It has been a busy couple of months. The third book in a 3-book collection published by Routledge/Taylor & Francis was just released today, offering readers the chance to read the book(s) that speaks directly to their particular job duties and interests related to education data. Standards for Reporting Data to Educators: What Educational Leaders Should Know and Demand summarizes over 300 studies and other expert sources concerning how data should best be displayed for educators, so that busy educators can quickly and easily understand data they use to inform decision-making. This book is for people who want to examine the actual research behind two other books on the same topic, released earlier this month and last month:
- How to Make Data Work: A Guide for Educational Leaders (this book is for educator leaders who guide and support other educators in using data)
- Designing Data Reports that Work: A Guide for Creating Data Systems in Schools and Districts (this book is for anyone who designs data visualization, data reports, or data systems to be used by educators or education stakeholders; readers might be educators who extract data from a data system to produce data displays to be read by others, educational technology vendors who provide data systems or data reports to educator clients, other organization representatives who support educators with data, etc.)
Thus the same topic is approached for all stakeholders who play central roles in effective data use, with a book catered to each: educators, data providers, and researchers. I am very grateful for the following endorsements, from two of the most prominent and prolific experts in the field:
"Too often, teachers are handed data that are inscrutable or easily misinterpreted. In Standards for Reporting Data to Educators, Dr. Rankin provides solid recommendations that will not only save teachers time, but also improve their knowledge about students."
- Vincent Cho, Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership and Higher Education, Lynch School of Education, Boston College
"The ways that data are presented make such a difference in how educators understand and use data. In Standards for Reporting Data to Educators, Dr. Jenny Rankin uses research to identify best practices in presenting data to educators. The result is a clear, research-based framework that will be an important aid to anyone interested in educator data use."
- Jeffrey C. Wayman, Ph.D., Wayman Services, LLC
Standards for Reporting Data to Educators: What Educational Leaders Should Know and Demand is available now in hardcover and Kindle. I hope those of you who read it (or merely use it as a reference) enjoy it. Thank you to all who help to improve data displays and support so busy educators can more easily understand and meet students’ needs. Given the many demands placed on educators’ time, data use should be simple so educators can focus on what they do best: changing students’ lives.
