Student learning data describe an educational system in terms of standardized test results, grade point averages, standard assessments, and other formal assessments. Demographic data provide descriptive information on items such as enrollment, attendance, grade level, ethnicity, gender, home background, and language proficiency. Demographics are very important because they describe the part of our educational system over which we have least control. Demo-graphics help us understand past trends and predict future trends. Perceptions data help us understand what students, parents, teachers, and others think about the learning environment.
Perceptions are important since people act based on what they believe.
It's important to know how students, teachers, and parents think about school, what relations have been like in the past, and what expectations they have for the future. Perceptions data can be gathered in a variety of ways, such as questionnaires, interviews, and observations. School process data define programs, instructional strategies, and classroom practices. This is the measure that seems to be hardest for teachers to describe, yet it is the one type of data that's most readily available to document. To collect school process data, educators must systematically examine their practice and student achievement, making sure both are aligned with specifically defined, desired student outcomes.