{"id":619,"date":"2010-11-06T10:27:11","date_gmt":"2010-11-06T14:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/?p=619"},"modified":"2010-12-13T10:23:12","modified_gmt":"2010-12-13T14:23:12","slug":"managing-data-when-the-data-dont-make-sense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/?p=619","title":{"rendered":"Managing “Data”… when the data don’t make sense"},"content":{"rendered":"

Data-Based Management<\/em> (DBM) is an increasingly popular concept across all work sectors because it seems to capture the idea that decisions should be based less on assumptions and more on actual indicators related to the situation at hand. That makes a lot of sense.<\/p>\n

But that doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that the data make sense. Or that the more data we have, the better chance we\u2019ll understand the problem the data suggests we have.\u00a0 That\u2019s because aggregating data doesn’t indicate their relationship to each other as our minds connect them into information,<\/em> then knowledge<\/em>… and with experience, wisdom. <\/em> It\u2019s these interrelationships that contribute most to the sense-making necessary for understanding why<\/em> a problem exists,\u00a0what<\/em> might be done about addressing it at that core level, and then\u00a0how<\/em> and where<\/em> to start.<\/p>\n

The seriousness of this missing dimension of DBM was suggested in the last posting ==\u00a0 Making Sense of \u201cNonsense\u201d<\/span> — <\/strong>where we questioned the belief that Montgomery County MD Schools successful<\/em> systemic improvements and results are not<\/span> applicable to the situations confronting urban<\/em><\/span> districts because of differences in their demographic data,<\/span> such as the community\u2019s economic and ethnic characteristics, or its access to fiscal resources.\u00a0 And we raised two \u201cWhat if\u2026?\u201d<\/em> questions.<\/p>\n

(1) What if<\/em> the problems causing the bleeding in urban districts are more deeply embedded in all<\/span><\/em> school systems?\u00a0 And<\/p>\n

(2) What if<\/em> the \u201cblinders\u201d created by a focus only on urban school systems keep them (and those who try to help them) from seeing effective \u201chow-to\u2019s<\/em>\u201d that can directly and effectively address the priority conditions in reformers \u201curban musts\u201d lists?<\/p>\n

Consider this \u201cdata:\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If the root of the problem lay in just children’s economic, social\u00a0 and ethnic characteristics then MCPS couldn\u2019t have been so successful in developing the learning capacities of the same cohort of children as found in \u201curban\u201d districts.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If it were just about \u201cadequate funding,\u201d then 30 years of \u201cthrowing money at problems\u201d by major foundation and government programs surely would have made a difference by now.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If the problem were simply an \u201curban\u201d one, then the national<\/span> math and science test results from all<\/span> schools that have alarmed the science and business communities would not be demanding all the attention they are getting from those concerned about America’s future.<\/p>\n

Making sense of the sameness<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

To understand the significance of the knowledge being generated in MCPS requires first looking at different \u201cdata\u201d about the core of \u00a0work<\/span><\/em> <\/span>of a school system<\/em>.\u00a0 Data about the ways they are the same <\/em>as other worksettings, not different<\/em>. \u00a0\u00a0And this is largely information about the nature of the functional \u201crelationships\u201d among the systems \u201cparts\u201d that interconnect it into a sustainable \u201cwhole.\u201d<\/p>\n

– \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Governance<\/em> relationships,<\/p>\n

– \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Accountability<\/em> relationships,<\/p>\n

– \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Problem-solving<\/em> relationships,<\/p>\n

– \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Labor-Managemen<\/em>t relationships,<\/p>\n

– \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Community<\/em>-engagement\u00a0 relationships,<\/p>\n

– \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0and, most of all at its core, the interactive relationship of the “worker” and the “work.”<\/p>\n

When this \u201cdata\u201d is brought together in a coherent way, new knowledge<\/em> is created and it\u2019s possible to see that school \u201csystems\u201d have been operating from a common, but unarticulated, systems model that frames and supports that web of these invisible but entangling relationships.\u00a0 It is their unstated \u201ctheory-of-action,\u201d and it forms the old \u201cbox\u201d that reformers keep trying fruitlessly to break out of.<\/p>\n

The difference <\/em>of the MCPS story is at the level of this \u201cbox.\u201d \u00a0The alternative way-of-thinking about a work system this site employs makes it possible to make sense of how MCPS has \u201cmanaged\u201d their data in order to transform it into the information<\/em> and knowledge<\/em> required for its work from the classroom to the boardroom. \u00a0And, if that makes sense, to then explore its implications for other districts \u2013 especially<\/span> urban communities where the need is greatest.<\/p>\n

That story of Data-Based Managemen<\/em>t is an essential component of this sense-making website and serves as a reality check on my tendency in blog postings to communicate at a too-theoretical, abstract, “head-hurting” level.<\/p>\n

So don\u2019t hesitate to ask for my \u201cdata\u201d\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Data-Based Management (DBM) is an increasingly popular concept across all work sectors because it seems to capture the idea that decisions should be based less on assumptions and more on actual indicators related to the situation at hand. That makes a lot of sense. But that doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that the data make sense. Or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=619"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":640,"href":"https:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619\/revisions\/640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sabusense.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}