increasing classroom productivity.

THE API MEASURES WHERE YOUR SCHOOL IS. BUT THE DATAWORKS PRODUCTIVITY INDEX TELLS YOU WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO INCREASE STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT.

After observing hundreds of teachers and analyzing 150,000 pieces of student work as external evaluators in the II/USP, our data analysis showed that classroom productivity is low; in fact, it is alarmingly low. The good news is that there is so much room to improve productivity and student achievement, and that the improvement is not overly costly.

At DataWorks Educational Research, we developed the DataWorks Productivity Index (DPI) to measure the educational process. Why is the DataWorks Productivity Index (DPI) more important than the API for increasing student achievement? Because the API only tells you where you are. The DPI tells you what to do. It comprises four components.

1. Time on task is important

Time on task is defined as the percentage of classroom time when students are actively engaged in learning. If the time on task is only 50 percent due to problems such as frequent interruptions, distracting outside noises or poor classroom management skills, then the learning opportunities for students are significantly lower than a classroom where the time on task is 70, 80 or 90 percent.

We found many schools that had addressed this issue and the time on task numbers were as high as 95 percent. In the past, time on task was often the only classroom measurement, and when high levels were reached, it was thought that there was no room left to improve.

2. Curriculum alignment is important

For our classroom productivity calculations, we want to know the percentage of curriculum being presented that is in alignment with the California content standards. Our findings show that in underperforming schools, the percentage of student work that was aligned to the California Content Standards was very low. For example, a common score for the percentage of mathematics material aligned to the California content standards for fourth grade was about 25 percent.

3. Breadth of curriculum is important

Student achievement, as measured by the SAT-9, cannot reach high levels if students are not being taught all the content strands. We have found in mathematics, for example, that the majority of the material being taught is number sense. However, as can be seen from the table below, only 40 percent of the SAT-9 questions cover number sense in the fourth grade. (Besides number sense, the SAT-9 includes questions on algebra and functions; measurement and geometry; and statistics, data analysis and probability.)

Percentage of SAT-9 questions covering number sense

Second grade:    50%
Third grade:     48%
Fourth grade:    40%
Fifth grade:     38%
Sixth grade:     28%
Seventh grade:   26%

Student scores cannot be raised in content areas that are not
being taught.

4. Teacher effectiveness is important

No matter how well the content standards are covered, if teachers are not using the most effective teaching methods, learning has not reached its maximum potential.

For example, spelling instruction is an area that could be improved. After analyzing thousands of pieces of student work, we found an excessive quantity of spelling worksheets. Even when the spelling words were at grade level, the spelling instruction was not always research-based. Most teachers are using worksheets that concentrate on memorizing individual and unrelated words. They are not using best practices such as teaching spelling patterns and rules, or teaching students how to use spelling mnemonics.

We also found that very few practices for English language learners were actually being used in the classroom, even though teachers reported that they were CLAD trained. Increased use of ELL classroom practices would raise teacher effectiveness and increase student learning.

After reviewing our data from classroom observations and student work, we have estimated teacher effectiveness to be only 50 percent of what it could have been if teachers were using best practices consistently.

The DPI

If we multiply the four components together, we can calculate the classroom productivity.

DataWorks Productivity Index (DPI) = Time on task x Alignment x Breadth x Teacher effectiveness.

                            Observed   Optimum

1. Time on task                  95%       95%
2. Alignment to standards        25%       90%
3. Breadth of instruction        40%       90%
4. Teacher effectiveness         50%       90%
DPI                            4.75%       69%

In this example the DPI is .95 x .25 x .40 x .50 = 4.75%. The low value is startling: a classroom productivity of less than 5 percent!

The DPI dramatically demonstrates the importance of all components being optimized. All elements must be at high levels in order for the outcome to be high. If any single factor is very low, the overall result will be low.

The good news: Raising student achievement

Let's look at the DPI for a school where there has been a real focus on improving all four factors. Time on task remains high at 95 percent. Alignment has been increased to 90 percent. Breadth has been increased to 90 percent and teacher effectiveness is 90 percent. The DPI for this site is 69 percent. This is more than 14 times greater than the previous DPI of 4.75 percent. The resources required for productivity increases of this order are very small in relation to other costly reform alternatives being discussed these days.

12 factors identified in the targeted improvement model

Many factors affect student learning. This article has addressed some of them. The DataWorks Targeted Improvement Model [C] identifies the 12 most important components of the educational process. They are curriculum, instructional practices, assessments, staff development, learning environment, program comparability, resources, time, governance, professional relationships, board policies and school/community relations.

So why is the DataWorks Productivity Index more important for increasing student achievement? Because the DPI tells you what to do. The API only tells you where you are.

Silvia Ybarra and John Hollingsworth are researchers for Data Works Educational Research. For more information call [phone] or e-mail [e-mail], or visit their Web site at www.dataworks-ed.com