Purpose Narrative:
With district benchmarking, the district is able to receive comparative data during the school year – prior to the end of the year. With this data, the Curriculum and Instruction department isable to devote time for coaching and support in a more strategic manner based on school performance. Below are more detailed descriptions of the two primary purposes of district benchmarking:
- Comparative Data
Performance is relative. Therefore, it is important for teachers and schools to know how their students are performing in relation to others like them (demographic data). Without this knowledge we cannot know our true performance and we cannot guide our expectations. Comparative data allows us to see ourselves in relation to others and judge accordingly.
- Formative Data
The benchmark gives the school comparative data to determine priority grade level subjects that need targeted intervention. In addition, the benchmark data provides evidence of the school strategies that are being deployed and their level of success.
Why Do District Benchmarking? / What are the Guiding Questions / What Actions might result from the data analysis?- Evaluate student progress
- Compare data
- Ensure district content alignment
- Assess current knowledge
- Acquire data
- Following SCOS
- School vs. District (comparison data)
- PLC (per teacher comparison data)
- Monitor progress
- Identify strengths and weaknesses in student performance
- Determine subgroup progress
- Determine students, teachers, and grade levels who are doing well
- Provide data to support who may need assistance
- What percent of students are proficient?
- How did subgroups perform?
- Which objectives seemed to be difficult?
- What prior knowledge are students bringing into the units/lessons?
- What are other schools doing?
- What are other teachers in the same school doing?
- What outside factors affect performance?
- What do you we need to teach?
- Who is performing at high levels in PLC?
- What are some of the root causes of the achievement gaps?
- What planning do we need to do?
- How did school perform compared to demographically similar schools?
- Who are stars? Who are burned out nova?
- What are effective strategies for underperforming groups?
- Can we use data to project growth?
- What growth do we see between benchmarks (MS & ES)?
- What patterns do we see across subjects?
- What types of questions are presenting problems?
- Create interventions/enrichment
- Use data with individual PLCs and planning
- Re-teaching
- Revising CFAs
- PLC planning: teachers attending
- Identify students and content for acceleration or remediation
- Break down data by groups/department/grade level
- Meet with PLC’s to develop strategies
- Review unit/lesson plans/identify trends and adapt
- Revision of future plans
- Provide resources/PD where needed based on data