School teams teach teachers how to use data
By Matthew Stewart (matts@thedailytimes.com)
Educators in Blount County’s three school systems will soon get additional administrative supports for analyzing student achievement data.
The Tennessee Department of Education, in partnership with Battelle for Kids, is training District Value-Added Leadership Team (DVALT) members. All of the state’s public school districts are participating in the program.
Educators will help build the capacity of their peers to analyze Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS) data in order to guide instructional decision-making and improve student academic progress.
TVAAS measures achievement gain in a way that permits schools to be compared regardless of the makeup of their student body. Instead of ranking schools by how their students simply score on a standardized test, the accountability system provides information to teachers, parents and the public on how schools are doing in helping each child make academic gains each year.
Schools whose students make the greatest annual gains in achievement earn the highest value-added scores. A school’s score is based on the three-year value-added gains in reading/language arts and math.
All the state’s systems have assembled their own team, and a system’s total number of DVALT members is based on its student enrollment.
DVALT members include:
Alcoa " Kim Hawkins, Alcoa High School’s Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) coordinator; Donna Ruckart, the system’s testing coordinator; and Michelle Knight, Alcoa Elementary School’s AYP and Title I coordinator.
Blount County " Dr. Brian Bell, assistant director of schools; Dr. Jane Morton, supervisor of instruction and assessment; Donny Anderson, a systemwide data coach; Jennifer Axley, a math consultant; and Nancy Kemp, a systemwide data coach.
Maryville " Dr. Mike Winstead, assistant director of schools; Carol Borstelmann, a Maryville Intermediate School teacher; Justin Cook, a Maryville Middle School teacher; and Kaye Buckley, Maryville High School’s curriculum coordinator.
All three teams attended a three-day workshop in November. DVALT members are collaborating with a Regional Value-Added Specialist (RVAS).
Hawkins is serving as the RVAS for Alcoa, Maryville, Blount County, Lenoir City, Loudon County, Monroe County and Sweetwater schools. She will work with DVALT members to support their efforts in coaching principals and teacher leaders in value-added use.
Hawkins will spend four days working with Blount County Schools, and a combined two days with Alcoa and Maryville City schools.
Making data relevant
DVALT members were impressed with the program’s workshop.
“It was one of the best PD (professional development) seminars that I’ve ever attended,” Bell said. “It was very enlightening for us. They (Battelle for Kids) delivered a presentation that helped us to grasp the program’s concept.”
He was also excited about making the TVAAS data relevant to principals and teachers. “We’ll be able to help them analyze the data and make changes to how they teach our curriculum.”
Blount County’s team will train all system-level administrators and literacy leaders in January, Bell said. Team members will train the system’s principals in February.
The principals and DVALT members will train all faculty members in July, he said.
“Battelle for Kids has done a pretty good job rolling out with the RVAS and DVALT. Now, it’s time for us to take it back to our teachers and help them to become comfortable with the data,” Winstead said.
He was particularly excited about the program’s eight to 10 online training modules, which will get the state’s educators on the same page.
Winstead thought some of the material was eye-opening. “Most teachers and principals across the state and nation know how to analyze data. They can identify their strength and weaknesses.”
Battelle for Kids’ program provides educators with new lenses to view the data, he said. “A lot of their focus was on finding root causes for our strengths and weaknesses. Is it a problem with curriculum, instruction or assessment? Once you get to the causes, you can actually correct the challenges and weaknesses.”
Maryville’s team plans to train all faculty members in July, Winstead said.
