#ThanksData

Tis the season for gratitude

Here at IEBC we are thankful for... data! But not just any data, the kind that leads to improvement and student success. To celebrate useful data, we invite you to use social media channels to share your #ThanksData stories of data revealing problems and solutions. We'll start.

Odessa College - a mid-sized community college in west Texas - achieved some of the biggest graduation rate increases we've seen by focusing on indicators that signaled students' needs well before they became a grad rate statistic. Interventions work when faculty receive the right data at the right time to understand what students really need to succeed.

What are some of your best #ThanksData stories?

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Can you hear me now?

We capture more and more data, but are we really listening to understand what data mean?

In a recent Huffington Post op-ed, we offer 5 tips for going beyond top line data findings to reveal actionable data educators can use to truly understand and serve students better.

More work to uncover what's going on behind the numbers will mean the difference between problem solving and paralysis.

Student Learning Outcomes: How do you know?

Even as the nation pushes for quantum increases in college attainment, there is widespread alarm about college graduates being ill prepared by their college career. A surprisingly few higher education institutions seem to be able to agree on the knowledge and skills students need for success in career and life.

But students, colleges, and the nation's workforce can't afford the confusion. IEBC is pleased to be working with faculty and administrators to take the measure of what America's students should get out of their college education.

Faculty and administrators can participate in webinars and workshops to create effective ways to assess, understand and improve student learning outcomes -- the knowledge, skills and habits of mind that students take with them as a result of teaching and learning.

Now is the time to ensure clearer paths of coursework and skills students need to succeed. This work has many applications, including helping translate military experience into college credit.

Golden State Opportunity

California Community Colleges now have until January 2015 to develop "student equity plans."

The plans are a great opportunity to analyze performance data and discover patterns and results that signal areas needing attention.

Beyond Compliance

Everything changes when faculty from across departments, institutions and even regions come together to review data.

It is an opportunity to collaboratively set standards for what students should know, understand, and accomplish as they progress toward their degrees.

#Data4Decisions

If you missed the NASSP and Data Quality Campaign Twitter chat on using publicly reported data to inform better education decision making, check it out on Storify.

The conversation and information shared was excellent. We look forward to the next one.

Thanks for taking the time to learn more about the big opportunities and challenges of data use in education. We would love to learn more about your organization and how we can help. E-mail me at bphillips@iebcnow.org or call us at 760-436-1477.

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