Putting FACES on the Data
What Great Leaders and Teachers Do!
- Lyn Sharratt - University of Toronto, Canada
- Michael Fullan - Michael Fullan Enterprises Inc., Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Canada
A co-publication with ACEL, Foreword by Sir Michael Barber, A co-publication with Learning Forward
When numbers become people, learners thrive
Waves of data—indigestible, dehumanized, and disaggregated—are crashing into the education system every day, driving you to distraction. But imagine a world where you’re not being drowned by data, but inspired by it; where that data has a FACE and gives you focused information on how to reach every student.
Sharratt and Fullan turn worldwide research into a road map for school leaders to use ongoing assessment to inform instruction and drive equity at the classroom, school, district, and state levels. Inside you will find
- A fresh look at data to incorporate new learning
- Updated case studies, figures, and vignettes
- Insights from more than 500 educators in answering the 3 research questions: Why do we put FACES on data? How do we put FACES on data? and What are the top three leadership skills needed to do this work?
- An integrated approach to using the 14 Parameters to enhance Deep Learning and critical thinking
- Tools for committing to “equity and excellence”
FACES is about setting up the conditions for success in every classroom: identifying the right factors, at the right time, with the right resources. Its focus on student-centered data will help you:
- Increase learners’ growth and achievement
- improve engagement that results in students, teacher and leader empowerment
- build cultures of learning
- drive a learning environment of continuous improvement
A superb book. Full to the brim of practical, workable ideas. Sharratt and Fullan exude love and compassion for all students everywhere, reinforcing that they all deserve the best educational experience, irrespective of circumstance or context. It also reminds us to look at faces first, data second, in the pursuit of achievement for all. Powerful and persuasive, this book speaks directly to the importance of focusing on global education now more than ever.
A rich tapestry weaving together data, student identity, and informed professional judgement. Sharratt and Fullan have provided a context for the use of student data to move from an aspiration that all children can learn to an accountable set of actions to ensure that all means all. Putting faces on the data requires knowing the whole learner, including their identity, community, and lived experience.
Unlocking the capacity of each student remains the essential work of all teachers and leaders. This new edition expertly provides an elaborated and contemporary focus on how to enhance school performance through identifying and understanding the abilities, passions, and potential of our next generation of innovators and problem solvers.
Sharratt and Fullan’s 2012 work was a catalyst for progress in Queensland public education, leading us out of a “teacher-led / data-driven” binary into a new era characterised by deep understanding of our student and community needs, grounded in evidence. New perspectives in this edition reflect contemporary research and case studies, updated parameters, and provocations around emerging global challenges.
A book starts with blank pages, has within it a lovely apparition and a sense of beauty waiting to be imprinted so that potential readers can then make interpretations about what they see. There is no immaculate perception when interpreting data, but there are multiple meanings tied to beautiful faces. Sharratt and Fullan paint the pictures, sculpt the beauty of the meaning of data, and dive deeply into the interpretations and implications. A work of art, indeed.
This is our forever work.
My journey as a school and system leader has run parallel to the 10 years of Putting Faces on the Data. As a school leader, it helped me learn that the only way you lift outcomes – whether for a class or a school – is child by child. This ensures that we have a line of sight to what each child and school needs to improve student outcomes. Thank you from every child who has been ‘given a face’ in a class, school, and system across the world.
This book changed the way our system views data and how collectively a shared understanding of data literacy brings accountability to the forefront. There is no system improvement without 'Putting Faces on the Data'!
It is great to have a 10th anniversary edition of FACES! This book changed the way we understood how to promote improvement in our work with teachers and leaders in Chile. It taught us what to look for in the process of learning, what data is relevant to collect, and how leaders become learners with their teachers. FACES taught us that focus for collaboration and professional learning is all about putting each student’s achievements at the center of our conversations!
In this fast-paced world, work that is relevant ten years after its first edition speaks to its durability. Each part of this book can be found in the work we do – I see data walls and I hear conversations about assessment and how it drives instruction. This book guides our work with practical examples, clear explanations, and guidance. Thank you to Lyn and Michael for continuing to make Putting FACES on the Data relevant and valuable to all educators!
Sample Materials & Chapters
Chapter 1. From Information Glut to Well-Known FACES
Chapter 2. The Power of Putting FACES on the Data
