Data to Keep
My first year teaching, I knew it was important to keep data on my students, but I didn’t know exact quantities and qualities. The logistics of the data keeping were a bit frightening. If you teach at a data-heavy school, the process can be intimidating. Luckily, my school was adamant that data-driven instruction was very important, but the higher-ups never kept exact tabs on the data I was keeping. I liked it that way. If your school allows for a certain degree of freedom on this matter, the next step is for you to decide what kinds of data to take, how often, etc. Here is what I learned: My favorite data from teaching first-grade reading: -Word reading fluency once a month -Running records biweekly -Comprehension test weekly -Spelling test weekly -Phonics, vocabulary and phonemic awareness in a unit test once a quarter