ED 114 • TLC for the PLC

Module 4 • Using Data to Improve Student Learning

Welcome to Module 4

Use evidence as a source of collective learning, thoughtful action, and continuous improvement.

Welcome to Module 4

Professional Learning Communities become powerful when teams move beyond exchanging ideas and begin studying the relationship between instruction and student learning. Module 4 develops the habits needed to do that work responsibly. The goal is not to turn every educator into a statistician. The goal is to help collaborative teams ask better questions, gather useful evidence, interpret it carefully, and respond in ways that increase the likelihood of student success.

In many schools, the word data immediately brings to mind standardized test scores, color-coded spreadsheets, or accountability reports. Those sources can matter, but they represent only a small part of the evidence available to educators. Student explanations, writing samples, observations, attendance patterns, misconceptions, work habits, and feedback from students and families may reveal just as much about what learners need. This module treats data as the full range of information that helps educators understand learning.

Central idea: Data become useful only when educators connect them to a clear question, interpret them within context, and use them to improve a decision.

Essential Question

How can Professional Learning Communities use multiple sources of evidence to make informed instructional decisions that improve student learning?

Learning Objectives

Understand

Explain how an evidence-rich culture supports collective inquiry, professional learning, and shared responsibility for results.

Differentiate

Distinguish formative, summative, diagnostic, quantitative, and qualitative evidence and match each source to an appropriate question.

Interpret

Recognize patterns, trends, subgroup differences, outliers, and limitations without claiming more than the evidence supports.

Apply

Use a collaborative inquiry cycle to identify a problem, explore possible causes, select a response, and monitor its impact.

A Responsible Approach to Evidence

Using evidence well requires both technical skill and professional judgment. A number may be accurate and still be incomplete. A student may score below proficiency because of unfinished learning, unclear directions, unfamiliar vocabulary, inconsistent attendance, limited access to prior instruction, anxiety, or a mismatch between the assessment and what was taught. The number signals a need for investigation; it does not provide a complete explanation.

Responsible teams separate three stages that are often blended together. First, they describe what they observe. Second, they interpret what the pattern might mean. Third, they decide how to respond. Separating these stages reduces the chance that an early assumption will become the team's conclusion.

Describe

What is observable? Which students, tasks, standards, or time periods are represented?

Interpret

What are several plausible explanations? What additional evidence would strengthen or challenge each explanation?

Respond

What action is within the team's influence? What result will indicate whether the action is helping?

Module Road Map

Building a Culture of Evidence

Establish norms that make evidence a tool for learning rather than blame.

Types of Student Data

Select the source that best fits the instructional question.

Data Literacy for Educators

Read patterns accurately and recognize common interpretation errors.

Asking Better Questions

Turn broad concerns into focused questions that can guide inquiry.

Looking Beyond the Numbers

Combine quantitative and qualitative evidence to understand context.

Identifying Root Causes

Investigate systems and conditions before choosing a solution.

Planning Instructional Responses

Design a specific, feasible response with success criteria.

Lincoln Middle School Data Team

Practice a complete evidence-based team conversation.

Data Reflection Self-Assessment

Examine personal and team habits related to evidence use.

Application Challenge

Complete a full PLC inquiry cycle with immediate coaching.

Interactive Preview: What Counts as Data?

Click each item to reveal how it can contribute to a PLC inquiry.

Exit tickets provide immediate formative evidence about what students understood, misunderstood, or could not yet explain.

Attendance can identify differences in opportunity to learn and may help explain why a pattern appears for some students.

Student interviews add meaning and context by revealing strategies, perceptions, confidence, and barriers that may not be visible in a score.

Benchmark scores can show patterns across standards or groups, but they should be paired with closer evidence before a team selects an instructional response.

Before You Begin

As you move through the module, notice your own habits. Do you tend to trust numbers more than observations? Do you jump quickly from a low score to a preferred solution? Do you search for evidence that confirms your first explanation? These tendencies are common. The purpose of professional inquiry is not to eliminate judgment but to make judgment more visible, more disciplined, and more open to revision.

Teachable response: Think about how data are currently used in your school or educational setting. In what ways do data help guide instructional decisions, and what opportunities exist to use evidence more effectively to improve student learning?

Research and References

The explanations, examples, scenarios, and activities in this lesson were written specifically for ED 114. The following works informed the research-based ideas presented:

DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., Many, T. W., & Mattos, M. (2016). Learning by doing: A handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work (3rd ed.). Solution Tree Press.
Bernhardt, V. L. (2018). Data analysis for continuous school improvement (4th ed.). Routledge.
Wiliam, D. (2018). Embedded formative assessment (2nd ed.). Solution Tree Press.

ED 114: TLC for the PLC (3 CEUs or 45 Clock Hours)