While harnessing data for continuous improvement may seem like a strategic advantage for education preparation programs, it’s actually more of a necessity. Newly named Dean of Education at Sul Ross State University, Kevin Badgett is well aware of this, which is why he’s helping lead his organization’s foray into further data analysis after a beneficial encounter with the Insight to Impact (I2I) Dashboards.
Although Badgett is just at the outset of this process, his team’s vision and intent are strong, illustrated by a prescribed timeline of priorities his university wants to tackle. Now a member of the Texas Education Agency’s Insight to Impact Data Governance Committee, Badgett previously found himself in a group of colleagues from various other institutions when it became apparent there was value in working with others to develop a stronger understanding of how the I2I dashboards could support decision-making.
The realization inspired a brainstorming session with a colleague at another institution about the possibility of creating a cross-institutional committee to plunge deeper into data overall, with the I2I Dashboards featuring as one of the vehicles to do so. Before moving to Sul Ross State University about six months ago, Badgett became better acquainted with I2I after using the tool to analyze enrollment trends.
Dr. Kevin Badgett
While engaged in discussions about falling enrollment, Badgett compared their data with statewide trends and discovered something interesting.
“I actually found that our market share remained pretty constant and pretty steady,” Badgett noted. “So, I was able to situate our declining enrollments into what I observed to be trends in the state around educator preparation, and I was able to illustrate that in some areas that our market share actually increased over time.”
That insight supported early discussions organized around an understanding related to the nature of the drop in enrollment, demonstrating the power of data to challenge assumptions and guide decision-making. Badgett also appreciated that the dashboards could be sorted and filtered in numerous ways to make the data relevant to different discipline areas and connected to content area exams. That feature also allowed colleagues to have more succinct access to the data.
Currently, Badgett examines his I2I data monthly, but he aims to organize a Data Day in the spring. In the meantime, he intends to walk his leadership team through one of the I2I protocol documents in the near future.
In the next eight months, Badgett will expand his data efforts, and he credits I2I with initiating data conversations that support this.
“I2I has helped lay the foundation and groundwork for good things that haven’t even been dreamed up yet,” Badgett said. “I’m looking forward to the vision that will come out of I2I and the dashboards becoming more of a day-to-day utility.”
While harnessing data for continuous improvement may seem like a strategic advantage for education preparation programs, it’s actually more of a necessity. Newly named Dean of Education at Sul Ross State University, Kevin Badgett is well-aware of this, which is why he’s helping lead his organization’s foray into further data analysis after a beneficial encounter with the Insight to Impact (I2I) Dashboards.
Although Badgett is just at the outset of this process, his team’s vision and intent are strong, illustrated by a prescribed timeline of priorities his university wants to tackle. Now a member of the Texas Education Agency’s Insight to Impact Data Governance Committee, Badgett previously found himself in a group with colleagues from across a variety of different institutions when it became apparent that he had spent 8-9 hours more than most of his colleagues in the I2I Dashboards.
The realization inspired a brainstorming session with his department chair to create a cross-institutional committee to plunge deeper into data overall, with the I2I Dashboards featuring as one of the vehicles to do so. Before moving to Sul Ross State University about four months ago, Badgett became -acquainted to I2I after using the tool to analyze enrollment trends.
At first, his team was worried about a drop in enrollment, but after comparing their data with statewide trends, they discovered something different.
“I actually found that our market share remained pretty constant and pretty steady,” Badgett noted. “So, I was able to situate our declining enrollments into what I observed to be trends in the state around educator preparation, and I was able to illustrate that in some areas that our market share actually increased over time.”
That insight allowed the team to reframe its concerns, demonstrating the power of data to challenge assumptions and guide decision-making. Badgett also appreciated that the dashboards could be sorted and filtered in a variety of ways to make the data relevant to different discipline areas and connected to content area exams. That feature also allowed colleagues to have more succinct access to the data.
Currently, Badgett examines his I2I data monthly, but aims to organize a Data Day in the spring. In the meantime, he intends to walk his leadership team through one of the I2I protocol documents at their annual College of Education Retreat.
In the next eight months, Badgett will expand his data efforts, and he credits I2I with initiating data conversations that support this.
“I2I has helped lay the foundation and groundwork for good things that haven’t even been dreamed up yet,” Badgett said. “I’m looking forward to the vision that will come out of I2I and the dashboards becoming more of a day-to-day utility.”