Latest News and Comment from Education

Thursday, August 4, 2011

An Urban Teacher's Education: On Data: Part One

An Urban Teacher's Education: On Data: Part One

On Data: Part One

Basing decisions on data is not the same as basing them on knowledge.
- Jeff Henig, Guest Post for Rick Hess Straight Up

"Please explain why it's so important for data to drive the decisions of educators," directed a principal during a recent interview I had for a teaching job.

A red flag went up in my head. My experience with people who like to talk about data-driven decision making in education has not been a positive one. I gathered myself and tried to address the question as sincerely as possible.

I said (as best I can remember):
I think good teachers have always used evidence of student understanding to guide their