Vendor’s poll hints at gaps in identifying and acting upon problems using data
At this year’s ISTE conference Lexia Learning polled more than 200 educators in an informal survey, which suggests teachers are not using collected data to pinpoint skill deficiencies in a timely manner.
According to the survey, only 35 percent of respondents felt that teachers at their schools had a high or very high level of comfort connecting data to instruction.
The survey also found that fewer than half (48 percent) of respondents felt that their current screener assessments provide clear categorizations of which students were on track and which needed more attention. This compounds the problem where a majority of learners are not receiving the support they need, and indicates that some of their teachers may not even be aware that there is a problem to solve.
While 54 percent of respondents said that teachers in their schools have assessment data that tells them whether intervention plans are working, significantly fewer (only 37 percent) believed that their assessment data told them how to change an ineffective intervention plan currently in place.
Additionally, the survey revealed that current screener assessments take up too much instructional time. Eighty-three percent of educators believe that screener assessments should take 30 minutes or less, however, less than half (47 percent) of the respondents indicated that their screener assessments could be administered within that timeframe.
These findings, along with the previously cited low figure associated with teachers linking data to instruction, signify that combining assessments with guidance for adjusting interventions in accordance with student needs would be a major step toward making data-based instruction a reality for numerous classrooms.
“Our survey results echo the findings from the Gates Foundation’s recently released report, which revealed that 67 percent of teachers weren’t fully satisfied with the effectiveness of the data they receive from digital tools,” said Lexia President Nick Gaehde. “It is this same need that has driven Lexia’s mission for more than 30 years, helping teachers assess student needs efficiently and then use the data to positively impact classroom instruction.”
Material from a press release was used in this report.
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