Mismeasuring Schools' Vital Signs: How to Avoid Misunderstanding, Misinterpreting, and Distorting Data

Description

This book helps school and district leaders avoid the pitfalls that await those making sense of their school’s data. Whether you're interpreting achievement gaps, graduation rates or test results, you're at risk of reaching a mistaken judgment. By learning about common errors and how they’re made, you'll be ready to choose safer, surer paths to making better sense of the wealth of data in your school or district. The authors help educators build better evidence, see conclusions more clearly, and explain the data more persuasively. Special features Include "Questions to Spark Discussion" in each chapter encourage school site, district leaders, and board trustees to apply each chapter’s content to their own situations. Data visualizations, together with the authors’ interpretations, will help you learn how to do visual analysis (and reach the right conclusions). Practical tips provide clear guidance. Supplemental resources can be found at the book’s website, k12measures.com, including interactive data visualizations and analytic exercises to help you learn a concept by "doing." Cover Half Title Series Title Copyright Dedication Contents List of figures, sidebars and tables Preface: the two paths that led us to write this book About the authors Acknowledgments Introduction: the human cost of mismeasurement 1 What is mismeasurement and how does it occur? 2 Twisting test results and missing sound evidence of learning 3 The hidden hazards of interpreting graduation rates 4 Gaps mismeasured, misattributed and misunderstood 5 Logic errors when identifying and evaluating English learners 6 Mistaken ways of measuring money, buildings and people 7 Reducing barriers to progress at every level Index