CPACE Data-Driven Decision Making 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: When analyzing achievement data for subgroup equity, a school leader should look for:
- Only the highest-performing subgroup's scores
- Both absolute performance levels and growth rates disaggregated by student subgroup (Correct answer)
- Whole-school averages that include all students combined
- Data from only the most recent assessment cycle
Correct answer: Both absolute performance levels and growth rates disaggregated by student subgroup
Examining both status and growth across subgroups reveals which students are being well-served and which require additional focus and resources.
Question 2: FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) primarily governs:
- How schools collect and analyze student assessment data
- The privacy and parental access rights surrounding student educational records (Correct answer)
- Which vendors can sell educational software to schools
- Teacher personnel file confidentiality requirements
Correct answer: The privacy and parental access rights surrounding student educational records
FERPA protects the privacy of student education records and gives parents (and eligible students) the right to access and control their records.
Question 3: A principal wants teachers to use data more effectively. The most sustainable strategy is to:
- Mandate weekly data reports from every teacher
- Build structured data inquiry cycles into collaborative planning time (Correct answer)
- Hire a data analyst to interpret all data for teachers
- Reduce the amount of data collected to avoid teacher overwhelm
Correct answer: Build structured data inquiry cycles into collaborative planning time
Embedding data inquiry into existing collaborative time builds teacher capacity and sustains a data culture without adding burdensome reporting requirements.
Question 4: California's English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC) data is primarily used by school leaders to:
- Determine EL student graduation eligibility
- Monitor English language development progress and inform program and instructional decisions for EL students (Correct answer)
- Classify EL students for special education services
- Determine teacher credential requirements for EL instruction
Correct answer: Monitor English language development progress and inform program and instructional decisions for EL students
ELPAC data reveals EL students' language proficiency levels, guiding placement, program design, and instructional differentiation decisions.
Question 5: A school leader notices that suspensions have decreased but office referrals have increased. This data pattern most likely suggests:
- The school has successfully reduced discipline problems
- Teachers may be addressing more issues in class without escalating, or referral definitions may have changed (Correct answer)
- The suspension data was incorrectly recorded
- Students are becoming more disruptive overall
Correct answer: Teachers may be addressing more issues in class without escalating, or referral definitions may have changed
Divergent trends in related discipline metrics require investigation — teachers may be handling more issues locally, or data definitions may have shifted.
Question 6: The purpose of a root cause analysis in school improvement is to:
- Assign blame for poor student outcomes to specific individuals
- Identify underlying systemic factors driving student performance gaps rather than surface symptoms (Correct answer)
- Justify existing school programs to the district
- Produce a report for the state accountability system
Correct answer: Identify underlying systemic factors driving student performance gaps rather than surface symptoms
Root cause analysis moves beyond symptoms (e.g., low test scores) to uncover the systemic factors that generate those symptoms, enabling more effective interventions.
CPACE Data-Driven Decision Making 2
When analyzing achievement data for subgroup equity, a school leader should look for: