The data is coming. Every day, more teachers send me DRA scores. DRA scores are flooding my inbox waiting to be opened, printed, and devoured. I eagerly open the attachments and quickly skim, looking at the end result.
“How many on grade-level? Did Rosie make it? We worked so hard.”
I input the scores on the spreadsheet and determine change level. I color code the scores by time in the year to determine how many are below, at, and above grade level.
Numbers swirl in my mind. Faces zip past as I enter the data. For some, I look at last years data and compare progress from year to year.
“How many of the kids who are still below grade level just missed it by one level? How many of the students who are below grade level moved in during the year? How many of the kids who are below grade level made more than one year’s expected growth?”
I’ve always been a book nerd. Nose in a book, that’s me.
I never knew numbers could be so fun!
steps in the literacy journey 
Erin,
There is so much fun entailed in studying data as long as children are never considered to “be a number”. That score provides information about a specific performance on a specific date. It’s not the “whole story” . . . so as long as it’s a rationale view of one piece of the puzzle and as an indicator of progress, your students will be fine!!!
Not to worry. Each of those students is a child first and foremost in my mind. I’m looking more to see if each child has been provided the opportunities to grow and fall in love with reading. I worry about the kids who haven’t grown as much as one could expect. Then I try to figure out why and what do I need to do to help that teacher teach into that child more efficiently. Any growth, however small, is a reason for celebration!
Ha! Data is one of those things that make my eyes cross. I totally see the need for it but I hate collecting it and analyzing it.
Numbers can be fun, but crunching DRA levels has never been a joy for me.
Oh, I can totally relate to this Slice. I heart data.
I always get strange looks when I confess my love for data. I started end of year DRAs today and in the middle of one wanted to just stop a kid to give him a hug. He had just come so far. The idea of a color coded spreadsheet like you described- be still my beating heart!!!!