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 Welcome
to School Based Data Analysis!
Before we begin the work for
this course, let me outline what it is we want to accomplish and why
it is so important to understand and appreciate database structures
for decision making.
Course
Description
A school district’s effective use of
data can enable the successful identification and implementation of
appropriate strategies that ultimately lead to the attainment of
standards and increases in student learning. However, many schools
do not use data to promote increased student learning or for
standards implementation. The reasons for this are varied. The data
may not be easy to access, they may not be in forms that are easy to
understand, no one may be available who understands and can work
with data, or there may be no knowledge that the data exist. For
some, there may be so much data that knowing where to begin an
analysis of the data is the challenge. Each of these situations (as
well as many others) actively discourages school districts from
learning about the phenomena they are attempting to understand. By
supporting the creation, access, and subsequent analysis of school
district databases, efforts by school leaders to create and sustain
professional learning communities that are focused on the success of
all students can be realized.
 Course
Objectives
The purpose of this course is to help educators think through the
issues surrounding the uses of school district databases established
to achieve increased student learning. This course will help
educators understand:
• what a database is and why school district databases are needed
• what key data should school district databases contain
• how can we create or modify information from a database that
will meet specific needs
• what levels of information are important to retrieve from the
database
• how do we translate that information into a school district
accountability plan
The task of learning the structure, content, and data analysis
options of a database is tolerable when you know the labor‑intensive
work of designing, implementing, and using a database will result in
analyses that lead to school improvement and, ultimately, to
enhanced student learning. This course, through a series of action
assignments, reviews and explores database design, information,
analysis, planning, and reporting.
Link to Full Course Description
Site Map for EDU 5650
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