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Using Data came about when the professional development team at TERC’s Regional Alliance for Mathematics and Science Education (the Eisenhower Consortia member serving New England and the Islands), began working with hundreds of teachers, supervisors, administrators, and experienced leaders to design professional development to improve teaching and learning in mathematics and science. The Alliance responded to a flood of requests from school leaders in 1999 – 2000 to find and create resources to help schools make sense of their data toward the goal of increasing student achievement.
The work to fulfill the requests, headed by Nancy Love looked into the most credible research and best practice evidence at the time, and forged ahead in what was then a vast, barren landscape of data use by school practitioners to develop the processes, tools, and resources that have helped thousands of schools use their data to increase achievement, change teaching practices and inform school and district decisions impacting every aspect of service to their students.
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That early work resulted in the publication of Using Data Getting Results and face-to-face data workshops that gave teachers the skills to analyze their own data, conduct causal analysis, and develop action plans to address their findings.
When the National Science Foundation recognized the growing demand for research-based resources to build teachers’ data literacy, TERC was funded to investigate the questions coming up. What were the processes, the data, the tools that supported teachers’ inquiry in ways that could result in continuous investigations into the learning challenges discovered in their classrooms. The Using Data Project was a collaboration between TERC and WestEd bringing together some of the most experienced leaders in professional development, including The GroupWorks in Massachusetts. That project resulted in The Data Coach’s Guide to Improving Learning for All Students. The Using Data Institute was a product of the field work conducted in that project.
The Using Data Institute, while forming the bedrock of a suite of services available to schools, has also developed new professional development sessions and series to meet the evolving needs of educators.
With over 16 years of experience supporting schools by building their capacity to use data effectively, Using Data has moved to a new chapter as a provider of services. As of January, 2016 Using Data professional development has transitioned away from TERC and will stand on it’s own while still serving schools nationally and internationally.
For more information, please contact us at 774 993-2005, or complete a contact us form.
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