Getting Excited About Data: Combining People, Passion, and Proof to Maximize Student Achievement » (2nd Edition)

Edie L. Holcomb, PhD, is Executive Director of Curriculum and Instructional Services, Kenosha Unified School District No. 1, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. She has experienced the challenges of improving student achievement from many perspectives:

• From classroom teacher to university professor
• From gifted-education coordinator to mainstream teacher of children with multiple disabilities
• From school- and district-level administration to national and international consulting
• From small rural districts to the challenges of urban education

She is highly regarded for her ability to link research and practice on issues related to instructional leadership and school and district change--including standards-based curriculum, instruction, assessment, supervision, and accountability. She has taught at all grade levels, served as a building principal and central office administrator, and assisted districts as an external facilitator for accreditation and implementation of school reform designs. As Associate Director of the National Center for Effective Schools, she developed a training program for site-based teams and provided technical support for implementation of school improvement efforts throughout the United States and in Canada, Guam, St. Lucia, and Hong Kong. She developed a comprehensive standards-based learning systemfor the staff and 47,000 students of the Seattle, Washington, city district and has supervised K--12 clusters of schools and evaluated principals.

Her work received the Excellence in Staff Development Award from the Iowa Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development in 1988. In 1990, her study of the needs of beginning principals was recognized by the American Association of School Administrators as recipient of the Paul F. Salmon Award for Outstanding Education Leadership Research.

She served as an elected member-at-large on the Leadership Council for ASCD International, played an active role in Washington State's School Improvement Assistance Program, and contributed to development of the new School System Improvement Resource Guide. She is scheduled to give presentations in Maine, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington State, Washington, DC, and Alberta and Saskatchewan in Canada.

She is the author of four previous books and numerous articles and reviews. Many schools and districts use the second editions of Asking the Right Questions: Techniques for Collaboration and School Change (2001) and Getting Excited About Data: Combining People, Passion, and Proof to Maximize Student Achievement (2004) as guidance for their improvement efforts. She can be reached at ELHolcomb@aol.com.

"It was a pleasure reading Getting Excited About Data. I found it precise and on target for enabling school personnel to effectively use their schools' data to plan improvement."
--Theodore Creighton, Executive Director
National Council of Professors of Educational Leadership

"The book is written in friendly language and is a quick read with many examples. The diagrams and sample questions throughout are invaluable!"
--Jill Hudson, Middle School Principal
Madison Middle School, Seattle, WA  

How can we ensure that every student is making adequate progress in an era of school and district goals, state standards, and federal ESEA legislation?

Getting Excited About Data, Second Edition builds upon the best-selling first edition to provide additional guidance and support for educators who are "ready, willing, and able" to explore more sophisticated uses of data. New tools and activities facilitate active engagement with data and a collaborative culture of collective responsibility for the learning of all students.

Precise and on target, this excellent new resource enables educators to effectively use their schools' data to respond to the challenges of the No Child Left Behind Act, and provides:

• A knowledge base emphasizing the role of data in school effectiveness and successful change
• A focus on tapping the professional passion of dedicated educators who want to work for the benefit of students from an intrinsic motivation perspective
• Group activities that energize people in collaborative efforts
• Keyquestions to identify sources of the proof of success necessary to stimulate confidence and further action
• A clear understanding of the need for "up close, in real time" assessment to balance high-stakes, external tests
• Information on how to utilize data to establish priorities and integrate accountability requirements with goals that are data-based and grounded in school values