Resources

This field-tested workshop toolkit guides facilitators through a set of structured activities to develop an understanding of how to foster a culture of data use in districts and schools.

WestEd researchers Nancy Gerzon and Sarah Guckenburg reviewed current research and identified five essential elements found in districts and schools with effective data-use practices:

• Participating in the flow of information for data use
• Communicating professional expectations for data use
• Providing resources and assistance to make meaning from data
• Providing professional development on data-use knowledge and skills
• Providing leadership to nurture a culture of data use

This guide enables a facilitator to present a conceptual framework aligned with these five elements. It also offers professional development materials to support district and school leaders in engaging their administrators, teacher leaders, and data team members to explore how to establish, maintain, and nurture a culture of data use.

Included are an agenda for a one-day professional development session (or a series of shorter sessions), guiding ideas to scaffold participant learning, and suggestions for participant activities. The handouts offer research reviews, vignettes, tools, and resources that highlight effective practices in each of the five framework elements.