Data can be a powerful tool, providing useful insights into a school’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as indicating what the future might hold. So how can you translate the numbers into the practical information needed to improve teaching and learning?
It is an area that schools are increasingly zoning in on, according to Matthew Woodruff, technical director at technology learning expert The Knowledge Network. He has seen a culture shift in recent years towards processes and planning driven by the smart use of data.
“Schools have always been data collectors, and to some extent this is because they have a statutory compliance to do so. But in more recent times the main issue has become about how data is turned into information, information into knowledge and knowledge into wisdom,” he says.
Oasis Community Learning, which runs 47 academies across the UK, puts data at the heart of its learning decisions. John Barneby, head of group IT services, explains that using data to inform interventions and improve student outcomes is essential – it can help schools make sure help and support is provided much earlier too. “It’s how all education institutions will need to deliver improvements,” he says.
Student data can identify which individuals need additional help. In many of the Oasis primary schools, for example, students are regularly assessed to see how they’re coping on the reading programme. The data is used to move pupils into different groups every week. “We really have a bespoke curriculum for each child,” says Oasis head of data Patrick Cassidy. “We use data with technology, enabling us to quickly rank children and work out where they are, what their strengths and weaknesses are, and then put them in the most appropriate place.”
At secondary school level, when data highlights a gap in a student’s knowledge, it’s tackled with a six-week programme of additional teaching and support. One school,Oasis South Bank academy, has created a comprehensive whole-school strategy based on data collection. The school considered what a student would need to get an A* at A-level and planned back from that so teachers know how they need to progress in every year at school to reach that standard. Students are assessed at the beginning and end of every half term, and receive their feedback as a percentage of how far they have come. “What’s celebrated isn’t so much where they get to, but the progress they’re making every half term,” Cassidy explains.
This approach has helped the academy achieve Ofsted’s “outstanding” rating. Thanks to its increased focus on data, the Oasis trust has seen measurable benefits in others schools too. Over the past two years, Oasis academy Shirley Park in Croydon, for example, has developed some good data dashboards that have lifted the school to outstanding, says Barneby.
Whitehaven academy in Cumbria, a school where roughly 35-40% of children receive pupil premium, also uses data to identify gaps in learning. “We can run data to see how pupil premium individuals are performing in comparison with their peers and then try to narrow that gap,” says principal Philip Grant. “Using this data allows us to have a very clear picture of children’s starting points and what we need to do to improve it.”
Oasis and Whitehaven attribute some of their ability to make efficient use of data to helpful computer programmes that make it easier to translate the numbers.Microsoft’s Power BI is used by both organisations and makes data understandable to everyone – whether that’s teachers, governors or students, according to Grant. “It’s designed in a very simplistic format,” he explains. “I can see the face of every student in picture form and can filter any way I like through the data and follow an individual student to the result I require.
“Students can see their own information, too. Now, in the last session of the day, every child gets 15 minutes with their mentor on a timetable cycle every three weeks, and they’ll go through their progress, their achievements, their hopes, their aspirations, how they’re developing as a person, and whether they’re on target for their homework and progress.”
In the future, the school also plans to use the software to allow parents to access their child’s profiles, so they can see what they have been learning in class, what homework they have and their attendance. There will also be an element where parents give feedback on their child’s progress. This will create a dialogue between the school and parents.
But Whitehaven isn’t just using data to focus on attainment – it’s also benefitting financially. Through gaining an understanding of room use, the school has revised how its blocks are organised, creating a stronger sense of community by closing some remote buildings and making better use of existing rooms. This has led to a 20% reduction in estate costs. In addition, analysis of ICT and budget data has led to a £6,000 reduction in printing costs per quarter.
Data has particular power, argues Barneby, when schools go beyond attainment. “Where it starts to get really interesting is when you look at the non-educational data that impacts student outcomes – so staff turnover, staff absenteeism and budget management against student outcomes, for example. When you start cross-fertilising different datasets you get a more complete picture beyond what’s going on in the classroom.”
Looking ahead, there is potential for data to be used to predict interventions that will be needed, rather than schools responding to challenges. “It’s called predictive analytics and it’s this idea that if you gather enough data you can predict outcomes,” says Barneby. “You might start getting datasets that predict that if you put two more teachers into a certain subject area you will deliver these outcomes because historically we can see the difference that adding this makes to a department. It’s not something we have up and running, but we have a project to try to deliver that.”
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