Scheduling a “Data Day” can be a vital tool for EPPs seeking to bring their data to life and create informed change. During the Insight to Impact Dashboard Team’s January 29, 2026, Insight to Impact Data Day Training Session, Teach Us’ Executive Director of Academic Programs Dr. Lecia Eubanks, Lone Star College’s Executive Director of Education Preparation Rebecca Saiz, and Sam Houston State University’s Associate Dean for Academic Assessment & Accountability Dr. Casey Brown served as panelists to provide their respective insights on developing a “Data Day.”
Here are five essential takeaways from the session that EPPs can use to design a successful “Data Day”:
- A “Data Day” Definition
Not meant to be a compliance briefing, technical training, or a “gotcha” session, “Data Days” were defined as intentional opportunities to connect data to decision-making in a supportive, collaborative environment. The goals mentioned were fostering continuous improvement, examining gaps, and identifying growth and opportunities for next steps in a proactive – not reactive – manner.
- Included Personnel
Panelists stressed the importance of shared ownership and broad participation, while still being intentional about who sits at the table.
Sam Houston State formed an assessment committee to plan “Data Days,” create buy-in, gather feedback, and reflect multiple perspectives across the institution. While Teach Us only requires the academic team to attend, its “Data Day” is open to departments across the organization.
To create a welcoming environment, Lone Star College highlighted the importance of serving food and encouraging feedback in a safe, relaxing, and rewarding atmosphere.
- Planning and Session Design
The panelists didn’t offer a single blueprint for a “Data Day” schedule or structure. “Data Days” ranged from in-person to remote, one-hour quarterly meetings to half-day or full-day sessions held at the end of months or semesters. Some EPPs host fall and spring sessions with different focuses, while others align meetings with key data release cycles.
To avoid a “sit-and-get” experience, panelists described using a mix of panels, facilitated discussions, breakout groups, roundtables, hands-on work with the Insight to Impact Dashboards, and collaborative problem-solving using real program data.
Since Teach Us hosts remote sessions an hour long, the organization limited the number of data points reviewed to prevent overload. Meanwhile, Lone Star College and Sam Houston State offered more extensive sessions in terms of time and topics. Unanimously, the panelists utilized the most recent “Data Day” to plan the next “Data Day,” creating a continuous cycle of reflection and preparation.
- Data Topics
Rather than reviewing every available metric, the panelists encouraged EPPs to focus on high-impact datasets aligned to program goals. Commonly examined data included:
- Pass rates
- Candidate characteristics and placement data
- Principal and teacher perception surveys
- Employment, retention, and student growth data.
The panelists stressed the importance of comparing local results with statewide data to avoid misinterpretation. Another panelist noted that a “Data Day” presented an opportunity to review data, such as perception surveys, to ensure everyone understood the questions.
Most importantly, a “Data Day” is an excellent moment to determine whether the appropriate staff have access to the dashboards and also understand what data they are responsible for analyzing.
- Desired Outcomes
A “Data Day” has the potential to solve real problems for EPPs. Besides helping staff discover what data exists, who owns it, and how often it should be reviewed, the dashboards can create a shared language across departments, increasing confidence in its use and consistency in data conversations. It can also reveal gaps and redundancies, spark new ideas, develop next steps, flip narratives, create a proactive approach, and exchange repetitive goals for intentional ones. Most importantly, it can set the tone for data to become a roadmap for building a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement.
Call-to-Action
For EPPs looking to get started or recalibrate, the advice was simple: start small, keep it focused, and don’t be afraid to begin. A “Data Day” doesn’t have to be perfect to be powerful. It just needs to connect insight to impact.