Need to Know
- Year after year, more schools are adopting LMS tools like Google Classroom and looking for more intuitive tools and strategies to capitalize on these platforms.
- Effective data-driven practices supported by actionable data tools can accelerate student achievement, improve instructional practices, and streamline educator workflows.
Despite a waning demand for distance learning as the pandemic recedes, schools and districts continue to adopt learning management systems (LMSs) like Google Classroom to manage student assignments, grading, and data entry. In fact, according to an in-depth analysis of LMS usage in K-12 classrooms conducted by Schoolytics, most students are now enrolled in more than eight Google Classrooms. To make the most of useful learning management systems without adding work to educators’ already overflowing plates, educators need intuitively integrated tools, updated data practices, and professional support.
Here are four simple ways to update your data-driven practices and improve student achievement.
Four Strategies to Update Your Data-Driven Practices
- Replace letter grades with standards-based grading. Standards-based grading allows educators, students, and parents or guardians to get a clearer picture of exactly which skills have been mastered and what specific areas to focus on. While this approach requires more detail, data visualization and consolidation tools like Schoolytics eliminate additional time and grading. Check out a sample comparison of letter grade versus standards-based grading below, pulled from this Schoolytics blog.
- Leverage data as a feedback opportunity for students. Student feedback, when actionable and timely, is one of the highest-leverage instructional strategies educators can use to raise student achievement. However, timely data means quick turnaround on grading and data entry for educators, which can be challenging to provide, given teacher workloads. However, with high-efficiency platforms like Schoolytics, data points are pulled across your school’s LMS and consolidated into one place so that teachers and students alike get real-time feedback on assignments. With features like searchable and filterable lists that quickly identify missing assignments or individualized progress reports for students and parents, Schoolytics equips teachers with up-to-the-minute data so students can improve.
- Make space for asset-based data reflection. Data helps teachers avoid a deficit-based approach to assessment and feedback. Educators need tools that help them easily spot successes, big and small, identifying standards growth from one assessment to the next, as well as the skills students have mastered. Additionally, strong data tools can help bolster student success. Schoolytics students are up to 10% more likely to complete their assignments on time, building their academic confidence and better setting them up for success.
- Keep your data fresh. Data visualization and frequent data collection provide a keen pulse on student understanding and concept mastery. While interim or quarterly assessments certainly offer insight into student learning, these data points are only as good as their recency. With more regular data collection (say, on daily exit tickets or quick anecdotal notes), educators can act on current student needs and move the needle more quickly.
Strengthen Data Practices with Best-In-Class Data Tools
Data practices are only as effective as the tools they are paired with. Schoolytics is an all-in-one school data platform with the monitoring, reporting, and analytics capabilities schools need to teach and learn efficiently, all while streamlining processes for educators to save their precious time. Portland Public Schools found a treasure trove of actionable insight through the platform. You can read their whole story here.
Want to learn more about how Schoolytics works? Check out this tutorial video from New Edtech Classroom for a full product tour.
Schoolytics Pilot Opportunity
Start a 30-day FREE trial of Schoolytics today. Configuration takes just a few clicks, and you will have data in less than 24 hours. To get started, visit Schoolytics in the EdCuration marketplace and click on “Let’s Chat”.
