My mom loved road trips. I remember how excitedly she flipped the pages of our spiral-bound road atlas to plan her route and stops. If online maps had existed back then, I doubt she would have used them. She didn’t care about traffic delays or faster routes because she valued the journey just as much as the destination. She even thought construction detours were “a fun adventure!” I love that she wasn’t in a hurry.
As helpful as a road atlas or online maps can be for planning, they’re tools that don’t have the power to transport people. They’re a reference that can only inform travelers as they act and move. In the same way, districts looking at student data are like road trippers looking at an online map. Educators have plenty of information, but the data doesn’t have the power to improve achievement—it’s up to educators to interpret it and take action for their students. What complicates matters more for districts is that student learning doesn’t follow predictable, well-defined paths like road-trippers find on an atlas. So educators must be ready for detours or traffic delays at any moment. And sometimes they even need to build new roads and rest stops. Therefore, to make sure every student is on a path to success, districts not only need actionable data, but also high-quality resources that can be used with students.
That’s why data-informed learning resources that lead to meaningful student growth are essential. For example, it’s not enough to have test scores that reveal which students need help dividing fractions, nor is it enough to simply have students memorize; “yours is not to reason why, just invert and multiply.” Educators know that rote memorization doesn’t work in the long run. It’s like junk food on a road trip. When students need intervention, there’s no quick fix; they need better pedagogy and curricular materials that help them understand fraction division beyond simply a memorized procedure.
Because districts need both actionable insights and effective resources, Discovery Education (DE) is proud to provide educators with tools for making data-informed instructional decisions along with award-winning resources for taking action. And now, to make this process even easier for DE partner schools and districts, we’ve joined forces with Otus, a K-12 assessment, data, and insights solution, to help schools harness the power of data to improve learning outcomes for all students. Our partnership empowers school leaders and educators to make strategic, data-informed decisions while providing the resources they need to support student success continually throughout the year.
Together, Discovery Education and Otus address educators’ most common data challenges and learning resource needs. From simplifying how you access information to helping you turn it into meaningful action, here’s how this partnership supports educators every step of the way:
1. Streamline Access to Learning Data
Most teachers don’t have enough time to collect and compare student data across multiple platforms, so they rely on what’s quickly accessible to make instructional decisions. But what’s easiest to access in isolation is often limited in terms of showing the full context of each student’s needs and growth.
Fortunately, Otus integrates student data from multiple Discovery Education resources, including “ESSA Strong” programs DreamBox Math and Reading, and other information like NWEA MAP Growth data, state assessment scores, and attendance. With the most current data all in one place, educators can more effectively monitor student progress, track the success of any program or initiative, and identify trends across classrooms, grade levels, schools, or the entire district level.
This comprehensive reporting through Otus provides decision-makers with the tools necessary to triangulate assessment data, program usage, and student learning. By enabling ongoing monitoring of program implementation, it’s easier than ever to identify and take the actions that will have the most impact on student achievement.
2. Establish Best Practices for Data Usage
As librarians know, “a mis-shelved book is a lost book.” In the same way, data can easily get disorganized or disconnected which makes any coherent analysis impossible. Educators within a school or district must be on the same page about what data are available, where to find them, what they mean, and how they’re being used. This alignment is especially needed when the data is being used to make instructional decisions. Robust, intuitive data reporting provides educators with a single, reliable resource and improves collaboration by establishing a common language to discuss student, school, and district progress. With consistent data habits and practices used by all stakeholder levels, educators can provide every learner with the support they need to succeed.
From teachers to superintendents, we hear from our DE partners that access to centralized, high-quality data is transformative. Just as a road atlas is more useful than a mere list of highway numbers, having all student information coherently organized in one place enables teachers and leaders to make decisions more quickly for more students. We’re thrilled to pair the high-quality instructional materials and adaptive learning tools that Discovery Education is known for with Otus’ state-of-the-art solutions that empower more connected and supportive learning communities. But the data points alone aren’t enough – schools need insights that enable action.
3. Prioritize Pedagogy with Data-Informed Actions
Many schools experience “D.R.I.P. Syndrome” — being Data Rich, but Information Poor. While educators have access to more data than ever, it’s rarely presented in ways that can be easily translated into meaningful instructional decisions for students. It’s the difference between having a text-based list of cities and landmarks and having a map showing where they’re located in relation to each other. Without the visual context provided by the map, you can’t know which direction to start driving if you want to visit cities and landmarks in a coherent sequence. The true power of data lies in how easily it’s translated into actions that directly impact student thinking and learning.
With centralized, easy-to-understand reports plus standards-aligned learning resources for a wide range of grade levels and subject areas, Otus and Discovery Education make data more actionable than ever. After educators check Otus to quickly identify specific areas where students need support, they use those new insights to leverage DE solutions and select appropriate lessons for students. For example, DE’s teacher-facilitated materials within the Discovery Experience and student-directed programs like DreamBox Math ensure that students engage with inspirational lessons that are informed by data and tailored to their needs.
We know where we want our students to be by the end of the school year. And they’ll always need us to meet them where they are. The data we have about them is a first step toward that goal. The next steps require us to meet them in pedagogically sound ways, inspiring them to be curious and confident learners who think critically and compassionately. When it comes to learning, the journey of persisting and progressing is how students reach proficiency. With Discovery Education and Otus, it’s easier than ever for districts to have not only an atlas, but also the vehicles to ensure inspiring road trips for student learning.
