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2006; Picciano, 2006; Halverson, cur annually at Cheesequake School ten on the inside cover, as well as a
Grigg, Prichett, & Thomas, 2007). and now districtwide in Old Bridge. personal goal. The teacher identifies
The advent and requirement of The first phase involves analyzing and various resources such as apps and
“Student Growth Objectives (SGOs)” taking action based on the school/ adaptive software which the student
literally codified the expectation of the grade level results; second, individual can use to work on his/her weakness.
use of data informed instruction by student data; and third, detailed indi- Students complete an ongoing log
classroom teachers. One could argue vidual teacher results. During phase documenting the date, focus skill(s),
that these required practices have one, the Soar the Scores (hereinafter, resource/app/website used, and the
fostered systemic growth in teacher STS) School/Grade Level Analysis and outcome. This simple practice informs
capacity for classroom data usage and Domain Level Analysis Reports are every student about his/her results on
practice. That being said, building a introduced at opening faculty meet- the state assessment, specific weak-
robust district culture of data informed ings. Specific grade level strengths nesses and strengths, and empowers
decision-making requires a coordi- and weaknesses are discussed in a the student to take constructive action.
nated approach between classroom, constructive, growth-mindset oriented It can be asserted that this practice
school and district (Achieve, 2012; manner (Dweck, 2008) and subse- has led to gains in state assessment
Marsh & Farrell, 2015). This article quently become the foci of teachers’ outcomes for most students and fur-
will outline a systems-based approach SGOs. Since the institution of this ther deepened the data-driven growth
to utilizing student performance data practice, a direct correlation has been mindset throughout Cheesequake
through which best practices become observed between where teach- school.
formalized and consistent. Offered ers focus their attention and student The final phase examines teacher
will be several simple and effective outcomes. Under the direction of the outcomes from the previous year.
practices that school and district district Office of Academics, all schools Detailed Soar the Scores SGP Re-
leaders can use not only to formalize throughout Old Bridge are strongly ports and STS Teacher Strength
these processes but also to intertwine encouraged to use school and grade Reports are created for all Old Bridge
them with other mandates such as level results to drive SGOs. teachers who receive Student Growth
teacher Student Growth Objectives, The second phase of data use, which Percentile (SGP) scores. The first
Professional Development Plans, and also takes place in September to Oc- report informs the teacher of the SGP
Performance Evaluations. tober annually, is the analysis of indi- score for each of his/her students
One powerful case study that il- vidual student level data. New Jersey from the previous school year and
lustrates how systemic use of data provides Individual Student Reports illustrates how the student scored
can lead to powerful outcomes is (ISRs) to be sent home to parents, before having the teacher and after
Cheesequake Elementary School in but in the majority of school districts in every domain. Most teachers in the
Old Bridge, NJ, a school that has won teachers may not use or even see the state merely receive their mSGP, or
three national awards in the last five ISRs. Conversely, in Old Bridge, Soar median SGP, number from the state
years. Cheesequake is a diverse, Title the Scores Current Roster Reports which provide neither specificity into
I school which has a 35% free and as well as STS Content Standards how the score was derived nor insight
reduced lunch rate, minorities com- Current Roster reports are created regarding where to place focus for
prise 50% of the student population, and distributed to teachers provid- improvement. Teachers in Cheese-
and approximately 8% of students ing access to detailed assessment quake and throughout the Old Bridge
are English Language Learners. Dr. results for all students on their current district reflect upon specific students
Thomas Ferry, the Cheesequake Prin- rosters. This makes the state assess- and groups of students that had high
cipal, a former mathematics teacher, ment data actionable for each teacher or low growth, complete reflection
and founder of Soar the Scores LLC, while maintaining appropriate student sheets, and examine domains in which
provides data leadership and analysis confidentiality. their cohort of students increased or
as well as professional development To ensure that every student is declined in score.
on the school and district levels. Over likewise taking meaningful action on The second report, the STS Teacher
the last 8 years, Cheesequake School the individual data, teachers at Chee- Strength Report, drills down into
has built its capacity to use data in a equake School are required to imple- teacher performance even further and
purposeful, systemic manner. Cheese- ment “Growth Mindset Portfolios” for allows the teacher to see the aggre-
quake was named a 2014 National each student. Each teacher conducts gated outcome for their previous class-
School of Character, a 2015 National individual conferences/coaching es of students in every domain and
Title I Distinguished School and most sessions, informs the student of the subsets of standards/skills. By taking
recently in 2017, was named a Nation- outcomes on the most recent state information from the Pearson Content
al Blue Ribbon School of Excellence. assessment, and highlights his/her Standards Report databases, complet-
The school’s systematic use of data strengths and specific weaknesses ing calculations, and highlighting in
has undoubtedly been integral to this (which are referred to instead as “not green or red whether the student and
success. yet strengths”). The student then cre- entire class was above or below the
There are three phases to optimal use ates a folder in which his/her specific state in terms of percentage of pos-
of state assessment results, which oc- strengths and weaknesses are writ- sible points earned, each teacher can

Educational Viewpoints -55- Spring 2019