June 5, 2022

Tracking, Data & Assessments

I remember my first years as a new teacher in 2011 and tracking student performance with data was fairly a new practice. Now in my 10th year teaching the art of tracking data is commonplace and expected by admins all over.

At first, it can seem like a daunting task (and it can be if you're new to it and haven't found the right system), but with a little preparedness and tweaking things as you go...you'll find the system that works for you and your kiddos. So, with that being said...here's how I track my students. Keep in mind this works for me and it may be something you can find useful or use to supplement other systems you have in place!

Paper or Digital?

Now that data tracking is pretty much a mainstay in public education, your district may have an online portal that they want you to use. My district in Texas does and there are a lot of pros like: all documentation is available for everyone on campus to see, it follows students who move and stay within district, it's user friendly, and can free up the use of paper data sheets.

Me? I use a hybrid method of tracking my student's progress which utilizes both paper copies and digital. I first create an Assessment & Data Binder and use my own tracking sheets. Then, I upload the data points into the portal my district uses. This ensures there's a backup copy (cause, technology), I'm old school and prefer paper, and I like being able to have student data at my fingertips during IEP/ARD meetings with admin or parents.

At the end of the day...it's really personal choice. Here's how I track my students...

Creating a Data Binder

Creating a binder is super easy: just select a 2" or more binder (because over the course of the year you'll have a lot of tracking sheets in there), numbered tabs (for each student), and fill with your tracking sheets. Each student has their own tab, which I can easily flip to. I use a date stamp each time I collect data and I record their progress as shown.

In kindergarten I am tracking their letter ID for upper/lowercase letters and letter sounds. I track all of my students, but particularly focus on on RTI kids. Those data points I upload onto their file in our online portal system.

For my RTI students I also track their math progress should they have a math goal. In kinder, I typically look for rote counting and number ID to 20.

At-a-glance

The very first page in my binder is this one.

It allows me to see each quarter at-a-glance and have the pertinent information right there such as letter ID/sounds and reading levels. By the final quarter I am able to see BOY, MOY, and EOY data right there and it's always so impressive to see their progress!

Tracking Sheets

There are a number of different ways you can track data using tracking sheets. I incorporate two styles: one for my RTI kids and another for the rest of my class. I made this particular sheet to help with reporting on report cards. I have it broken down by quarter, but I realize not everyone everywhere does that.

I use red and green highlighters to mark the letters students know and don't know. I also circle the letters students don't know yet as a means to easily see where I need to focus my attention for that student. In the space for letter sounds I either check it or circle it...and I even jot down the sound that the student makes just as a little note to me.

You can see in this photo that I check-in twice in a quarter - once around the beginning/middle and again towards the end when we're getting ready for report cards. I jot the date down at the top that way I know when I assessed.