The mission-focused work of educating 2e students at Lang calls on us to understand and support a broad spectrum of student abilities and needs. As we move forward into The Lang School's second decade, we are keenly aware that data collection and its analysis plays a critical role in this work. It provides an invaluable guide in helping us to maintain and develop a tailored learning environment that celebrate students' strengths while also offering the necessary support to address areas of student challenge. We understand that the effective use of varied forms of data is essential for promoting both academic and emotional growth for our students.
For Lang learners, traditional assessment measures may not capture the full picture of an individual's abilities. Due to the interplay of their giftedness and challenges, our students often perform inconsistently across subjects or tasks . Therefore, comprehensive data collection is vital to avoid overlooking areas of strength or underestimating the impact of their challenges. This requires a multi-faceted approach that goes beyond traditional assessment methods.
Academic Data (Strengths and Challenges):
Academic data for 2e students must highlight both strengths and areas of difficulty. While standardized test scores and general classroom assessments remain important, we are also committed to collecting data through specialized assessments that are sensitive to Lang students' asynchronous development. Incorporating a variety of assessment tools, including performance-based evaluations, creative projects, and portfolio assessments allows students to demonstrate mastery in ways that align with their strengths.
Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Data:
SEL data at Lang is crucial, especially given that many of our students struggle with anxiety, frustration, sensory needs and other social-emotional challenges. Tracking patterns and triggers helps us to create a community where our students feel emotionally supported and can grow their strengths while also developing skills and strategies to address their challenges.
Psychological and Neurodevelopmental Data:
Information from neuropsychological evaluations, neurodevelopmental assessments, and reports from occupational or speech therapy are critical as well. This data helps a student’s Lang team to determine and adjust learning plans to each student’s unique cognitive profile. Information from these formal assessments as well as our own learnings about students form the backbone of each student's Learning Profile that teachers, therapists, and specialists use to design learning experience for our students.
Engagement and Interest Data:
Understanding student motivation is a key component of Lang's design. Tracking which activities engage and excite students help us develop project-based and passion-driven learning experiences that tap into our students' natural talents and interests.
Observational Data:
Observations by students’ teachers and support team members provide essential insights into how our students engage with learning. Observing social patterns and behavior during both academic and non-academic activities helps us identify when frustration arises from learning challenges or peer-to-peer interactions and when engagement flourishes due to areas of interest. This data allows us to support and intervene at the level that is likely to have the most significant positive impact on the learner's growth.
Collaborative Input Data:
Collecting data from multiple sources, including parents, outside providers, teachers, and school psychologists, helps us to create a holistic view of each student’s development. Regular communication between stakeholders also ensures that data collection is accurate, comprehensive, and reflective of all aspects of a Lang student.
Student Self-Reflection:
Encouraging students to self-assess and reflect on their own learning yields valuable qualitative data. Gathering input from our students directly allows them to share their perceptions of their challenges and strengths which guides school strategies and promotes commitment from the student.
At Lang, collecting and utilizing data to measure academic success goes beyond periodic progress reports that are shared with families. These are certainly one of the important ways in which data is collected and shared, but for us what is essential is understanding the strengths and challenges that our 2e learners face and how they manifest on a daily basis for our learners. Data helps us to find the balance between enrichment and acceleration that can set each learner on the best growth path. Through comprehensive and personalized data collection, we can craft learning experiences that allow our students to thrive, both academically and emotionally. At the same time, data on student progress also informs our ongoing professional development work with our teachers and staff, and highlights areas where additional support or training is needed. By focusing on tailored strategies, strength-based interventions, and continuous collaboration among teachers, support team members, students, parents, and outside providers, Lang harnesses the power of data to support and sustain an environment where our students' emerging and unrealized potential can be more fully and completely developed.
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