Results Driven, Data Informed

For the past four years as a special education teacher, I have collected academic and behavior data with fidelity and used it to create truly unique and effective IEPs for my students. Sometimes I am asked how this has prepared me for a role as a data analyst. For those of you unfamiliar with the IEP process, it actually mimics the data analysis process very closely!

1. Ask

The IEP creation process starts with asking stakeholders (the student, parents, administrators, etc) what they believe is important for the student. We look at students as unique individuals and identify what questions we specifically want to answer for this student.

2. Prepare

If we do not have the data to answer a question we have, we create forms to allow us to collect the data. For more formal evaluations we use pre-created forms with standardized results. We identify who needs the forms, how we will collect the data, where it will be stored until analysis, etc.

3. Process

Once we have collected our student data and have identified everything we need to, we start looking at the data we have gathered. Sometimes the data gathered is incomplete due to behaviors or events in the classroom. We approach the people who collected the data to see if they can help us fill in gaps. If they cannot we determine if the observation is still valid and usable. During this phase, we clean the data to make sure our analysis will be accurate.

4. Analyze

We take our data and we look for trends. We look for answers to our questions. For example, how many breaks does a student take in a week, how long are those breaks, can the student ask for a break or do we need to direct them, what is their addition fluency, etc. We also look for new questions our data might generate. Is there patterns we did not recognize before? Are there goals we should be considering? This is the time for the data to tell the student's story and needs.

5. Share

Not every member of the IEP team is an education expert. We need something that is understandable to ALL the stakeholders. This is the time to create charts and visualizations so that our story is clear. Our goal is to clearly communicate the student's story and make sure all stakeholders are on the same page and have equal access to information.

6. Act

As a team, we discuss the findings. We create actionable goals to measure and collect further data on for the year ahead. We make decisions about a student's placement and the services they need to be successful.