Data Helps - Hopefully

Last week, I went without my car for three days. It was at my mechanic because my fuel pump needed replacing. My wonderful mechanic (whom I've written about on this blog before) was able to diagnose the problem because my husband and I collected data. The car would occasionally refuse to start, so to try and understand what was happening, we kept a log book from September 6, 2019 until November 14, 2019. In this log, we recorded the date, time, location, and number of tries it took before the car started up. This extensive data helped our mechanic to determine the problem, because he saw that there was no discernible pattern to the flare-ups, which ruled out other potential causes.

Was it fun to record? Not really. It was tedious. There were times where I wondered if it was worth the effort. Was I even collecting the "right kind" of information to help me and my mechanic understand the problem? However, over time it was fascinating to see the patterns and trends that emerged after gathering this information. The information helped me and others to analyze what was happening and to determine some next steps.

This anecdote has obvious connections to my work as an educator. Since 2016-17, I've electronically collected data on the students that visit the school library during recess. I record who comes, from what class, on what day, and what they choose to do, using a Google Form. I've asked myself if I was using my time wisely by collecting this data. Could I be doing sometime more meaningful? At the end of the school year, I have to admit it is satisfying and informative to examine the results.

• In 2018-19 (last year), I had 2920 individual visits. Room 113 visited the library the most and the most popular thing to do in the library was use the makerspace.

• In 2017-18 (two years ago), I had 3080 individual visits. Room 207 visited the library the most and the most popular thing to do in the library was use the makerspace.

• In 2016-17 (three years ago), I had 574 visits. However, I only started collecting the data for that school year electronically in February 2017. Using the makerspace was still the most popular activity.

Considering that my school has around 300 students, this means that on "average", a student visits the school library of their own accord between 9-10 times. (It's not exactly accurate, because kindergarten students do not access the school library on their own, and some students came many more times, but it's helpful to contemplate, especially when I question whether the library should be open so often and for so many open-ended options.) The choices the students make with their free time also helps me spend my funds wisely. The interest in the makerspace meant that I wanted and needed to provide materials and resources so students could make things.

So far, this year's statistics are very interesting. For the 2019-20 school year so far, the makerspace is not the most popular task. It's "playing with bins set out for student use" - things like Fisher-Price toys, Koosh balls, and even other items that serve a dual role as self-regulation tools. I'm really curious to investigate why this has changed.

I'm not the only teacher-librarian interested in data. Peel District School Board teacher-librarian Beth Lyons has taken to sharing some of her monthly statistics via Twitter.

Looking back at a great October in the @LarkspurLibLC ! Lots of great learning and reading. @LarkspurPS . @CdnSchoolLibrar @CSL_Learning @PETLA_ @oslacouncil @PDSB_Libraries #peelLLC #PeelTL #schoollibrariesmatter #peel21st pic.twitter.com/Y1o0qleMyt

— MrsLyonsLibrary (@mrslyonslibrary) November 3, 2019

I love how Beth has chosen to make this data public, while still respecting the privacy of her school readers. She was one of the people who helped me formulate my new and improved library report. I know that numbers don't tell the whole story, and that they can be misleading. For instance, my low circulation statistics do not always indicate that few people are borrowing books; sometimes students borrow books among themselves, and this does not get indicated via my circulation statistics. Collecting my Forest of Reading data sometimes feels discouraging, especially when the numbers of participants that qualify to vote fall, but there may be other factors at play, as this past post suggested.

Data helps, but as I'm starting to mention in the latter half of this meditation, data can also hinder or hurt. So much depends on WHO collects the data, WHAT data is collected and WHY/HOW the data is being collected. My husband just finished reading a hefty tome called The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power by Shoshana Zuboff. He has told me a bit about the main ideas from the book, and they are somewhat unnerving. (My friend Neil Andersen would probably love to read it because of all the media literacy implications.) Hubby says that the book suggests that most people tend to be concerned only with the idea of governments collecting data about us, while overlooking corporations, which are collecting just as much, if not more information. The problem is that we willingly give lots of data to companies. These companies then sell us more things we don't need and influence governments to legislate in ways that benefit these corporations themselves.

EQAO is a huge data mine. Many teachers don't like it. Why? I think it's because of WHO collects it, WHAT is collected and HOW the results are sometimes interpreted. This video and summary by ETFO (Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario) does a good job of illustrating some of the concerns with this set of standardized tests. Some people use EQAO results to decide what communities to buy houses in, (incorrectly) guessing that the "best schools" are the ones with the "best test scores". Data is supposed to help, not hurt.

So what does this mean for me? I think I must constantly be aware of my purpose, methodology, and privacy issues when collecting data. Even though collecting data can be a chore, if I am careful with what, why and how I collect, I might be able to understand what it happening so I can make improvements to my practice.