The good, the bad, and the really bad of data viz When I see a really great chart or graph (data visualization or “data viz”) … or a really terrible one, I’ll take a screenshot of it. I’m cool like that. But here’s why I do it. The really good ones get me excited, and… Continue reading The good, the bad, and the really bad of data viz
When numbers help, and when stories matter more I know I talk about data … a lot. But for me, it’s really not about the numbers. It’s not about the spreadsheets (I do still really love spreadsheets though). It’s not about the reports and fancy graphs and charts. It’s about the people behind those numbers. … Continue reading When numbers help, and when stories matter more
The scary things that data use is NOT I’m not going to lie, I still have occasional nightmares about high school calculus, even though that was … a lot of years ago. That class really made me feel like a failure. Clearly, deep in my subconscious, that has stuck with me. So I understand when… Continue reading The scary things that data use is NOT
The magic word for family-serving organizations I recently mentioned to someone how I believe that building your data capacity and being able to tell the story of your impact can help your organization get more funding. He perked up, wrote down “funding” on his paper, and underlined it twice. I chuckled and asked, “Did I… Continue reading The magic word for family-serving organizations
When I was updating my website recently, I came across a post I wrote when my daughter was a newborn, talking about the metrics that were relevant to me at the time. It listed things like how many ounces she was eating at a time, how little sleep we got each night, and how many… Continue reading Choosing the metrics that matter (toddler version)
“I couldn’t have put it better myself…” We all know how powerful a startling statistic can be. Maybe you’ve seen a PowerPoint presentation where there is just a huge number on the slide or a newspaper headline that highlights the stark realities of a situation. Remember the New York Times’ cover early on in the… Continue reading “I couldn’t have put it better myself”
How can we measure 2021? Over the past few months, we’ve been playing a lot of music for our baby girl, to keep her entertained (mostly because Mommy and Daddy sing and dance around the house like fools) and to help lull her to sleep. We may not be helping her get along with her… Continue reading How Can We Measure 2021?
A gut check While I am lucky that I get to consult with schools and districts in their work with families, it isn’t often that I get to engage with students and families directly (especially since COVID derailed my weekly mentoring sessions at a high school here in Columbus). So I was especially delighted this… Continue reading A gut check
Summarize, visualize, analyze In my last post, I asked for feedback about what you’d like to learn about in our summer of figuring out the “so what?” of our data. To my amusement, a longtime colleague and friend replied to my LinkedIn post with the following topic: “How to turn raw data into meaningful information… Continue reading Summarize, visualize, analyze
Looking for the “so what?” in our data If you’ve read this blog for any period of time, you’ve probably figured out that data tracking is kind of my thing. My super Type-A personality gets a lot of satisfaction from crossing every “t” and dotting every “i” and making sure that I can quickly access… Continue reading Looking for the “So What?” In Our Data
