I recently had the privilege of working with Dr. Lane Mills, Associate Professor in the Educational Leadership program at East Carolina University, on a whitepaper about creating a data driven culture. It was great getting to know Dr. Mills on a professional and personal level as we having many conversations during the process. He even provided a great a gift idea - a Roku - for my husband who is very difficult to buy for. If you don’t know what this is - look into it as it is very cool. But, I digress.
Dr. Mills’ paper focuses on what is needed to create a data driven culture in education, with an emphasis on strong leadership skills. I was very excited about this topic especially given my previous two posts about my Mooresville Graded School District tour and the video project we did with them. In the paper, Dr. Mills’ writes about what a data driven culture is and includes eight steps to prepare a school district for accessing and integrating data to make informed, proactive decisions.
Here are the eight steps for success:
- Establish a clear vision.
- Research and learn from others’ successes.
- Examine infrastructure for effective data use.
- Ensure buy-in, commitment and trust.
- Foster professional development.
- Lead by example and encourage data utilization.
- Establish data meetings.
- Remove or modify barriers to effective data use.
For more detailed information on each of these steps - and more, check out the paper, Creating a Data-Driven Culture: Leadership Matters.
