More than a feeling It’s the end of the year, when we reflect on the past year and look forward to new beginnings. I haven’t done any rigorous data collection about this, but I think it’s fair to assume that most people would rate 2020 as a giant dumpster fire. So let’s take it back… Continue reading More than a feeling
Word Clouds and Key Quotations: Making Qualitative Data Work for You This week I’ve got a co-author to help me continue my qualitative data series! Sarah Dunifon is Founder and Principal Evaluator of Improved Insights LLC, an educational evaluation firm focused on STEM and youth-based programming. She is based in Cleveland, Ohio and is a fellow board member… Continue reading Word Clouds and Key Quotations: Making Qualitative Data Work for You
Numbers Can’t Tell the Whole Story You should know by now that I’m a bit of a data nerd. I love spreadsheets. I love organizing data and using it to illuminate patterns. I love the “ah-ha” moments when clients realize how much their own data can tell them about the kids and families they’re serving. … Continue reading Numbers Can’t Tell the Whole Story
Five years! Five years ago this week, I took the leap. I was a Community School Coordinator (CSC) in Baltimore and a doctoral student, and it was time for a change. You see, my data tracking spreadsheets were starting to catch on among other CSCs. I kept thinking, “How amazing would it be if helping… Continue reading Five years!
We can’t let them fall through the cracks. I started writing a completely different blog post for this week, but when I read the news this morning, I knew I had to shift gears. CNN featured a story yesterday called “Teachers and social workers search for students who are ‘missing’ in the pandemic.” The word… Continue reading We can’t let them fall through the cracks.
Survey Fails … and How to Recover from Them Sometimes you launch a survey, and you’re blown away by the number of responses you get. And sometimes, you’re not. I had one of these moments last week. I was SUPER excited to try something new with my blog and launch a survey to hear what… Continue reading Survey Fails … and How to Recover from Them
Tips and Tricks for Great Survey Design … and a Survey for You We have all taken TONS of surveys in our lifetime. We get surveys when we make an online purchase, when we speak with a customer service agent, when we want to get a free gift card, and even when we go to… Continue reading Tips and Tricks for Great Survey Design … and a Survey for You
Start the School Year By Hearing from Stakeholders Growing up in New Jersey, the day after Labor Day always marked the start of a new school year … and the day I finally got to wear the new outfit I had carefully planned and crack open my new, pristine notebooks. If you couldn’t tell, I… Continue reading Start the School Year By Hearing from Stakeholders
The “How” of Data Tracking: Conditional Formatting I’ve written a lot lately (here and here) about WHY tracking your school or organization’s data is so critical right now. As schools begin to reopen, I’ve heard from educators of so many different configurations for what school is going to look like: some totally virtual, some in person, some… Continue reading The “How” of Data Tracking: Conditional Formatting
Don’t Be Like Myers-Briggs: Measure Your Impact When I started my doctoral program at Vanderbilt, I certainly didn’t expect to get into a … heated discussion, shall we say? … with the professor of my first course. We were discussing characteristics of effective leaders, and our professor mentioned that the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, one of… Continue reading Don’t Be Like Myers-Briggs: Measure Your Impact