Using Data to Catalyze Continuous School Improvement

Data can be a powerful engine to catalyze continuous school improvement. But deciding how to dig into your data-- and how to organize your team to look at it-- can sometimes feel overwhelming. Prince George's County Public Schools (PGCPS), one of the largest school districts in the United States, has partnered with Harvard's Data Wise Project to get the most out of their data. 

Prince George's County Public Schools serve more than 128,000 students in 208 schools and academic centers. With more than 22,000 faculty and staff, PGCPS has a massive quantity of data to process and make sense of-- and a huge staff to coordinate around making positive change. 

Dr. David Rease Jr., Executive Director of the Office of Systemic Improvement in PGCPS, has put together an overview of how he approaches data inquiry with his team, and how PGCPS organizes itself regarding data as a whole. After sharing his thoughts with the Panorama community on "Building Your Data Story," Dr. Rease explains how administrators in PGCPS follow a structured process to make sense of their data. In an in-depth case study, Dr. Rease shares how he and his team organize themselves, look at data together, identify problems, take action, and reflect and iterate, using this cycle to drive district and school improvement through data.

“You have to be intentional about planning what success is going to look like, which often means going back to the same data sets that you looked at earlier. We have to keep asking students about their experiences in their classes to know if the change in practice that we’ve made is truly helping students to be successful.”

—Dr. David Rease, Jr., Executive Director, Office of Systemic Improvement, PGCPS

Panorama is privileged to work with thoughtful partners like PGCPS, and excited to share how PGCPS uses data to make positive changes in their community. Read the case study and listen to Dr. Rease on "Building Your Data Story" to learn about how to use data to catalyze continuous school improvement in your district, network or school.