Cut The Data Workload For Teachers And School Leaders

Over 50% of teachers in the UK think data demands cause them ‘unnecessary workload’. Global research by UNESCO also shows that 92% of head teachers and deputy heads see workload as a serious problem.

A large number of them feel that data is used just at ‘a superficial level to monitor rather than to improve instruction’. This is partly explained in the UNESCO report by a lack of training, but also by staff not having the time or means to collect and analyse data effectively.

This isn’t a great surprise, especially since the DfE identified data management as one of the three key pillars of its ‘Reducing Teacher Workload’ strategy earlier this year.

Cutting the data burden

At Classroom Monitor, we’re focused on cutting that data burden for teachers and school leaders. We encourage all our partner schools to ask the following questions of their data to make sure it has maximum impact on outcomes, with minimal impact on workload:

• Purpose: What’s it for? If it’s not supporting interventions, then do you really need it?
• Audience: Who needs to see it, and why? How can the data help them to support you?
• Reliability: Where’s it from? Is it based on consistent judgements, at regular intervals?
• Processes: Can you collect it and access it quickly? How are the numbers reported?

We now work with around 2,000 schools, helping them to make data an organic part of their school improvement cycle rather than just collecting ‘data for data’s sake’. Here’s what some of them have to say:

“Classroom Monitor isn’t just a place for teachers to store data – It’s allowed their data to become an integral part of the assessment and learning cycle. Classroom Monitor has become a vital planning aid for us as a result.”

Whitelands Park Primary, Berks

“Classroom Monitor is designed to create a bridge between assessment criteria, effective data storage and data analysis. It’s made each stage of the ‘assessment story’ effortless and transparent for us.”

Stony Dean School, Bucks

You can get more from your data with less effort, too. Contact us to see Classroom Monitor in action.

The UNESCO Global Education Monitoring report was published on 24th October, and can be viewed in full here.