KiDS Corner

In their Phi Delta Kappan article, Every Teacher Should Succeed with Data Literacy, Mandinach and Gummer outline five components of data literacy for teachers which, “transform data into actionable pieces of work".

• Identify problems of practice and frame questions

• Use data

• Convert data to information

• Transform information into a decision

• Evaluate outcomes

Often one of the most difficult tasks is converting data into information that can be used to inform instructional decisions. According to the authors, it requires managing, prioritizing, critically examining, analyzing, interpreting data, and recognizing trends and patterns as well as knowing when to drill down to different levels of data.

Through the use of filters and custom student groups, the KiDS platform removes barriers to mining data for actionable insights with visual metrics that illuminate trends and patterns over time and allows for flexibility in drilling down the levels of data. According to an administrator in a local district, “This is a game changer!”

Mandinach, E. and Gummer, E., 2016. Every teacher should succeed with data literacy. Phi Delta Kappan, 97(8), pp.43-46.

KiDS wants to recognize and thank Chevron for their generous donation to the Kern Integrated Data System. With this money, KCSOS will be able to onboard more districts to the data platform. The goal to have 47 districts using KiDS by the year 2023 is coming to fruition with the help of donations from companies like Chevron. Billy Lacobie, vice president of the Chevron San Joaquin Valley Business Unit states, “Our partnership with the Kern County Superintendent of Schools, and the investment made in the Kern Integrated Data System, will enable educators to monitor the progress of students throughout Kern County to help guide them to bright futures.”

We couldn’t agree more, thank you again for your generous support!

Pilot 1 and 2 Districts

Pilot districts are currently working with our Professional Learning Team to implement KiDS on a broader scale. Kern High, Panama Buena Vista and Bakersfield City have been rolling out KiDS to Academic Coaches, Counselors, Interventionists and more. We are excited to continue to support district roll-out plans and look forward to getting real time data into the hands of more users!

The KiDS support team is also reaching out to QSS districts to schedule their Map and Gap session for Module 4, HCM and Operations. Over the next few months, our goal is to have all district fiscal and HR data visualized on easy to use dashboards in KiDS.

Cohort 1

We want to give BIG KUDOS to our Cohort 1 districts who have been working diligently to work through the onboarding process. We have already launched four districts on Essentials (Lamont, Lakeside, Taft High and Maple) and are in the process of launching our second group (Arvin, Fairfax, McFarland and Southern Kern). We are excited to continue this work with our remaining Cohort 1 districts who have already started the connection process. We are on track to have all 19 districts fully onboarded this summer!

As more districts are being added to KiDS, the need for professional learning has been identified as a crucial component to maximizing all the platform has to offer. The KiDS professional learning team provides support for all levels; from district administers to teachers to support staff. The professional learning team can create rollout plans as suggestions to support full implementation across the district, or support a more gradual plan including specifically working to support one school, one grade level, or department at the site level. We encourage you to take advantage of the free training offered as part of your membership within KiDS.

Recently, over 90 Kern High School Counselors took part in training on KiDS enhanced Early Warning and Intervention System (EWIS). Using the EWIS module will allow educators to identify students at risk of not graduating much sooner and pinpoint the factors impacting student success. This informs educators on what is needed so they can provide targeted interventions and supports. Excitement was expressed over recent Essentials training with Academic Coaches from BCSD and Taft High Administrators. The professional learning team is looking forward to upcoming training sessions with Lakeside, Lamont and Maple district administrators.

The spring calendar is filling up fast! Contact Professional Learning Coordinator, Jennifer Anzalone, to get your team scheduled.

How did students perform in the first semester? How do grades this year compare to last? Are some teachers seeing more success than others?

Using the KiDS Grade Distribution Reports, you can answer all of these questions and more. Using the available filter tools, the grades distribution report will allow district and school leaders to analyze and compare grades over time district-wide all the way down to the teacher level!

In addition, KiDS has created multiple student group filters so districts can compare student groups, identify gaps, and create interventions plans based on individual student need.

Join us for a virtual presentation on how KiDS can be used to help in planning and monitoring your LCAP Goals and Actions. Below are a few topics to be covered:

• Monitor progress on state priorities
• Compare outcomes based on student groups
• Identify trends in local and state assessments
• Create custom groups to monitor student performance across multiple KiDS dashboards

Date: March 18th

Time: 9:00-11:00am

Register Today: https://kern.k12oms.org/2575-199765

The following are innovative ideas from our KiDS districts showcasing how they are using the platform to support data culture in their districts. We would love to hear how you are using KiDS to support your work.

Wasco Student Filter

To assist Wasco High School in tracking student attendance, engagement and academic outcomes based on Distance Learning vs In-Person cohorts, the KiDS team has created an additional filter to allow disaggregation of data based on attendance plan. This is possible by using student group fields in their student information system to designate attendance type then setting up a connector through KiDS.

If your district is interested in using this feature or has other needs to support distance learning data tracking, please reach out to your Data Analyst for ideas and support!

Buttonwillow Pre-School Tracking

Through discussions with the Kern Pledge Kinder Readiness Work Group, Buttonwillow School District has added a dynamic filter to their KiDS platform that identifies students who attended pre-school vs those who did not. By applying these filters, as well as their use of the Core Growth Assessment, Buttonwillow can now easily monitor the impact of pre-school on student achievement over time. Great Job Buttonwillow!

Fruitvale Behavior Analysis

In order to increase their ability to analyze behavior trends throughout the district, Fruitvale School District has worked with KiDS to create a new filter to disaggregate assertive vs non-assertive discipline. This filter has been added to all Aeries district filters labeled "Discipline Type."