Teacher: I’m noticing twos across the board, in all three areas, which really suggests a need for a lot of support.

Data drives everything that we do.

Teacher: So which one do you think is heavy?

Student: This one here.

It’s being in the classrooms, observing and providing immediate support so that every day, we’re learning and growing.

Teacher: And a horse.

Thomas: Educare is a network of early childhood schools. We have 23 schools in about 15 states. Data utilization is one of the principles for an educator network, and it’s really the idea of focusing on data and using data to best inform your practice.

Angie: A lot of people tend to shy away when they hear the word data. But it’s actually looking at what’s happening. We say that we’re high-quality. We say that we’re ensuring that kids are kindergarten-ready. But without that data, how would we be able to say that with accuracy? While looking at data, we look at it different ways.

Teacher: Okay. You stepped inside of the elevator.

Angie: Data from students is collected daily via observation. Throughout the day, the teachers are assessing the kids, walking around the centers, engaging with the kids through conversations, and they’re taking notes. Some teachers will have little whiteboards that they’re taking the notes on. A lot of teachers also use their iPads and they collect videos. We measure academics daily, as well as socio-emotional growth.

Thomas: Data may look like how the child is able to manage their feelings. Data may look at the cognitive side of it. How is he doing with his alphabet recognition? How is he doing with his color recognition? How is he doing with his shape recognition?

Student: I have 10 toes.

Teacher: Wow, that is a lot.

Angie: Our classrooms, if you’re walking by, it looks like a ball of fun. It looks like kids just running around playing. It’s not stressful to the kids. The teachers make sure that activities are tailored so that it’s engaging. And so, those teachers are actually, during quiet time, using anecdotal spreadsheets to write notes on what the kids did that day, what they were actually possibly struggling in. And that’s how it’s all kept and measured.

Teacher: What is something that you feed? One at a time.

Angie: Our master teachers are in the classrooms daily. And then, from those observations, our master teachers will have what we call within the network reflective supervision.

Giselle: Ms. Annette?

Annette: Hi, Ms. Scott.

Angie: Reflective supervision is a scheduled time what we meet with the teachers and we can reflect on what’s working and what’s not. We call it glows and grows.

Giselle: So you say you feel like one of your glows was your higher order thinking questions?

Annette: Yes.

Giselle: We talk about areas where you did well and what did that feel like for you and how did you go about accomplishing that and maybe we can apply that strategy to improving in some of the other areas?

Giselle: What about your grows in that area?

Annette: Probably analysis and reason.

Giselle: Analysis and reason?

Annette: Mm-hmm.

Annette: They actually help me think about I could have done this instead of that. It helps me see where they are and where they need to be.

Annette: After I do this, maybe I can either write the questions on sensing strips and have them with me in front of me during circle time.

Giselle: Okay.

Angie: Reflective supervision is always done in a supportive model.

Giselle: Feeling good about it?

Annette: Yes.

Angie: We always say that it’s never person. Again, it’s always about the kids and the families.
All right, guys. So this data dialogue, we will focus on staff development.

Angie: The leadership team, myself, along with my supervisors, we look at data and data dialogues. We talk about our class scores. We talk about family support needs. And from that conversation, we determine what additional pieces of professional development need to happen this year to ensure that we were successful.

Annette: I have a question, guys.

Student: Question?

Annette: Why do you think we count our bananas?

Angie: All Educares rely heavily on data-driven practices. This is what we need to do to make sure that we’re high-quality. We’re always demonstrating best practices and we’re always providing what’s needed to make sure that the kids are successful with their learning.

Annette: Go, Denver.

Schools That Work

Educare New Orleans