The Balancing Act – Data Literacy and Assessment

In the classroom data is gathered all the time. Every day teachers are assessing based on student performance: how students do on assignments, quizzes or tests; how well they work with others; are they demonstrating acceptable social skills; and the list goes on. Teachers are constantly evaluating whether each student meets the learning target or not.

A balanced assessment system collects a body of evidence which includes the day-to-day gathering of data, but also collecting more formal types of assessment data through standardized assessments. As school systems, we tend to be really good at gathering data but, what to do with all that data? This is where we must be data-literate, which means the ability to consume for knowledge, think critically about and deliver informed instruction based on data.

A first step in becoming data literate is to understand the purpose of assessments:

1. Screening – to identify students that may need additional support.
2. Progress monitoring – to monitor the impact of interventions.
3. Diagnostic – to identify specific skills, curriculum, instructional or environmental needs.
4. Summative – to determine the success of instruction and/or intervention.

All of these assessments can provide information for individual students, groups of students and/or systems such as programing. Sometimes one tool can serve multiple purposes such as screening and progress monitoring as well as to evaluate system outcomes.

A balanced assessment system depends on determining what we want and/or need to know. Then choosing the right type of assessment measure to gather the data, creating a balanced assessment system.

“Data Literacy: Overview” Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement, University of Minnesota (2017)