Mid-Year Data Day: Running an Effective 90-Minute Review

Action Items Completed

35% 82%

+134%

Tier Movement Decisions Made

12 47

+292%

Meeting Efficiency Rating

2.8/5 4.3/5

+54%

Symptom

Data meetings were a mandated checkbox. Teams met for 90 minutes, scrolled through spreadsheets, and left without clear action items. Teachers described them as "a waste of time." The few action items that were generated were rarely followed up on because no one tracked them. The deeper problem: meetings lacked structure. Without a protocol, the loudest voice dominated and the conversation drifted to anecdotes rather than data.

People

Dr. Linda Chavez redesigned the district's data meeting protocol with input from building leaders. Team: - Dr. Linda Chavez — Assistant Superintendent, protocol design - Building principals — Meeting facilitation - Instructional coaches — Data preparation, meeting support - Grade-level team leads — Participant leaders

Data

Meeting effectiveness was measured by three metrics: action item completion rate (tracked via a shared document reviewed at the next meeting), number of tier movement decisions made during the meeting, and a post-meeting efficiency survey. A data wall displayed student performance data organized by the questions teams would address during the meeting.

Plan

The 90-minute meeting followed a rigid protocol: 0-5 min: Data Review — Facilitator presents pre-prepared data wall focused on 2-3 specific questions (not "let's look at the data" but "which Tier 2 students are ready for Tier 1?") 5-25 min: Student Sort — Teams categorize students: maintaining, improving, declining. Evidence required for each categorization. 25-50 min: Decision Making — For each declining student: what changes? For each improving student: ready to move tiers? Decisions documented in real time. 50-80 min: Action Planning — Each decision generates a specific action item with an owner and deadline. "We'll try something different" is not an action item. "Ms. Rivera will switch Jordan to the phonics group starting Monday" is. 80-90 min: Close — Facilitator reads back all action items. Next meeting date confirmed. The protocol's power was in the pre-work. Data was prepared before the meeting so teams spent zero time hunting for information.

graph LR A["0-5 min Data Review"] --> B["5-25 min Student Sort"] B --> C["25-50 min Decisions"] C --> D["50-80 min Action Items"] D --> E["80-90 min Close + Confirm"]

Resources

90-Minute Data Meeting Protocol

Facilitator guide with timings and prompts

Action Item Tracker Template

Shared document for tracking decisions and follow-through