The Newark Public Schools Embraces Data and Makes it Work
March 22, 2010, NEWARK, NJ—Dr. Clifford B. Janey, Superintendent of the Newark Public Schools announced today that as part of a continuous effort to improve schools, a data team of Newark teachers and building level administrators recently completed a training course entitled, Making Data Work for You, which was designed to help them become more sophisticated when analyzing student assessment data and using the results of the analysis to inform their instructional practices.
The program was designed by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and was very well received because it builds educators confidence and capacity to interpret data in ways that will lead to student improvement.
Each school in the district created a data urgent care room where the data team and other staff members display collected school data. Many of the rooms are colorful and welcoming but the key is to have the data displayed in a manner that will allow educators and stakeholders to view and analyze the information and then develop plans that will help improve the school.
Central High School developed mini data teams in the areas of math, writing, science and reading. These smaller teams also allow teachers and department chairs to immediately address needs in their specific areas. Collectively, they are able to analyze school, local, state and national data including test scores, attendance and suspension rates.
Reviewing data extends beyond the urgent care room at times. Havier Nazario, vice principal of Central said, “As administrators, we completed walkthroughs to devise a comparative analysis to determine any increases or decreases in a particular subject area. We then meet with the department chairs who then can immediately address any concerns at the school level.”
Gwendolyn Sherman, Weequahic High School’s English department chairperson added, “Data indicates areas where teachers can strengthen content knowledge or teaching skills as well as identify trends in teaching and learning so that professional development can be tailored to meet specific needs of the teacher and the learner. We use, TheIndian Tracker (named after the school mascot), which calculates charts for each student’s data into individual student profiles of strengths and needs as well as creates a class profile to inform and guide planning for instruction.”
Representatives from the Newark Teachers Union (AFT Local 481) also participated in the Making Data Work for You training and will work together with the district over the summer to make sure that Making Data Work for You will be incorporated in every school district wide.
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The Newark Public Schools
The Newark Public Schools District is the largest and one of the oldest school systems in New Jersey. The district serves approximately 40,000 students in 75 schools ranging from Pre-K to twelfth grade, and employs approximately 7,500 staff within the schools and Central Office. KLT
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