Author

Jennifer Bell
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Customer Account Executive

Hello! I’m Jennifer Bell. I’m a wife, mother of four, and avid runner who loves to laugh! I am a NC Teaching Fellows graduate of Meredith College and am currently pursuing my Master’s degree in Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment. Before coming to SAS I served the public schools of North Carolina as a National Board Certified teacher and data coach for 15 years. As an education nerd and passionate teacher at heart, my role at SAS as an education specialist is a perfect fit. Working with schools, districts and states to use data to drive school improvement and improve student outcomes allows me to continue to champion every student.

Analytics
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Rural school district wields predictive analytics to open doors for first generation college students

This predictive analytics post continues a blog series that highlights education leaders sharing successes and challenges of using data to drive school improvement. Sampson County Schools is a small rural school district in southeastern North Carolina. While overall graduation rates in the county were improving, one school wanted to do

Analytics
Jennifer Bell 1
Pennsylvania principal uses student projections to foster academic success for more students

This student projections post kicks off a series highlighting education leaders sharing the celebrations, and challenges, of using data to drive school improvement. These are real teachers, principals and superintendents working to foster academic growth for every student in their schools and districts. As we near the end of the first

Analytics | Students & Educators
Jennifer Bell 0
From compliance to commitment: The power of student growth data

As teachers, we lean into our experience. We trust our judgment about students and our instruction. We trade teaching stories with colleagues. And increasingly, we examine student growth data that illuminates our practice and occasionally suggests we refine our approach to individual students. In the past decade, states and districts

Students & Educators
Jennifer Bell 0
Study reveals little impact of student teachers on value-added measures (with exceptions)

As teachers across 35+ states are evaluated, and sometimes compensated, in part by the academic growth of their students, there may be an unintended consequence. Teachers may question whether to accept student teachers, in fear of the student teacher bringing down their value-added estimate(s) and overall evaluation rating. How can

Students & Educators
Jennifer Bell 2
Advocating for a robust value-added implementation

Recently, the American Statistical Association (ASA) released a statement about value-added modeling. This statement was widely covered in the national press, some of which positioned the statement as a significant blow to value-added modeling. However, the ASA statement did not “slam” value-added modeling; rather, the statement’s authors advocated statistical rigor,

Students & Educators
Jennifer Bell 2
School, teacher, student data: Where do we grow from here?

Over the past few months, many US states and districts have received data about student growth and teacher effectiveness. Some educators experience the excitement of outstanding scores and, most importantly, the success of their students’ growth.  Some quietly plug along, satisfied to be meeting growth targets and deciding if it isn’t broken,

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