How to Assess Your Staff’s Data Literacy Levels and Why Data Literacy Matters in Schools
Data is a powerful tool that drives better decision-making. Evidence-based decisions, grounded in data, allow educators and administrators to interpret key metrics—such as test scores, attendance rates, and behavioral trends—to set and achieve meaningful goals. These insights offer a clearer picture of student outcomes and school effectiveness, guiding efforts to move the needle.
Today’s schools have access to more data than ever before, from standardized test results to real-time feedback on student progress in the classroom. For example, the upcoming winter release of The Nation’s Report Card 2024 and the recent DC CAPE scores are valuable resources for tracking progress and assessing whether systemwide educational goals are being met, especially in the context of post-pandemic recovery. Classrooms have access to more online tools that assess student growth daily than ever before.
However, access to data alone does not guarantee results. Without an understanding of the data, educators miss out on opportunities to adjust teaching methods, identify students designated at-risk, or implement interventions that drive improvement. Schools where students exceed expectations and are on track to close longstanding performance gaps, such as those in our 2023 Bold Performance Schools Report, turn data into action weekly that drives instruction. As one of their top strategies for achieving success, Bold educators share that they utilize student work, exit tickets, and progress monitoring trackers to adjust instructional support with frequency and intentionality.
Building Data Literacy in Education with EmpowerK12’s DC Data Hub
What are the practical steps Bold Performance takes to become data-driven and exceed expectations, and how can EK12 help your school endeavor to become a Bold school?
Effective use of data begins with a solid understanding of data literacy, and some educators need support to improve their data analysis and derive actionable insights.
Professional development services we offer to DC Data Hub member schools are designed to bridge this gap, providing the tools and training to evaluate the current data literacy of educators, identify areas for growth, and create strategies that support student outcomes and school improvement at scale.
Our approach breaks down data literacy into clear, manageable components. Through membership in the DC Data Hub, schools work directly with EK12 to examine their data practices and culture. We create data dashboards, explore emerging trends, and analyze the findings.
Here are the four key steps we follow to help schools build data literacy in education:
Step One: Review of School Data-Driven Practice
We begin by conducting a rubric-based assessment with LEA leaders to evaluate their current data practices and culture. During this process, we help schools identify trends in their data and pinpoint areas for improvement. Based on these findings, we create a customized coaching plan tailored to each school’s specific needs, setting the foundation for progress.
Step Two: Aligned Tools and Training
EK12 offers two levels of customized support, tailored to where schools are in their data literacy journey. For those seeking comprehensive assistance to jumpstart their data-driven journey, our Transform level of service provides extensive training and tools designed to foster an evidence-based culture across leaders and teachers. Schools choosing the Optimize level have already started their data-driven journey and want support in expanding their existing capacity to advance data literacy and make better evidence-based decisions.
Step Three: Regular Checkpoints
Consistency is critical to building long-term data literacy and why we schedule weekly coaching calls for Transform partners and monthly calls for Optimize partners. These checkpoints allow us to address strategic questions, troubleshoot data logistics, and provide continuous support for school leader and teacher needs.
Step Four: Data-Driven Strategy, Planning, and Goal Setting
Once schools establish their data practices and a regular data use culture, our team helps leadership teams transition to advanced data analytics that support critical decisions about long-term strategies, plans, and goals to drive work and student outcomes. Leaders often have to submit budgets for the next school year in late winter, a little over halfway into the year, and before students complete end-of-year assessments. EK12’s advanced analytics that shows student growth and performance monthly help leaders understand the impact of current strategies earlier to formulate plans for the next year.
Data literacy is not a requirement for working with EK12. Our current partner schools started at a variety of points, and while there is more data-driven progress they can make, the impact on student outcomes at scale is significant. Their improvement on state test scores in 2023-24 outshined non-partners across nearly every metric and student group in math and English language arts.
We meet LEAs where they are, helping them build or improve their data literacy throughout the partnership.
Interested in learning more about How we can help you jumpstart your school’s data-driven journey? Drop us a line and learn about our service tiers below.
EmpowerK12’s Service Tiers: Transform and Optimize
Schools are at different points in their data-driven journey. To accommodate varying needs, we offer two service tiers as part of our DC Data Hub membership model: Transform and Optimize.
The Optimize Level: Building Internal Capacity for Data Use
For schools and LEAs that already have the internal capacity to advance their staff’s data literacy skills and facilitate effective, ongoing data meetings, EK12 offers the Optimize level. This level includes our data warehousing, dashboards, sharing & collaboration in the Bold Improvement Portal, and foundational training that helps your team turn data-driven insights into action.
What’s Included in Optimize:
Data Connections: LEAs can choose data connections suited to their needs. We include several standard data connections in various domains to ensure that they have a well-rounded set of data. Premium and custom connections are available at an additional cost.
Standard Data Connections: LEAs can choose one Student Information System, four assessments, one discipline system, and two SEL/wellbeing tools. Additional connections (e.g., state, accountability, and other files) are included.
Premium Data Connections: These are available for additional fees and include systems like Canvas Grades, SchoolRunner Grades, and intervention tracking.
Training: The Optimize tier offers two annual in-person foundational training on topics like dashboard usage and data literacy, plus asynchronous online training. LEAs can also attend central meetups for training with other DC Data Hub members.
Built-In Flexibility: LEAs can choose one premium data connector, two additional standard connections, or an extra foundational training at no extra cost.
Transform Level: Comprehensive Support for a Fully Data-Driven Culture
The Transform level is our most comprehensive service tier for schools and LEAs seeking to create a fully evidence-based culture. It includes all the data tools from the Optimize level—such as dashboards and analytics—and goes further as we provide additional access to more innovative tools and training, with ongoing coaching and support for teachers and leaders. Transform is the most effective way to catalyze and sustain systems.
What’s Included in Transform:
Three-Year Data-Driven Strategy: We work with you to co-develop a three-year training arc with goals, milestones to assess progress, and a strong implementation plan to ensure success.
Training Series: EK12 will build and deliver a training series to be determined at the beginning of each year based on your results on our data-driven rubric; depending on the series' goals, you can expect several in-depth staff training sessions.
Monthly Support Session: Our team will provide approximately four hours of monthly touch points (e.g., coaching could be one type of touch point) to help your team achieve your goals.
Planning and Adaptation: Plans adjust annually, and sometimes in the middle of the year as well, based on data to ensure we focus on the highest-leverage work.
Building a Data-Driven Culture
Ultimately, EK12’s goal is to help LEAs transform outcomes for historically underperforming student groups by enabling schools to use evidence and data, whether they are just beginning to explore data or ready for a more advanced strategic effort. By building a solid data literacy foundation and providing ongoing support, we empower schools to make lasting improvements that benefit both educators and students.
The first step in any partnership is understanding where a school stands in terms of data usage, equity, and culture. Data literacy in education is not just about numbers—it is about creating a mindset that embraces transparency and improvement across all areas of school operations. When formulating a plan that improves positive school culture and accelerates student outcomes, data should inform strategies and goals to drive real, impactful change at scale for long-term impact. As educators improve their capacity to analyze and use data, they will develop comprehensive strategies, plans, and goals that drive work across multiple areas, from instructional methods to student retention.
The beauty of being a DC Data Hub member is the customized approach you receive. We assess schools' data practices, identify strengths and areas for improvement, and offer targeted support that moves beyond simple data literacy to create a sustainable culture of data-driven decisions in education. This helps schools not only understand their data but use it to promote lasting improvements that benefit students on a broad scale.
Visit this page to learn more about how our services and initiatives support educators.
