A Q&A with Marian Wheeler, GDST Data Systems Manager, Girls' Day School Trust
As GDST Data Systems Manager at the Girls’ Day School Trust, Marian leads 26 schools in their use of data systems and MIS. This role encompasses the development of best practice, organisation data standards, supporting the introduction of new systems, analytics, and the development and delivery of training to empower the schools in use of systems and data.
Marian’s passion for MIS systems and data comes from many years working in the education sector, within Local Authorities, as well as schools. Her experience includes over a decade working for a Local Support Unit, supporting around 800 schools in their use of the SIMS MIS, with a particular focus on the use of systems and data to support school improvement and consultancy work advising SLT on exploiting MIS technology to its fullest potential.
Can you share an example of where data has made a measurable difference for people outcomes or school performance?
Marian: Schools need to have a clear analysis of academic baselines and attainment over time. Looking at progress can make a significant difference in understanding where interventions for individual students are required. I used to talk a lot with schools [in a previous role] about this when looking at assessment data.
For example, back in the days when there were national curriculum levels, it was easier for everyone to understand what was meant by a particular grade. So, a child at the end of year six would be this [given] level and at the end of year 11 would be that [given] level. Recording academic data at various points between enables progress tracking and understanding if targets will be met. Every school now has their own approach and their baselines and targets may differ from school to school. Regardless, tracking progress towards targets is key.
However, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to challenge those targets. What we don’t want to see is that higher-level [attaining] students are coasting. Therefore, analysing assessment data effectively allows you to see where those things might be happening over time. We often tend to focus on lower-ability students, supporting them and trying to get them up. It’s also important to keep in mind when looking at data, whether the higher-ability students are not performing as expected or not making the same level of progress. You can make good use of data to look at a whole group of students from across that spectrum of ability to ensure that you can have significant impact on pupil outcomes.
At the GDST, we look at what value-added measures we can use, such as the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring (CEM) system for target setting. For our students, at particular points through their school career, we will gather baseline information from computer-based testing, for our A-level students, we’ll be looking at GCSE outcomes. We use various tools to generate a baseline that is used to generate targets for the appropriate endpoints, such as Key Stage 2, GCSE, or A Level. We’re always focused on having positive value added at key assessment points so that we’re not taking outcomes for granted and saying, ‘Oh well, they’ve hit target, that’s fine then, tick.’ We’re always trying to go beyond, so we do lots of work around constantly looking at that value-added measure as students go through school, so that we’re always looking to challenge and support where we need to. It’s not about just being focused on what might be lower- or higher-ability students, but a key part is the piece around contextual data and making sure that you understand the entire picture of students so you can understand what is influencing their attainment.
In my experience from working in a Pupil Referral unit, one of the key lessons I learned was that although education wasn’t second place, of course, there were so many other things that were going on with students, like home influences, that were impacting on why they may not be performing well academically. So, it’s critical to be able to always look at that entire piece. That’s where you can make significant impacts on outcomes, by ensuring you’re looking at everything that could be influencing a child’s attainment.
What role does data play in supporting pupil safeguarding and well-being?
Marian: Dashboards and automated alerting are and will continue to be so important in making a significant impact in terms of alerting and early warnings – being able to prevent a child from becoming a safeguarding concern. The ability to combine data across different systems from different sources and from different foci to really inform what is going on with children, not only identifying children that are classified as being vulnerable, but being able to look at trends. Gaining early warning around potential areas of concern and being able to put support in place and monitor and track that intervention has been effective, before it becomes a huge issue for a child, that’s what I think is significant.
Schools historically have done lots of work with data, with academic data in particular, maybe not using the greatest approaches, even perhaps paper-based. They’ve been collecting, processing, and analysing data for a long time, but I think we could see a big game-change around safeguarding and well-being through data analysis.
Read next: Overcoming challenges and navigating data with confidence
Marian’s Linkedin profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marian-wheeler/
The GDST website: https://www.gdst.net/about-us/about-the-gdst/