Data Defined
BY RONALD THOMAS/School Administrator, January 2017


My basic definitions of terms:

»Big data — Data from large-scale standardized tests that answer accountability questions at the school, district, state, national and international levels and provide general guidance for school or districtwide curriculum modifications.

»Medium data — Data from common assessments administered to all the students in a grade or course that help teams of teachers collaboratively plan instructional units and lessons

»Small data — Data gathered intentionally at critical, predetermined “hinge points” of lessons to help individual teachers determine whether students are proficient in the taught content and what the next instructional steps must be (data’s next frontier).

»In-the-moment data — Data gathered from the hundreds of unexpected cues from students as instruction proceeds.