DATA by the Slice
Data squad pumps up passing rates using the power of pie charts.
I’ve been recruited to join my school’s Data Inquiry Team, a NYC requirement for each public school. The purpose of the "squad" is to look closely at a school’s data. We look at student test scores, teacher’s passing rates, attendance records, transcripts, behavior logs, the ratio of Yoo-hoo to Snapple drinkers at lunch, flushes made in the boys bathroom on a given day, flushes crossed referenced with Yoo-hoo drinkers on Tuesdays, so on and so forth.
I am actually enjoying this committee due to both my love of sociology, my second major as an undergrad, and my love of three-dimensional pie charts. And I’m not the only one. It is astounding to see the over-the-top reactions from the entire team when shown a pie chart as opposed to raw numbers.
My principal at our last meeting:
“Oh, now. See? Now you can really take it in. That 60% failure rate literally jumps right out at you.” He’s right. The juxtaposition of blood red hue (failing) against the passing breezy sky blue (passing) part of that data literally jumps off that projector thanks to the power of contrasting colors.
At a recent meeting, we reviewed our latest batch of report card grades. These discussions typically lead to passive aggressive debates between teaching members of the team and the administrators.
“So you want me to pass 80%? Regardless? Even if they do nothing? Even when I give make up work they refuse to do. Ever. I mean ever. Okay. Fine. If that’s what you want.”
“I’m not saying that at all. But what kind of school are we that fails a majority of our students? What does that say about what teachers are doing in the classroom?”
“We can’t coddle them. Life says if you don’t work, you don’t get paid.”
“Yes – but they need training wheels for this job. You’re going to fail a student who can barely read for not writing a two page essay on internal conflict. Is that really fair?”
Despite how it may sound, my administrators really aren’t the bad guys here. They make sense and deliver a compelling argument. It’s just not an easy question to answer: How do we hold our students to high standards that they were never prepared to meet?
As a private high school alum, I used to think it ludicrous that people who “couldn’t read” were graduating from public high schools. This was back when I didn’t know reading was more than pronouncing words on a page, back before I had stepped foot in a public high school, back before I understood I had a privileged upbringing relative to rest of the country.
So now I’m passing Claudia, a 10th grader who arrived in the Bronx three months ago from Puerto Rico. She only smiles and nods blankly when I ask her how she’s doing, but she has completed every assignment I have given her to work on with our ESL teacher. Is it twice a crime that passing Claudia rewards my stats, adds some cool air to my sky blue slice of the pie chart?
If it is, at least there is a place to talk about it professionally. If you find yourself approached about joining your schools’ data squad, I strongly suggest you join and harness the power of pie charts.
Data squad pumps up passing rates using the power of pie charts.
I’ve been recruited to join my school’s Data Inquiry Team, a NYC requirement for each public school. The purpose of the "squad" is to look closely at a school’s data. We look at student test scores, teacher’s passing rates, attendance records, transcripts, behavior logs, the ratio of Yoo-hoo to Snapple drinkers at lunch, flushes made in the boys bathroom on a given day, flushes crossed referenced with Yoo-hoo drinkers on Tuesdays, so on and so forth.
I am actually enjoying this committee due to both my love of sociology, my second major as an undergrad, and my love of three-dimensional pie charts. And I’m not the only one. It is astounding to see the over-the-top reactions from the entire team when shown a pie chart as opposed to raw numbers.
My principal at our last meeting:
“Oh, now. See? Now you can really take it in. That 60% failure rate literally jumps right out at you.” He’s right. The juxtaposition of blood red hue (failing) against the passing breezy sky blue (passing) part of that data literally jumps off that projector thanks to the power of contrasting colors.At a recent meeting, we reviewed our latest batch of report card grades. These discussions typically lead to passive aggressive debates between teaching members of the team and the administrators.
“So you want me to pass 80%? Regardless? Even if they do nothing? Even when I give make up work they refuse to do. Ever. I mean ever. Okay. Fine. If that’s what you want.”
“I’m not saying that at all. But what kind of school are we that fails a majority of our students? What does that say about what teachers are doing in the classroom?”
“We can’t coddle them. Life says if you don’t work, you don’t get paid.”
“Yes – but they need training wheels for this job. You’re going to fail a student who can barely read for not writing a two page essay on internal conflict. Is that really fair?”
Despite how it may sound, my administrators really aren’t the bad guys here. They make sense and deliver a compelling argument. It’s just not an easy question to answer: How do we hold our students to high standards that they were never prepared to meet?
As a private high school alum, I used to think it ludicrous that people who “couldn’t read” were graduating from public high schools. This was back when I didn’t know reading was more than pronouncing words on a page, back before I had stepped foot in a public high school, back before I understood I had a privileged upbringing relative to rest of the country.
So now I’m passing Claudia, a 10th grader who arrived in the Bronx three months ago from Puerto Rico. She only smiles and nods blankly when I ask her how she’s doing, but she has completed every assignment I have given her to work on with our ESL teacher. Is it twice a crime that passing Claudia rewards my stats, adds some cool air to my sky blue slice of the pie chart?
If it is, at least there is a place to talk about it professionally. If you find yourself approached about joining your schools’ data squad, I strongly suggest you join and harness the power of pie charts.
Contributed by TeachHUB columnist Phillip Tabernacle
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