E-book: Data 101 for new and developing administrators

Introduction
There’s no single path to becoming a school administrator, but it’s becoming increasingly common for teachers to step into their first administrator role with no training and no idea what to do! If that’s you, how’s that imposter syndrome coming along? Feeling overwhelmed, underqualified, and in need of support? If so, we’re here to help.
We know that you can step into your new role with confidence, especially when you’ve got the basics of data collection and analysis down. So, that’s what we’ll be covering in this resource.
If you’re interested in software that can house your data, generate data visualizations, display reports, and assist in your data analysis routine, then Eduphoria has solutions for you. For now, let’s talk about what you need to know to succeed in your position, software or no software.
Tracking down your data
It’s a small thing, but if you’ve never been in this position before, you may not know where your data is housed. Ideally, you have a data warehouse, but many schools are still keeping their data in spreadsheets, filing cabinets, and unique programs with their own log-ins.
So, step one? Get your log-ins, find your data, and find out who you need to ask to get your hands on the numbers.
Step two, figure out how your teachers and staff are collecting data. The place where the data lives doesn’t necessarily tell you how your teachers are gathering their data. They may be using a program, or they may be doing a lot of superfluous work, manually inputting scores and tracking progress.
While you’re undergoing this process, take notes. How difficult is it for you to find and analyze data? How difficult is it for your teachers to gather and input that data? If you’re noticing significant difficulties, (including a time-consuming process) then one of your goals could be to improve upon this system.
After all, if your process is flawed, then more effort is being put into documentation and less time making an impact on student and teacher growth. In terms of how you’d be able to improve this process, we’ll talk about data philosophy later on in this resource.
Classifying and prioritizing data
Whether you are new to this role or not, you probably have big dreams about making big impacts. You wouldn’t be in this position if you weren’t a go-getter with a passion for education! Unfortunately, a widespread, overambitious initiative can contribute to overwhelm, burnout, and the diluting of effort and resources.
We recommend getting a global or 30,000-foot view of the state of your school or department before establishing your list of priorities. As a leader, you may have an area of focus you want to address, but being data-informed will greatly assist in discovering your best, first step in terms of areas to address.
You may even be unaware of the kinds of data you should be looking into. For a start, here are some of the most important sources of data to dredge up:
- State assessment scores
- Graduation rates
- Attendance, truancy, and tardiness
- Teacher evaluation scores
- SAT, ACT, or PSAT scores
- Department-level trends and performance
- Demographic data
Before you dive in, it’s time to ask some questions to drive your analyses.
Questions you should ask to focus your data analysis
Depending on your role, your focus and impact will be very different. You may not even have access to some of the data listed above. That being said, it’s a good idea to ask these questions before you start your initial data collection and analysis process:
- What kind of data would be most useful for your role? There are many different kinds of administrative roles, and some of them are specific to each school or district. The kinds of data that a curriculum coordinator would need are very different from the data a rostering administrator might need. If you’re unsure of the kinds of data you need to audit departments and accomplish your goals, then connect with someone who is more familiar with your role. They can guide you toward high-priority data.
- What is my perception of the problems and needs in my community? Your perspective is important, especially if you’re moving up from a teaching role and have “insider” information on what staff and students are dealing with.
- What are the needs that students and teachers frequently identify? If you don’t have this data, we’ll talk about how you can gather this information later on.
- What kind of data are teachers analyzing regularly to inform instruction? Am I able to see that data? This information could give you insight into the health of your curriculum and assessment program while also shedding light on trends in student support needs.
- What’s the biggest need and what’s the most achievable need? You could establish short and long-term goals by teasing this out. Once you have goals in mind, it’s easier to tackle data in a meaningful way. Quick, small wins can also help establish you as a trustworthy leader, setting the stage for larger, more difficult changes later on.
The biggest question here relates to your role. So, while we can’t spend too much time going over all the data specific to each kind of administrator role (especially considering the nuances and differences between these roles by region), here are a couple of examples of how your role may influence the kind of data you seek out.
Principals often focus on managing other administrators, student growth initiatives, and accountability. They may focus on school-wide assessment data, then dig into demographic data to determine gaps in instruction and curriculum that may adversely affect certain student groups.
Assistant principals often focus on major behavioral problems and evaluating teachers. Their data priorities may lean on teacher performance, truancy, attendance, and drop-out rates.
Curriculum coordinators typically organize, fine-tune, and implement curriculum initiatives. They might find assessment data, professional development data, and demographic data helpful in identifying program strengths and improvement areas.
What do I do with this? Starting your data analysis
So, you got your hands on the numbers, now you need to figure out what they’re saying. If you’re doing this manually, looking over spreadsheets, or even collecting the information yourself…again, take notes.
Who did you have to ask for information?
Who else is looking at this data?
What parts of the process could be streamlined and expedited?
What are the different ways that the data was aggregated–can you create a common format and expectations that would make it easier to analyze?
Now, if you’ve never done data analysis before, take a deep breath. A lot of people don’t even make it this far. You’re doing a great job, and we’re going to take this one bite at a time.