Created in dialogue with teachers by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation JUNE 2015

Fuzzy to Focus:The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’sMaking data work for teachers initiative

Kai KungProgram Officer, US K-12 Education, B&MGF

Lynne Thomson, PhDVP, Innovation and Product Development, TNS

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The work we do is complex. The reason we do it is not.

Created in dialogue with teachers by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation JUNE 2015 3

A VISION FOR THE EDUCATION MARKETPLACE

What if……

The needs of teachers and students were well understood by developers and district buyers, and drove both development of new products and procurement decisions;

The efficacy of education products and tools was measurable, understood and widely known;

Teachers and students were protected and supported by thoughtful standards, policies, and well-functioning technology infrastructure and systems;

Successful innovators could access low cost channels and robust infrastructure to deliver digital products and services directly into teacher and students hands;

Sufficient capital was available to support the scale up of organizations that truly meet teacher and student needs

Created in dialogue with teachers by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation JUNE 2015 4

ILLUMINATING THE VOICES OF TEACHERS

What Educators Want From Digital Instructional Tools

Teachers’ Views on Professional Development

Coming Soon: Making Data Work

Making Data Work

Created in dialogue with teachers by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation JUNE 2015 5

INTRODUCING TEACHERSKNOWBEST.ORG

TeachersKnowBest.org

What’s going on in mainstream classrooms today?

O U R O B J E C T I V E :

I N S P I R E T H E D E V E L O P M E N T O F D I G I TA L TO O L S T H AT H E L P A L L T Y P E S O F T E AC H E RS U S E DATA TO D R I V E I N S T RU C T I O N

Created in dialogue with teachers by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation JUNE 2015

Approach

TNS Matrix

4,600Mainstream teachers

Describe when and how they use data to drive

instruction

Evaluated

36Tool types

31 digital & 5 non-digital

Output

6Teacher segments

9Specific needs

Tasks teachers need to get accomplished

How frequently they do each

Tools they use today

Ratings for existing tool types against needs

Gap between need and current options

Interviews and Observations

30educators in

tech forward schools

54educators in

mainstream schools

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Engage studentsGrow student ownership of learning

Grow as a teacherInsure no student falls through the cracks

Teachers are tightly aligned on goals

Created in dialogue with teachers by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation JUNE 2015

Teachers have distinct approaches to data

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Challenges for developers:

Harness enthusiasm Co-create what’s next

Simplify & extend tools to build confidence,grow use

Demonstrate tangible, relevant benefits for teachers & students Better align usage to current practices

Address concernsAllay fears

H O W D O T E AC H E RSU S E DATA TOD R I V E I N S T RU C T I O N ?

Created in dialogue with teachers by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation JUNE 2015 12

Pinpoint misconceptions, struggles and competencies

Depth of understanding• of the class• of students individually

Adjust approach to leverage what I’ve

learned

The ideal instructional process

Created in dialogue with teachers by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation JUNE 2015

ASSESS:

ALLISON, High School EnglishChicago

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Discern the depth of understanding for each student & the whole class

“To understand if a student gets it or not could be as simple as looking at their faces… I think that that also takes a veteran teacher to get those looks and understand those looks.”

Created in dialogue with teachers by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation JUNE 2015 14

ANALYZE:

“I find looking at SRI and iSELT scores very helpful. …That allows me to predict where students are going to get stuck, predict their hiccups, their successes and their challenges. You have to really know where each student is struggling in order to transform their learning.”

ToniMiddle School HistoryOakland, California

Pinpointmisconceptions, struggles and competencies

Created in dialogue with teachers by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation JUNE 2015 15

PIVOT:

“If I’m noticing that a lot of kids are still struggling, I’m going to take a step back and I may use or implement a different strategy; come in with a different type of question for the next day.”

GIAVANNI, Middle School MathDublin, California

Adjust based on what’s working, what’s not

Tools have significant opportunities to improve

Created in dialogue with teachers by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation JUNE 2015 17

Current tools force teachers to make tradeoffs

Created in dialogue with teachers by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation JUNE 2015

9 Detailed opportunities

• Who needs it?

• How frequently?

• What are they using today?• What’s the context a new tools

must fit?

• Performance against needs?

• Nature of opportunity?

Improve or replace under-performing products

Invent new products

What’s next?

Created in dialogue with teachers by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation JUNE 2015 20

Land the insights with developers

June 3• Introduce the segments and opportunities• Make detailed findings available on teachersknowbest.org

Later in summer• Conduct activation sessions with selected developers

• Build deep understanding and trust in the data• Practice actioning the findings for product roadmaps & new

deployment support

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Questions?