PD: ACE Habits/Data Literacy/Notice & Wonder 25-26 SY

Quality & Continuous Improvement PD

Indiana NSS: Professional Development– Thursday, September 4, 2025

ACE Habits of Mind -- Data Literacy -- Notice & Wonder Protocol

• Ice Breaker
• ACE Habits of Mind

• Data Literacy

• Notice & Wonder Protocol
• Questions & Survey

Agenda

Objectives: Building Better Together: Mindset • Evidence • Collaboration

1. Establish a Common Mindset: Learn about and apply the ACE Habits of Mind to strengthen our shared understanding, teamwork, and instructional decision-making across NSS PA.
2. Build Data Literacy Skills: Learn how to understand, interpret, and use data effectively to guide instructional choices, support student growth, and improve outcomes across NSS PA.
3. Engage in Collaborative Inquiry: Learn how to use the 'Notice and Wonder' Protocol to explore data, spark meaningful questions, and identify opportunities for instructional improvement across NSS PA.

ICE BREAKER

ACE Habits of Mind

Lead with purpose, accountability, and adaptability—believe in your impact, not just your role.

What’s Your Default Habit?

When challenges hit, what’s your gut professional move? Act fast? Go solo? Find the numbers?

Experienced This Before?

Today we’re going to rewire our default habits to work together as an ACE team!

A: Action, Assessment, Adjustment

Why ACE Matters

Title here

These habits shape equitable, reflective teaching and teamwork!

E: Evidence

C: Collaboration

LOOKS LIKE

ACEHABIT

DOESN'T LOOK LIKE

Ongoing reflection and intentional changes to teaching practice… (e.g., trying a new grouping strategy, adjusting lesson pacing, or introducing supports based on student progress data)

Making changes without evidence or reflection Feeling pressured to “get it right” immediately

Action /Assessment /Adjustment

Examples: Modifying an instructional strategy mid-unit after reviewing student work Adjusting small-group plans based on formative assessments Tweaking classroom routines after student feedback

LOOKS LIKE

ACEHABIT

DOESN'T LOOK LIKE

Working together with empathy and shared responsibility to support student success (e.g., co-planning lessons, sharing strategies, inviting input from teammates before making changes, and building agreement on classroom or programming goals)

Making decisions without input from colleagues Working in isolation without sharing ideas or resources

Collaboration

Examples: Sharing student engagement strategies that worked in your classroom Partnering with ABSS to support IEP goals

LOOKS LIKE

ACEHABIT

DOESN'T LOOK LIKE

Combining what we see in the classroom with student data to guide instruction and support plans (e.g., pairing assessment results with daily observations, work samples, and student feedback to get the full picture)

Using numbers alone without context Judging students based on averages instead of their individual growth

Evidence

Examples: Using both IEP progress reports and classroom work to adjust lessons Pairing behavior tracking data with your own notes to refine supports Looking at patterns in formative assessments alongside student participation in class

What Would ACE Do?Activity TIME!

Instructions:

• You will receive a classroom scenario/question.
• For the scenario card:
• Share what you might normally do, then reframe your response using an ACE Habit.
• Talk it through aloud, (with your BEST ACE Habit response)!
• Sample scenario:
• "A student’s recent work shows little progress in a key skill area. Your first instinct is to reteach the entire unit from scratch. What would ACE do instead?"

1. Behavior & Classroom Support

2. Intraverbals (Conversation/Reciprocal Language)

3. IEP & Data Use

The 'Habit Loop' That Holds Us Together!

ACE is a way of working, not just a checklist… When we repeat these habits in our classrooms and with our teams, we create a positive cycle that strengthens our teaching, our support for students, and our school community through continuous improvement!

Data Literacy

Read it. Work with it. Question it. Share it.

Where should the giraffe wear his bow tie?

Data shouldn’t feel like a blurry picture! We’ll learn how to make it clear, meaningful, and connected to what we see in our classrooms.

THINK...

• Have you ever been shown student data and instantly thought, “Uh-oh, what did I do wrong?”
• It’s easy to see data as a “gotcha” instead of a way to help us and our students grow.
• Sometimes we worry it’ll be used to point out mistakes, or we might try to make it fit one story we already believe.
• When that happens, we miss the chance to look at the numbers with fresh eyes and discover something new.
• Our goal is to make data feel safe, helpful, and even exciting — something we can use together to plan, adjust, and celebrate progress at NSS!

