This content provides added support for readers of Dr. Rankin’s data books.

This email would be appropriate for an educator leader to send a data system/report provider to advocate for all of the Over-the-Counter Data Standards.

 

 

Dear Data System/Report Provider,

 

I noticed our district’s data reports do not adhere to the Over-the-Counter Data Standards that stipulate research-based ways to report data to educators. Adherence to these standards is necessary to best support educators’ easy use and thorough understanding of reports’ data. Consider:

 

  • Only 48% of teachers’ inferences based on given data are accurate at districts with strong data cultures (U.S. Department of Education Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, 2009), with other educators' analyses being less accurate.

  • Adhering to some Over-the-Counter Data Standards can triple or even quadruple educators’ data analysis accuracy (Rankin, 2013).

 

Please attune our data system/reports to adhere to the research-based Over-the-Counter Data Standards. These resources can help you:

 

  • Over-the-Counter Data Standards (and a paper on the research behind them) are available at www.jennyrankin.com/s/OTCDStandards.pdf.

  • Read the book How to Make Data Easy: A Guide for Edtech Providers to Improve Data Tools & Support so Data Becomes Easy to Use, by Dr. Jenny Grant Rankin. This guide explains how to implement each reporting standard within a data system/reports (offering specific examples, before and after illustrations, etc.).

  • Free templates (for reference sheets and reference guides) that are aligned to Over-the-Counter Data Standards and the supplemental documentation shown to be effective in the Rankin study are also available at www.jennyrankin.com/templates.

 

Thank you very much for your time and assistance. Adhering to these standards will offer tremendous help to educators and students.

 

- Me

 

Rankin, J. G. (2013). Over-the-counter data’s impact on educators’ data analysis accuracy. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, 3575082. Retrieved from http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/doc/1459258514.html?FMT=ABS

U.S. Department of Education Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development (2009). Implementing data-informed decision making in schools: Teacher access, supports and use. United States Department of Education (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED504191)