Q. Data - quantitative and qualitative - drives much of the decision making in educational institutions. What tools have you developed to collect data and how have you used data to guide your work?
A. Throughout my career, I have developed assessments to determine students' readiness to learn, their comprehension of the material presented, assess my ability to successfully deliver the content and provide feedback to students. Similarly, at various levels of responsibility throughout my career, I have developed surveys to gather faculty and staff feedback on their perceived needs for professional development, their satisfaction with sessions they attended, and their campus leadership's assessments of their needs.
I have administered and evaluated the data collected in the Texas Star Report - a state-wide tool to assess a campus' and districts' technology use, readiness, and potential need for eRate funding. I have evaluated students' assessments to determine appropriateness for various programs, establish parent/teach conferences to monitor students' progress, collaborate with teachers and instructional leaders to set goals for each years' standardized testing at the local, state and national level. Using that data, I developed visual aids to share the data in a clear, concise manner for faculty, staff, campus and district leadership, and, on an individual basis, parents and students, for planning and decision making.
All programs must be reviewed regularly to evaluate effectiveness and needs for change to continue to meet the mission and vision of that program. As Extended Day Coordinator, I regularly monitored teacher and student feedback to ensure the necessary services and resources were being provided, monitored budgetary expenses to enable execution of the program through the entirety of the academic year, and charted students' attendance and their comparable performance on Texas STAAR EOC, AP and SAT/ACT exams.
In each example above, presenting the data in a meaningful manner to those needing the feedback for growth and guidance was of the utmost.