“Data can be used as a hammer or a flashlight,” says Dr. Laura Schwalm, superintendent of the award-winning Garden Grove Unified School District in Southern California. This district seeks the flashlight. Rather than punishing teachers for disappointing high-stakes results, the district seeks constant data through the school year. That information is returned in a timely fashion for teachers to collaboratively adjust their instructional strategies.

A video at California’s Student Success Project profiles this district’s experience with this shift to a continuous improvement process, the excitement of real change, and the initial discomfort with sharing classroom performance data from. The students’ involvement with their own data analysis and goal-setting is also discussed in interviews.

The California Student Success Project is focused on bringing to change and improvement to the state’s schools. It is funded by numerous foundations and supported by a broad coalition of education and government organizations.

Scroll down the Student Success Project homepage for the video.