Data Coach’s Guide

The Data Coach’s Guide to Improving Learning for All Students provides detailed guidance for helping schools move away from unproductive data practices and toward examining data as a catalyst for systematic and continuous improvement in instruction and student learning. To help both current and aspiring Data Coaches facilitate school-based Data Teams and lead teachers in collaborative inquiry, the authors demonstrate a data model that has been field-tested and proven to be effective.

Closing the achievement gap, reducing the failure rate of underserved students, and meeting accountability requirements are primary goals for educational leaders. Using Data to Improve Learning for All: A Collaborative Inquiry Approach arms leaders with the tools for using data to work for students' benefit, with an emphasis on promoting equity within a culturally proficient school environment. Presenting a conceptual framework and practical methods, this valuable handbook combines a powerful collaborative inquiry process, reflective dialogue, and rigorous use of data to improve outcomes for all students.

"This book [The Data Coach's Guide] stands out among school improvement resources for its moral courage and conviction as well as its technical excellence. This comprehensive approach to school data use calls on educators to critically examine the assumptions that they bring to data analysis and incorporate the lens of cultural proficiency as an essential element into learning communities. Love and her colleagues’ work is nothing short of a breakthrough in the field – the go-to guide for schools that want to strengthen their will and skill to serve each and every child."

— BRENDA CAMPBELLJONES and FRANKLIN CAMPBELLJONES, Educational Consultants and Authors

"This book [Using Data] will take you along paths forged by data trailblazers toward deeper understandings of the needs of students. The lessons learned will help you blaze your own trail."

— PAGE KEELEY, President, National Science Teachers Association

"Love and her colleagues' work [in collaborative inquiry] has become the centerpiece of my approach to effective supervision. Their Guide offers a practical way to develop collaborative teams over time that have a lasting impact on a school's culture. Teachers are empowered to direct their own inquiry and develop appropriate responses to ensure learning opportunities for students. Schools that I have worked with that have embraced the philosophy and tools in The Data Coach's Guide have realized increased results."

— DR. DAVID TIMBS, Supervisor of Testing and Accountability, Sullivan County Schools, Blountville, Tennessee, and Tennessee Supervisor of the Year, 2009