Lesson: Developing a Data Calendar
Participants:
Data Steward/Coordinator
Description
This lesson introduces the purpose of a data calendar and the factors that should be accounted for in creating a data calendar.
Objectives
- Define the role and importance of a well-designed data calendar.
- Develop an effective calendar for data collection and reporting for the district.
Instructor Preparation
- Determine if your state department of education has developed a data calendar. If so, determine the URL for the information or download the appropriate file for printing and/or electronic distribution to participants.
- Create a reference sheet with the URLs for the state data calendar, if one exists, and the Education Data Exchange Network (EDEN)1 data calendar and make copies for all participants.
- If you collected the Data in School forms at the end of the Data Flow and Data Cycles lesson, have them ready to distribute to the appropriate participants.
- Make a copy of the following lesson resources (the first two of which can be found in the Lesson Resources column at the top of this page) for each participant:
- Collected Data Items
- Data Calendar Planning Form
- State data calendar (download from the state department of education)
Essential Learnings
- Developing a Local Education Agency (LEA) data calendar should take into account any state data calendars and the EDEN data calendar.
- Developing a data calendar should take into account not just deadlines, but conflicts with other school events, the amount of time people will need to query data and make corrections, etc.
- Developing a data calendar should be done in consultation with all key staff members who either produce or apply education data.
- District leadership should be aware of the importance of the timely delivery of quality data and the importance of enforcing the data calendar in achieving that delivery.
Top
1 A set of K-12 statistical reports gathered from state agencies by the U.S. Department of Education.
Lesson Resources
Lesson Plan (9 KB)
Download the lesson plan of "Developing a Data Calendar" in MS Word.
Collected Data Items (8 KB)
Pick one or two data sources that contain one of the data types previously discussed (student learning, demographics, school processes, and perceptions). For each of the sources, list the data items by type and complete the rest of the columns for each item.
Data Calendar Planning Form (9 KB)
External Reports/Data Submissions Planning
In the first column, create a list of the reports and/or data submissions for which your school or district is responsible. For each item in the list, fill out the remainder of the cells as indicated in the example in the first row.
Curricular Decisionmaking Planning
For each school building in your district, identify appropriate staff and the dates by which major curricular decisions (curriculum assignments, remediation needs, special placements, etc.) are made and data needed to support those decisions.