"The book is written in friendly language and is a quick read with many examples. The diagrams and sample questions throughout are very useful."
"Holcomb's enlightening revision gives educators a useful, fun-to-read resource full of strategies, tools, and techniques for focusing on data. Presented with tales of real-life experiences, this book gives the reader a ‘ready-to-use’ approach that is refreshingly practical."