Data-Driven for Student Success

Eight hours. That’s it. Eight hours, five days per week is all we have to impact the greatest number of students while they are walking around our hallways and classrooms. While most of us spend more than the normal 40-hour week supporting student needs, we must continue to ask ourselves, “How can we assure we are meeting the needs of ALL students ALL of the time when their needs are increasing in ALL areas of academics, social/emotional and career development?”

The answer is simple: Data. Often I introduce the concept of a data-driven counseling program and it is instantly thought of as one more thing that needs to be added to an already over-flowing plate. Instead of thinking of data as one more thing to add, start thinking about data as the foundation that helps organize our plate in a way that allows us to manage the items more effectively.

Data is the key ingredient in transitioning from reactive counseling services to proactive, student-centered best practices that ensure we are meeting the needs of more students. We will constantly remain busy with students who are actively seeking support, but we must never be too busy to ask ourselves, “Who are the students not actively seeking support and what are their needs?”

This list of best data practices can be used to cast a larger net, so we can ensure we are hearing the voices of all students.

Needs Assessment: This is a perception survey that asks questions around all domains. Based on the results of a needs assessment, counselors should develop a curriculum action plan focused on an expressed student need. We do not know what students need unless we ask, and we should never assume we know what they need based on what we have always done. Our students and their needs are ever-changing; therefore, we must be as well. 

Minute Meetings: It is no secret that Michigan, ashamedly, is the second-worst state in the nation in student-to-school-counselor ratios, but high student caseloads should not be a reason for not being data driven. In fact, data should be used to help manage high student caseloads. One efficient way to meet with all students is through Minute Meetings. Generate three to five questions and make sure students understand these meetings are very quick check-ins and more in-depth follow-ups will happen as needed. Questions should focus on a specific goal and could be used as a measurement tool for a desired outcome.

Student Information System (SIS): Your SIS has the power to provide more data than just traditional demographics. These systems can automatically generate valuable reports that can track students’ attendance, grades and behaviors. Proactive counseling consists of supporting students before they are failing a class, facing truancy, and/or being suspended as a result of repeated inappropriate behaviors. We need to work to identify these potential problems early so we can equip students with the strategies they need to be successful in school.

Enrollment Patterns and Student Demographics: I like to think of data in layers. There is surface level data that tells a very generalized story, and although that data is important, most people will find that once they dig into deeper levels they might discover a different story. For example, a school may pride itself on decreasing behavior referrals and that will present a success story, but a disaggregation of that data may point to the fact that the majority of referrals are coming from a specific student population. Another example may be an increase in students taking AP courses, but we must also determine if all student demographics are being represented. Analyzing student demographics in areas such as socio-economic status, race/ethnicity and gender are just a few examples of how data can be used to ensure we are hearing the voices of all students and are providing services that are focused on equity and access.

A proactive, student-centered, data-driven approach to school counseling is what Michigan students need and deserve. Implementation of these and other data-driven practices will only strengthen our ability to advocate for students and will also provide the advocacy we need to help identify ourselves as professional school counselors.

Terri Tchorzynski was the national 2017 School Counselor of the Year and is a school counselor at Calhoun Area Career Center (CACC) in Battle Creek, Mich.