How do you currently feel about using ‘data’ in your classroom? Why?

Come off mute!Share your thoughts with the group & be honest about what excites you about data and what makes you nervous! Remember: Our goal is to make using data in the classroom feel natural and helpful, so any worries or frustrations don’t get in the way of helping our students grow...

What is Data Literacy?

Think about a teacher who has a stack of student work and assessment results but isn’t sure how to make sense of them. Being data literate means you can:

• Collect and organize classroom and student data

• Analyze and interpret what it means for learning

• Communicate and act on that information to support growth

It’s not just about numbers — it’s about turning information into clear actions that help our New Story students succeed!

To build our data literacy, we need all of these skills. That means understanding what’s being assessed, interpreting what the results really show, and knowing when and how to use the data. Different teachers & ABSS may feel stronger in some skills than others and that’s okay! As we work together this year, we’ll keep practicing these areas so using data becomes a natural part of how we plan, teach, and support our students here at NSS!

Introducing Noticing and Wondering

Step 1: Look at data or "notice" things

1. Questions to Ask:
1. Who? (Which students or groups are represented?)
2. How many? (How often is something happening?)
3. Which has more or less? (Where are there differences?)
2. Examples:
1. I notice most reading intervention referrals are in Grades K–4.
2. I notice some IEP progress notes are missing specific details.
3. Why This Matters:
1. Gets everyone into the conversation
2. Helps us catch important small details
3. Should be done before jumping to conclusions about why

The Ladder of Inference

If we skip the bottom steps we can end up making quick assumptions that aren’t accurate!Our beliefs can cause us to only notice certain behaviors or results, which means we might miss the full picture. Slowing down and working through the ladder helps us base our decisions on evidence, not just first impressions!

Ladder of Inference Classroom Example:

Scenario: You notice that Jordan has not turned in the last two math assignments. 1. Observations- Jordan has two missing math assignments in the gradebook. 2. Selected Data- You focus on the missing work, but don’t check participation in class. 3. Meanings- “This probably means Jordan isn’t trying.” 4. Assumptions- Jordan doesn’t care about math and is falling behind because of a lack of effort. 5. Conclusions- Jordan is unmotivated and won’t improve without strict consequences. 6. Beliefs- Students like Jordan need more discipline, not extra help. 7. Actions- You call home to give a warning and remove free-choice time as a consequence. But… if you slowed down the ladder: You might check in with Jordan first and learn that he’s been staying with a relative who doesn’t have internet access, and he didn’t know there was a paper version of the assignment. This changes your meaning, assumption, and action — instead of a consequence, you offer the paper copy and extra time to complete it.

What do you notice?

Examples:

• I notice the yellow section is the largest.
• I notice the blue, red, and orange sections are about the same size.
• I notice the “Cure cancer” section is the same size as the “Work” section.
• I notice there are no numbers or percentages on this chart.

Example Together

What do you notice about this graph?

What do you notice?

Remember: Try not to 'infer'...#FACTS

What do you notice about this graph? McDonalds curve of regret over time it cycles between I’m loving it and never again?

What do you notice?

Did everyone notice the same things? How does slowing down to notice help the process?

• Should you have conclusions yet?
• Are you making meaning of the data yet?

• Has anyone looked at a graph and made the wrong assumption right away?

Step 2: Start to dig deeper- "wonder"

1. Questions to Ask:
1. Why might results be different? Why might they be the same?
2. What could have caused these results?
3. Would this pattern look the same in another class, grade, or subject?
4. I wonder why Kindergarten students showed the most growth in ELA?
5. I wonder if similar growth happened in another class that tried the same independent work strategies?

1. Why This Matters:
1. Helps us notice trends, outliers, and surprises
2. Encourages making connections without bias or jumping to conclusions
3. Focuses on curiosity, not blame

Join in... the 'wonder' mindset!

Wondering as a group helps you see different perspectives, includes different background knowledge of each person in the group, and additional expertise!

1. What do you notice?

2. What do you wonder?

Any idea what this historical data is from and why it is being analyzed?

1. What do you notice?

2. What do you wonder?

1. What do you notice?

2. What do you wonder?

1. What do you notice?

2. What do you wonder?

POV: Most watched YouTube views between January 2016 and April 2017.

Take aways from "noticing" and "wondering"?

Noticing and wondering leads to digging into data sources and examining our practices! Only once we have looked closer are we ready to action plan...

THANK YOU!Questions?Survey Time...