Collect Classroom Data to Improve Teaching Practices
and Student Performance
Summary:
This page suggests that teachers can apply the scientific method to design research of their own and use the resulting data to make productive changes.
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Teachers continuously gather feedback from their students about how well they are learning. This allows them to adjust lessons to make them more effective. With a little planning, teachers can turn this process into purposeful data collection. Classroom research is a powerful professional development tool and a way to increase students' performance. It also generates valuable documentation.
All scientific research begins with observation and identifying a question or problem to pursue. For example:
- What should students know or be able to do?
- What teaching behaviors need to change?
- What tools are most useful?
- Is this scheduling appropriate?
After a problem for study is identified, comes planning and designing the research activities.
- Target specific areas for change.
- Set a goal for improvement.
- Measure and record a baseline or current performance level.
- Decide how to measure changes.
- Set a schedule for the project.
Depending on the specific study, other activities may be necessary. The research can cover something as specific as a teaching behavior or as complex as standardized testing. Once the plan is in place, it's time to record the data. Data analysis leads to a conclusion about the original problem, but the real products of teacher-run classroom research are student progress and results to share with administrators and other teachers. Classroom data collection gives educators a process for continuous reflection and improvement.
Use the resources listed below for examples and background information.
Keller, C.L. & Duffy, M.L. (2005). “I said that?” How to improve instructional behavior in just 5 minutes per day through data-based self-evaluation. Teaching Exceptional Children, 37(4).
Protheroe, N. (2001) Improving teaching and learning with data-based decisions: Asking the right questions
and acting on the answers. [Electronic version] ERS Spectrum. Arlington, VA: Educational Research Service.
www.ers.org/spectrum/sum01a.htm