Data Use Courses for Educators
Since 2012-13, the SD-STARS team has facilitated two summer data use courses for educators: Fundamentals of Data Use for Educators, and Advanced Data Use Skills for Educators. Following are some observations from this summer’s offerings, which were both delivered as online courses.
Fundamentals of Data Use for Educators
This summer, 17 educators participated in the Fundamentals of Data Use for Educators course, for which many chose to earn one graduate credit. The course was a collaboration between the SD-STARS team and the University of South Dakota, giving educators an opportunity to find and analyze data, create plans based on what they learned from the data, and prepare to monitor and evaluate those plans throughout the coming school year.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s course was split into two half-day sessions via Zoom. Each participant worked with breakout groups and independently to finish a data project.
About the course, participants shared:
- “I am glad that [DOE] broke the course into 2 half-days. It was nice to not feel overwhelmed after each session.”
- “I feel I can be a much stronger leader because I learned this process and it is what our leadership team needs to do.”
- “Excellent! Well organized, great walkthrough, resources, and process.”
Advanced Data Use Skills for Educators
This summer, the SD-STARS team offered an advanced course for participants who have previously taken the fundamentals course. Nine educators participated in this seven-week online course, where they discussed how to use data for continuous school improvement. They studied and applied a framework for school improvement to their own organizations and discussed many related topics with other educators throughout the state. This group will finish the course in mid-August. At the end of the course, each participant will have resources and tools which will help them lead their organizations through school improvement, based on data.
Course facilitator Brad Steckelberg said, “This course gave educators an opportunity to pair their specialized knowledge and experience about education and data analysis with a process for school improvement. Since more districts are preparing school improvement plans, this course and its materials will prove to be a valuable resource for years to come.”