I’ve never been a big spreadsheet person. My former assistant principal will tell you that I despise state tests and while I prepared my students to be strong readers, writers, listeners and speakers it was not so they could exceed expectations on a standardized exam. I supported their growth as critical thinkers so they could change the world for the better.

While it may be surprising, I do love data. I collect it all day everyday - as I’m greeting students at the door or in the hallways; as I walk around a room to see what students are writing; as I watch a group of students discuss key ideas in a text. I’m always collecting information about my students. I am definitely not one of those people who thinks that data can only exist in a spreadsheet.

Today, however, I had powerful one-on-one conversations with some of our 6th graders based on a spreadsheet. Last month our students took an intensive exam that mirrors the state ELA test. It’s called the ICA - Interim Comprehensive Assessment. They sat for hours to read and listen to passages, answer questions and write at length about texts. Teachers gathered on a day off to score those exams and we recently started to analyze our results.

As a literacy coach I spent time my own time with our data as a whole and looked closely at each teacher’s class to identify how their students are doing, areas to celebrate and areas for growth. One of my awesome colleagues (go Vanessa!) created a spreadsheet that showed students’ state test scores from last year compared to their scores on the ICA. It also included a minimum and maximum error band so we could see how students might do if they took the test again tomorrow. Would they stay at the same level, improve or decline? Lastly, it included how each student did on each of the four ELA claims - reading, writing, listening, and research and inquiry. It’s a user-friendly spreadsheet which made it incredibly easy to identify whole class trends and focus students.

I am in the process of holding one-on-one meetings with each of our teachers to review their data and support them in identifying trends for their classes. One of our 6th grade teachers asked if I could hold some one-on-one data chats with some of her students to celebrate their progress and support them in setting goals.

She gave me a list of students and what period she’d like me to pull them from and today I had twelve magical, precious, and heartwarming conversations with students.

One of her students who scored a level 1 and did not meet the SBAC standard as a 5th grader, earned a level 2 and nearly met the standard on the ICA. She was incredibly surprised when I told her of her growth and was even more startled when I let her know that she exceeded the standard in ELA Claim 2 - Writing. She was overwhelmed with pride and it was incredibly powerful for me to be the bearer of good news. When I asked how she felt, she said, “I’m really happy. I feel proud of myself.” She set the goal of earning a level 3 on the SBAC and said she wanted to focus improving her reading and listening skills.

Another student I called over was visibly nervous when I told him that I was going to share his results from the ICA assessment. As a 5th grader he scored a level 1 and did not meet the standard. On the ICA he scored a level 3 and met the standard. When I shared this news the smile that spread across his face and the ease that washed over his body was wonderful to witness. He had improved his raw score by over 100 points and when I asked him how he felt he said proud. He set the goal of earning a level 4 - exceeding the standard - and said he wanted to improve his reading and writing claim scores by reading more at home and adding more details and explanation to his writing.

There is power in a one-on-one conversation with a student. In the span of 6 minutes I gave students key information that shifted their self image, helped them recognize the progress they’re making, their strengths and areas for growth, and supported them in setting a goal. The more information and feedback we can share with students the more empowered they are to drive their learning. As someone who believes in a variety and range of types of data, I am incredibly grateful for the teacher and student-friendly spreadsheet that my colleague created to make sharing this information accessible and easy.

When our students take exams, performance tasks, or complete final projects, it’s vital that they know how they did and have the opportunity to set a goal and name a few action steps to get them to the next level. I’d like to shout out and appreciate the spreadsheet that helped me do that today.