Malheur ESD launches all-hands data training - Oregon Department of Education

For immediate release
contact Susanne Smith, (503) 947-5637

October 7, 2009

Malheur ESD launches all-hands data training

One of the smallest Education Service Districts in Oregon has a big plan: to train every teacher and administrator in the region how to effectively use data in the classroom to improve student learning.

On Friday, certified trainers from Malheur ESD will kick off the initiative with a session for all 300 educators in the Ontario and Nyssa school districts. Between October and June, the ESD will partner with those districts to offer training to teachers and administrators in the region’s eight other districts. By June, more than 600 educators will have received training and provided with ongoing support in using data to benefit students.

The regional rollout is courtesy of the Oregon DATA Project, a statewide, federally funded initiative built around the concept that high-quality, convenient and comprehensive professional development is the key to effectively using data. More than 1,000 educators in about 110 districts have already received the training. The effective use of data is receiving national attention as the importance of measurable results in the school setting grows. “Data can help classroom teachers tailor their instruction to individual student needs, which can significantly increase student achievement,” says Mickey Garrison, training director of the Oregon DATA Project.

Malheur ESD is the first to roll out a regional plan of implementation, but several others are in the works across the state as the Oregon DATA Project helps regions to implement and sustain the data training. “Connecting this work to improved instruction is incredibly powerful,” says Janine Weeks, curriculum director from Nyssa School District.

NOTE TO PRESS: The Malheur ESD training will be Friday—statewide in-service day—from 8:30-3:30 p.m. at the Four Rivers Cultural Center in Ontario. --For particulars on the training session, contact Darby Dennison, School Improvement Specialist at Malheur ESD at 541-473-4855, or darbie.dennisonmalesd.k12.or.us eMail

--For information about the Oregon DATA Project, contact Megan Monson, Communications Director, 541-863-5267, megan@monson.com eMail

, or visit www.oregondataproject.org.

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Susan Castillo, State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Jake Weigler, Communications Director, Telephone (503) 947-5650
http://www.ode.state.or.us

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