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ERIC Number: EJ1080419
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015-Nov
Pages: 4
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0013-1784
EISSN: N/A
Eliminating the Blame Game
Swanson, Kristen; Allen, Gayle; Mancabelli, Rob
Educational Leadership, v73 n3 p68-71 Nov 2015
Even mentioning data analysis puts many educators on edge; they fear that in data discussions, their performance will be judged. And, the authors note, it's a human trait to look for the source of a problem in the behavior of people involved rather than the system surrounding those people--what some call the Fundamental Attribution Error. When school leaders know this tendency exists, they can reframe data-based explorations of problems in an area of school functioning by focusing attention on how the school systems connected to that area are actually operating. Swanson, Allen, and Mancabelli give an extended example of how school leaders got to the bottom of problems that kept cropping up in a district that was piloting a Bring Your Own Device program. For instance, students weren't bringing their personal digital devices into classrooms to fuel personalized learning, and teachers were starting to blame students. By gathering more data about the digital devices students' families owned, the educators involved discovered these tools were less available to be used in school than they'd thought--and took steps to fix the problem. The authors provide tips for how to keep discussions about data centered on improving systems rather than criticizing the actions of educators.
ASCD. 1703 North Beauregard Street, Alexandria, VA 22311-1714. Tel: 800-933-2723; Tel: 703-578-9600; Fax: 703-575-5400; Web site: http://www.ascd.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A