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Strategy 2.2: Instructional Expertise to Guide Improvement
Having experts within the school community who can help unpack the standards, as well as subject
area specialists to deepen content knowledge; and assessment specialists to support reliability and
validity of assessments will greatly help in having standards-aligned material ready to make
evidence-based decisions. For school districts needing help in this area, the links from the self-
assessment can assist in developing good assessments, and using data to drive instruction.
Additional Resources from Self-Assessment
Assessment Design Module: A module assisting schools in creating well-designed
assessments.
Assessment Design Toolkit: Online resources developed by the USED and NJDOE to support
all aspects of assessment design.
SGO 2.1 Training and Guidebook: Guidance on monitoring cycles and using collaborative
teams to review SGO data in monitoring and adjusting instruction. The resources
accompanying the training offer assistance in determining rigor and unpacking standards.
Strategy 2.3: Engaging in Practices for Continuous Improvement
Data Audit
Schools collect several sources of data about student growth and performance from a variety of
assessments, observations, and other sources, but these data do not always become available at a
time that aligns with meeting times or required deadlines. Being intentional about when these data
are collected, and when they are used, allows for better alignment and more productive meetings.
Having access at the right time to student-level performance data can help to focus the conversation
on growth and progress, which is the goal. This tool provides a starting point for conversations
among educators about data and its purpose in school improvement or informing classroom
instruction.
The goal of the Data Audit is to help school leaders backwards-plan from available data sources to
specific instructional purposes and needs for their schools, making the most effective use of student
data for a wide variety of purposes, including supporting SGOs.
Instructions: The following discussions should be cyclical ones between school leadership and other
collaborative teams.
School leadership (or district leadership) should begin the discussion and work through
Steps 1 and 2 described below. Collaborative teams would follow, mirroring those steps.
o The discussions among different levels are important to ensure that school
leadership includes the teachers’ perspectives and also to encourage a shared view
of the school’s work for the upcoming year.
o Steps 1 and 2 require a recommended focused 45-60 minutes of discussion for each
group. All schools and teams should be able to complete Steps 1 and 2.
Step 3 is an increasingly advanced discussion to be held with school leadership and/or with
collaborative teams either separately or together.
o Step 3 requires 45 minutes.
o Step 4 requires 45 minutes and can be completed with collaborative teams, with
school leadership playing more of a participating or listening role.
Note: Ideally, this will take place while planning for an upcoming school year (late
spring or over the summer). No matter when the discussions take place, some
schools/teams may not be ready for the work of Steps 3 and 4.