Data Rooms

[DataDB]

Hello everyone,

 

I am toying with the idea of proposing a data room or a data wall in order to allow staff to visualise the progress students are making or need to make for us to reach our targets.

 

I just wondered if anyone had done something like this already and what your thoughts were?

 

Is it used? Do Staff like it?

 

Also I'd be interested into how far you go, so for all years, or just KS4, 5 A*-C wall and a seperate Levels of Progress wall etc

 

Thanks

[Jenis]

In both of the schools I work in the "running track" seems to be fairly popular with kids and staff. You put laminated pictures of the kids' faces on top of running stick figures as a race to the finish line (i.e. their target grade). Especially good with competitive boys, I think!

 

Another one was having photo cards of the Year 11s under each heading of what they are and are not achieving (e.g. 5EM, 5E but not M). Tbh, most of the methods use seem to use the kids photos the most, so that staff can recognise those kids and they don't get lost. In one school, these photos are on display in the staff room to try and reach as many teachers as possible. I think that would probably be your best bet - if there was a special "data room" our teachers would not use it, I think. The information needs to be out there, not making teachers put in the extra effort to go find it.

 

But then, I'm not actually sure how effective the running track and photos are! These methods have been used by the more data-conscious teachers. But definitely the more visual the better, as I'm sure we all know, teachers like pictures, graphs and colours.

[LosOjos]

I read an OFSTED document that talked about the "Data War room" so we employed the idea here - I produce A6 cards for each student with their photo, their targets, their estimates and any key data (3LOP En/Ma for instance). We then put these on to the staff room wall on a display board which has been split in to the following categories:

 

5+ A*-C including English & Maths

3+ A*-C + English (not Maths)

3+ A*-C + Maths (not English)

3+ A*-C (no English or Maths)

A*-C English (no Maths, no 'Other 3')

A*-C Maths (no English, no 'Other 3')

<3 A*-C, no English or Maths

 

Laying them out like this mean different departments can quickly zone in on their own focus groups, i.e. Maths HoD can look at those students who only need Maths to get their 5 A* - C in English and Maths.

[CAM]

I used to have a wall in the staff room set aside for posting up a league table. All the residuals for each student was added up (difference between the target grade and given grade) and ranked highest to lowest. Visitors from other schools were quite impressed with it!

 

Currently I print off the photo report from 4Matrix and that goes up on the wall in my current school. It shows a photo of each student in year 11 and who has 5A*-C, who has less, who has English, Maths, etc.

[gazskeltz]

Hi,

 

For our Year 11s we adjust En/Ma/Sc Predictions every two weeks. We then plug the data into 4Matrix and Discover.

 

Discover gives us a Venn Diagram and 4Matrix gives us the rest.

 

We have a board in the Staffroom with pictures of all students mounted on House Colour card and laminated.

 

These are split into a square approximation of the Venn Diagram Layout and posted along with:

 

Discover Venn Diagram

4Matrix School Overview

4Matrix 5A*-C Analysis

4Matrix Press Release

4Matrix Subject Summary

 

Movers and Shakers Report

This shows the students who have moved category since the last data collection (two weeks ago). For example, Johnny has moved from 5A*-C Inc En Ma to 5A*-C En but NOT Ma. This is produced using the export of the 4matrix Press Release and some excel jiggery pokery.

 

Regards

 

Gary

[Ecclesbury]

Funnily enough I've just finished some work to produce this for our school. I've been calling it the "War Room" board but only because I'd heard the phrase used a lot of the past few years.

WE've actually introduced Progress 8 onto ours. It is useful in this case not because it is an accurate prediction of what the students actual P8 score will be, but because using the current methodology is good for looking at the relative position of each child in the year group (i.e. the middle might move, and the gaps between students might be different, but the order will always be the same)

 

So I have produced small photos sheets (6 per A4 Page) which have the students photo, attendance, a coloured box indiciating if they are on the SEN CoP, whether they are HAP, MAP or LAP and their Progress 8 score. There is also a table with all of their current predicted grades. Pupil Premium students are printed on blue paper, everyone else on white (PP is a big focus for us this year)

 

On the War Room wall the "x axis" is Progress 8, so the lowest P8 scores on the left, the highest on the right. The "y axis" is split into bands for the various 5 Acem groups others have described. So in essence the closer to the bottom left of the board the more cause for concern.

[Ecclesbury]

"i.e. the middle might move, and the gaps between students might be different, but the order will always be the same!"

 

Just engaged my brain and realised that's not necessarily true but I still think the approach is valid.