As an Academic Specialist for my elementary school, part of my responsibility is to analyze school wide data. I have learned how to find patterns and trends in quantitative data both with a birds-eye view of the school down to digging deeper into individual student's data. I have appreciated having this opportunity to learn how to use data to inform instruction at a systematic level and help teacher's use the data to make sure their student's are placed in the correct programs and interventions. It is helpful to have an objective person (other than the classroom teacher) look at the quantitative numbers and offer conclusions about what the data suggests. Our district has a relatively new forum called "DataCom" in which each school presents their data to a panel of other school sites, superintendent, etc with the goal of sharing progress towards our school goals and learning from other sites.
In working on my research paper, I felt comfortable with analyzing my students' quantitative data, but I was at a loss as how to summarize my qualitative findings based on their written comments on an end of year survey. I always felt that qualitative methods were exclusively subjective (as the graphic above demonstrates), but it was very interesting to look at student comments to find trends/patterns with an almost quantitative lens (counting/tallying certain words that were repeated). I was able to see categories and group them together which helped focus my attention on the bigger picture. A part of the analysis still was subjective because I was interpreting what the student meant by their comment because I have known many of my students for several years. Meeting with Dr. Hawley was eye-opening who suggested writing about the qualitative method by introducing the data, writing the student quote and then analyzing each comment. While I still believe that teachers should use quantitative data to inform their instruction, I see how qualitative data is a useful part of good teaching and learning.
3 Comments
Lori
7/23/2016 09:35:43 am
You bring up an excellent point about qualitative data. It provides a big picture of the classroom that isn't necessarily reflected in the quantitative data. In your study, the qualitative data seems especially important because student achievement is so directly affected by how students feel about their own learning. What better way to learn how the students feel than through their own words? Your direct quotes really humanize your study and remind us that these are real children.
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Kristin Pruitt
7/25/2016 09:53:49 pm
I appreciate the descriptive words you used to describe qualitative and quantitative. They are truly both so relevant when looking at the whole student and their success.Getting them to see and understand both types of assessments and how the results relate to their progress...priceless!
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Jenny
8/11/2016 03:45:58 pm
You make many great points about both types of research methods as well as the value of each. I now see a greater value in the data that the qualitative methods provide in allowing us to see the bigger picture and make the quantitative data more clear, especially in the case of the outliers.
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Dana HandI teach Read 180 at Northwood Elementary School and I am passionate about reading (obviously!) In my "free time" I love hanging out with my 2 teenagers and taking our two dogs for long walks. Archives
March 2017
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