Four "Fun" Ideas for SLO Data

SLO - Student Learning Objective 

SOURCE

Each year educators in Wisconsin and other states create a student learning objective (SLO). SLOs are detailed measurable goals for student academic performance that can be achieved within a school year.  This involves collecting data and analyzing the data to show growth towards the goal.

Today I'm sharing a few ideas for collecting data and data analysis.  If you're not a numbers person or if you are afraid of spreadsheets and formulas, don't worry. What I'm sharing today is something anyone can do and these tips are really helpful and can save you some time. 

Tip #1 

Use a Google Form to enter and track data for your students throughout the semester or year.  Google Forms can be shared among teachers if you are planning to work as a team on a common SLO.

Here is an example of a Response to Learning tracking log that is shared among a group of teachers. I like how this form collects several types of data and even has a grid (rubric) to assess student proficiency on various learning standards.

To create a rubric in Google Forms, choose the question type "multiple choice grid". Here is what it will look like:

Tip #2

Use Filter View to create a filter of your data without changing the original data. This is really quite simple and is such a great way to view specific students, classes, and scores. Watch this video I created to see how to create and use filters.

Tip #3

Create Sparklines to see the change in data scores over time. Sparkline graphs are like line graphs that show if a student's scores have remained the same, increased or decreased over time.

 Here is a short how-to video I found on YouTube.

Tip #4 

Create a chart or graph to represent your data. You can even customize the chart or graph to look a certain way.  Here is a how-to video from YouTube for creating charts and graphs with Google Sheets. The most important thing to remember is to select the data on your Google sheet that you want represented in your chart or graph.

At this time of year, most of us are just getting started creating our SLOs and PPGs (Professional Practice Goals). Hopefully these four tips will be useful to get you started and throughout the semester and year as you collect data.  Enjoy and have some fun with your SLOs.