My mom loved road trips. I remember how excitedly she flipped the pages of our spiral-bound road atlas to plan her route and stops. If online maps had existed back then, I doubt she would have used them. She didn’t care about traffic delays or faster routes because she valued the journey just as much as the destination. She even thought construction detours were “a fun adventure!” I love that she wasn’t in a hurry.
As helpful as a road atlas or online maps can be for planning, they’re tools that don’t have the power to transport people. They’re a reference that can only inform travelers as they act and move. In the same way, districts looking at student data are like road trippers looking at an online map. Educators have plenty of information, but the data doesn’t have the power to improve achievement—it’s up to educators to interpret it and take action for their students. What complicates matters more for districts is that student learning doesn’t follow predictable, well-defined paths like road-trippers find on an atlas. So educators must be ready for detours or traffic delays at any moment. And sometimes they even need to build new roads and rest stops. Therefore, to make sure every student is on a path to success, districts not only need actionable data, but also high-quality resources that can be used with students.
That’s why data-informed learning resources that lead to meaningful student growth are essential. For example, it’s not enough to have test scores that reveal which students need help dividing fractions, nor is it enough to simply have students memorize; “yours is not to reason why, just invert and multiply.” Educators know that rote memorization doesn’t work in the long run. It’s like junk food on a road trip. When students need intervention, there’s no quick fix; they need better pedagogy and curricular materials that help them understand fraction division beyond simply a memorized procedure.
Because districts need both actionable insights and effective resources, Discovery Education (DE) is proud to provide educators with tools for making data-informed instructional decisions along with award-winning resources for taking action. And now, to make this process even easier for DE partner schools and districts, we’ve joined forces with Otus, a K-12 assessment, data, and insights solution, to help schools harness the power of data to improve learning outcomes for all students. Our partnership empowers school leaders and educators to make strategic, data-informed decisions while providing the resources they need to support student success continually throughout the year.
We know where we want our students to be by the end of the school year. And they’ll always need us to meet them where they are. The data we have about them is a first step toward that goal. The next steps require us to meet them in pedagogically sound ways, inspiring them to be curious and confident learners who think critically and compassionately. When it comes to learning, the journey of persisting and progressing is how students reach proficiency. With Discovery Education and Otus, it’s easier than ever for districts to have not only an atlas, but also the vehicles to ensure inspiring road trips for student learning.
