Use data

 A key element of IDRA’s Education CAFE model is that members choose a project for their group to focus on in order to affect education in their community’s schools. Educators have access to very large amounts of information and can organize it in many ways. Yet, we know the importance of being attuned to what is happening and what is of concern to families – concerned to the point of them wanting to act, as a community, to change something, solve a problem or throw more light on an issue.

IDRA’s family leadership approach, as seen in our Education CAFE work and our school change model, the Quality Schools Action Framework, gives actionable data and information a prominent role. Data are important but only to serve the interest and drive of the families to have excellent schools for all children.

Our experience with families and communities also informs our processes. We have seen countless attempts by school officials to dump data at parent meetings without first listening to what parents are most concerned about. To simply present data, no matter how critical and important we might consider it, without being attentive to the participants’ interests, is to misunderstand what being “data driven” means. In the vast information databases collected by federal and state agencies and others, we must mine for what is relevant and current.

The community project selected by the group is constructed as we bridge the data with families’ concerns and interests. The data that drives family leadership in education projects must resonate with the families and be a catalyst for action.

Education decisions should be driven by strong data and research that comes from communities that are directly impacted by those decisions. Students and families have the power to inform education leaders by producing their own research and data. Being closest to the classroom experience gives students and families the best access to individuals involved with education whether that be other students or their teachers and administrators. By asking the right questions, students and their families are able to give insight to the issues that are most important for their success in school.  

Data (another word for information) is generally collected in two ways. Data is collected by either examining  the numbers associated with a certain issue (quantitative approach) or by talking with individuals about a certain issue and analyzing what they say(qualitative approach).  Both of these methods require investigators to examine the information that they collect and identify trends and connections within the information. By combining the data with analysis, students and families can produce their own research.  

Collecting your own data through surveys 

Students and families are incredibly effective when they perform their own research and present this information to decisionmakers. Find out more about how IDRA supported students to perform their research in these examples: 

• Student Reflections on Schooling During COVID-19 – Student-Led Research Project Explores Effects of the Pandemic on Students and Schooling
• “Our children could get lost” – Rio Grande Valley Parents Gather to Discuss Policy Implications
• Community Survey about House Bill 5 Curriculum Tracking Plans: Key Findings
• How One Group of Families Explored Clues about their Children’s Math Education, by
• This We Know All of Our Children are Learning
• See sample surveys in Parents and Students Examine Math Curriculum and Instruction at their High School

Research and data can also be combined into usable graphs and representations called data dashboards. These let students and families find out information about their own schools and neighborhoods. For example, see IDRA’s data dashboards. 

Video: Communities Using Data – IDRA OurSchool Portal