Jackie, and others,

These are important points. You don't sound snarky to me.

I wonder if the guests -- and if others here -- have examples of
instructors who have done experiments in their classes, who have got good
data, made decisions based on the data, and seen positive change as a
result. We need power-of-data narratives, by or about teachers who feel
that the data-for-decision-making process -- even if demanding and time
consuming -- is worth it. Please share these stories with us.

David J. Rosen
djrosen at theworld.com


>   At the risk of sounding snarky....which I sincerely do NOT intend, I

> think that most ABE teachers are underpaid and would see using data as

> worthwhile if they were not already doing so much for so little. If

> data will lead to a better program, will it also lead to a better

> salary?

>

>   Also, I think it is only fair to point out that data cannot

> necessarily inform all decisions. The target population is a moving

> target, groups come and go and what holds true for one group may not

> apply to another.

>

>   After all that, perhaps having instructors use their own data, from

> experiments they themselves have developed and conducted, may help get

> buy-in. What do they need? What do they want to know? How can they

> find out? What can they do with the information. If people are not

> used to dealing with data, then perhaps they need to see the power of

> the data first. Then they may feel more comfortable looking at data

> from an outside source.

>

>   Just some thoughts from a practioner.

>

> On 12/8/08, Marie Cora <marie.cora at hotspurpartners.com> wrote:

>>

>>

>>

>> A subscriber sent:

>>

>> How do you get staff to buy-in to a bigger focus on using data?  My

>> staff

>> really see this as an extra layer of effort and work at this point.

>> It's

>> hard to get them to see that some initial work on this will eventually

>> lead

>> to better teaching and programming.  Thanks.

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>> Marie Cora, Moderator

>>

>> Assessment Discussion List

>>

>> National Institute for Literacy

>>

>> Email me at:  marie.cora at hotspurpartners.com

>>

>> Subscribe at:

>> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/assessment

>>

>>

>>

>> Coordinator of Assessment

>>

>> Program Planning Resource Collection

>>

>> National Institute for Literacy

>>

>> Visit at:

>> http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/resourcecollections/resource_collections.html

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>> -------------------------------

>> National Institute for Literacy

>> Assessment mailing list

>> Assessment at nifl.gov

>> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to

>> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/assessment

>> Email delivered to jackie.coelho at gmail.com

>>

>>

> -------------------------------

> National Institute for Literacy

> Assessment mailing list

> Assessment at nifl.gov

> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to

> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/assessment

> Email delivered to djrosen at theworld.com

>