When I started teaching, I watched students failing — not just classes, but failing their way out of their futures. I knew what that felt like. I'd been that kid, the one administrators had written off, until a teacher saw through my defenses and instinctively knew what I needed. Instead of suspending me, he put me in his classroom and showed me I was capable of more. He changed the trajectory of my life by seeing past the troublemaker to the potential underneath.
Now I was on the other side of the desk, staring at transcripts that made no sense. Why was a student reading above grade level barely holding a 0.95 GPA? Why was a student with perfect attendance bombing every class? Something wasn't adding up, and I refused to do what so many had done to me — make assumptions without looking deeper.
Think about it this way: If a doctor starts treating pain in your arm without running any tests — without asking any questions — we'd call that malpractice. Yet we do that to students every day. We intervene without understanding. We try to solve problems before we know what's causing them.
I started gathering more than just grades in my spreadsheets, determined to see the full picture of each student's life. As the data grew, patterns emerged. But these weren't just numbers. They were windows into my students' lives, their challenges, their strengths, their circumstances. This was data with a soul — the kind of data that could radically shift how we support our students, if we're brave enough to look beneath the surface and see who our students really are.
Numbers Tell Stories
My genuine curiosity drove me to question why my students were underperforming. Every failing grade told me something wasn't right. I knew these kids wanted success — just like I had — so what was standing in their way? Each answer led to more questions. If I noticed a student was struggling, I wanted to know the story. Was there something going on at home? Did they feel safe at school? When was the last time they saw a doctor?
When I became a principal, my desire for more information grew. I knew I couldn’t help our students if I didn't know what they needed. One of my math teachers caught my vision right away. She got excited about using Google Forms to gather information more efficiently. Other teachers looked at my color-coded spreadsheet and felt overwhelmed. I'd tell them to focus on a single data point — something they really wanted to understand about their students.
Each new question we asked came from something we saw in our students' lives. When students stopped coming to class, instead of just tracking their attendance, we asked them what was happening on their way to school. When students were falling behind, we didn't just look at current grades. We tracked their whole journey because maybe they were about to give up hope.
I kept adding data to my spreadsheet because I kept seeing more ways to understand our students. If you don't ask questions, if you don't really try to understand what's happening with a student, you might come up with a great solution to a problem that doesn't exist.
I also intentionally chose to hire teachers who had the ability to see student as people, not problems. And instead of hiring deans of discipline, I hired more counselors to support the students. We all worked from the understanding that behavioral issues or low achievement does not need to be punished — it needs to be treated.
Building Systems that See Students
Student data means nothing without action. We built our entire school schedule around truly knowing our kids, and advisory classes were our foundation. Every day but Friday, students spent an hour in advisory where we could really get to know them. We designed grade-level curriculum that helped teachers gather crucial information — like multiple intelligence assessments, love languages, school experience surveys, and mental health check-ins. Having time dedicated to data collection allowed us to move from being reactive to being proactive as educators.
The data we collected helped us create real solutions. When we saw patterns in the numbers, we could get more appropriate resources — like having a PSW (Psychiatric Social Worker) for each grade level. But first we had to prove the need was there. That's what good data does — it helps you build systems that actually work for students.
The data’s impact showed up powerfully with parents. When we met with them — including in VIP sessions — we gave them folders with their children's information right up front, their reading level, attendance pattern, any discipline referrals, and what we'd learned about how their child learns best. The parents were grateful — and they became true partners in their children's education.
At our back-to-school night or PHBAO (Predominantly Hispanic, Black, Asian, or other Non-Anglo) nights, we held student-led conferences or circles with the parents. 95% of our parents attended these events — the district average was 12%. Years later, a parent told me that she transferred her daughter to our school because of how we used data to support our students.
Data Days: Turning Information Into Action
We made data analysis part of our schedule — not something teachers had to do on their own time. Every five weeks after grades came out, our teachers gathered for three hours while our students had a minimum day. My brilliant director of special education managed the Excel side while I focused on the vision. We didn't just look at numbers. We heard stories.
Sure, GPAs were easy to collect. But I wanted the story behind every D and F — that's why we created the gallery walk. I drew a circle on paper and put a student's name in the center, and teachers added spokes coming out from the center with everything they knew about that student. "He loves soccer." "Works two jobs." "Father just passed away."
Sometimes we'd put up a student's name and the page remained blank — no spokes, no details. That's when we knew we had a problem. If nobody knew anything about this student, they were invisible in our school. These were the students teachers chose to adopt, to really focus on. We'd track which mentoring relationships had the greatest effect on grades, on attendance, and on engagement — and then ask these teachers to share what they did to get those results.
Our bell schedule even came from teacher insights during these days. Teachers recognized that a student who was always half-asleep in first period was energetic and engaged later in the day. So we created a rotating schedule. First period Monday might be last period Wednesday. Instead of always seeing students at 8 AM, teachers got to know them at different times, in different lights.
The real power of data days was watching teachers use what they learned to support students in new ways. When you know a student gets dropped off late in the morning or works nights to help their family, you understand those morning tardies differently. When you discover a student is actually reading three grade levels above where you thought, you can challenge them appropriately. Every data point became another way to help a student succeed.
The Million-Mile Impact of Good Data
My friend at JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) worked on the Mars rover. He told me if his calculations were off by even a millimeter here on Earth, the rover wouldn't just miss its landing spot, it might miss the entire planet. That's how I think about data with soul. I don't know where my students are going to land, but I do know I can affect their trajectory.
Good data lets us use information purposefully to nudge our students' paths. Is it the time we correct them or the time we don't? Is it the moment we speak up or stay quiet? We don't know exactly when we will make a difference. But we've all seen students turn their lives around — in 9th grade, in 12th grade, in college, or years after graduation.
While they're in our care, we have the power to be precise in how we support them. When we combine good data with real purpose, we can help every student find their direction.
Let's Transform Your School's Data Culture
When I work with schools and districts, I help leaders build data systems that actually change lives. I'll show you how to move beyond compliance metrics to uncover the real stories your data tells about your students' needs, strengths, and potential.
Whether you need a dynamic keynote to spark your next PD day or hands-on training to reshape how your school approaches student data, let's work on collecting and using data with a soul. Contact me to start the conversation. Together, we'll create a data culture that transforms both teachers and students.
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