International School of Luxembourg (ISL), with roots dating back more than 60 years, currently serves about 1,300 students from preschool through high school with a vision of “Education for Life.” In recent years, ISL has created a robust data culture as a strategy for empowering both students and teachers to realize that vision.
David Walker, Deputy Director of the lower school and a 16-year veteran of ISL, has played a key role in cultivating the data culture. The school joined the Learning Analytics Collaborative (LAC) in 2021 and has been pursuing its data journey ever since. His interest in using data analytics to support teaching and learning was sparked by seeing a demonstration of a data dashboard created by the LAC. “This was a real eye-opener,” he recalls, about the power of making student data accessible and easy to visualize. Lessons learned along the way underscore the importance of leveraging early wins to build teacher buy-in, expanding information gathering and analysis to include a more holistic picture of students, and fostering teacher and leader collaboration. “With a data culture,” Walker says, “you get to know your students fully and in great depth.”
Leveraging Quick Wins
Like most schools, ISL has routinely collected mountains of student data. Working with LAC has enabled the school to efficiently organize disparate information and upload it to a single platform.
Walker recalls teachers’ response to seeing the ISL data dashboard for the first time, “It was like being at an automobile show where you pull off the cover and reveal the latest model. Suddenly, here was all this data that they knew we had, but you couldn’t see it in one place before.”
That positive introduction sparked teacher conversations and questions. “They saw opportunities to add more data, things that they wanted that would be useful,” Walker recalls.
Upper school teachers, for example, asked to see historical grading information as well as student growth in Approaches to Learning, such as self-management. “This would give them the big picture about a student,” Walker explains.
In the lower school, learning support staff were quick to recognize how data engines would spare them from having to collate data from multiple sources. Instead of laboring to create spreadsheets, they could gain access to student information rapidly and in a more user-friendly format, resulting in faster responses to students in need of support.
Those early adopters helped to build buy-in among their colleagues about the benefits of using data to improve teaching and learning.
Gradually, ISL has continued to add more engines, customized by LAC to meet the school’s specifications, to provide a richer, more holistic view of each student. That includes information about academics, attendance, extracurricular activities, and student wellbeing. “We have expanded everything we could find out about a student,” Walker says.
Just-in-Time Information
As its use of data engines has expanded, ISL has been careful not to overload teachers with too much information at once.
At the start of the school year, teachers are given access to their Class Placement Engine. Information about each student in their classes is summarized, much like on baseball cards (including student photos). “It’s a great way for teachers to get a snapshot of their new classes,” Walker explains. “It’s like the starter at a restaurant—you get a taster of what’s coming.” Additional engines are gradually introduced throughout the year as more information becomes available.
For example, ISL students take a survey twice yearly called Pupil Attitudes to Self and School (PASS) about their attitudes toward school, home, and learning. “Within a day or two of the survey, we can have the results on LAC,” Walker says. “That’s been a big game-changer,” enabling teachers to quickly identify trends and potential issues for follow-up. Elementary teachers, Walker says, “often want to know, are our students happy? Do they want to be in class? Do they like their teachers?” In the upper grades, teachers might want a more nuanced picture of high-achieving students. Do they engage in extracurricular activities? How do they feel about learning?
In addition to PASS, Student Concerns data is posted throughout the year by teachers and counselors, including information about student behavior and social and emotional learning. That gives teachers a better understanding of individual students. Administrators are able to use the same data to look across an entire grade or division. The PASS and SEL Concerns data has allowed the lower school to close the data circle with this information about wellbeing.
Collaborative Inquiry
As part of its data culture, ISL encourages teachers and leaders to pose questions and work together to find answers. That process is formalized in a regularly used protocol called Collaborative Student Inquiry (CSI).
When a student is identified as having a specific need, a small team of teachers, counselors, and administrators gathers to plan an effective response. Looking at the data together enables the CSI team to quickly summarize what Walker calls “the major facets of a student—academic, well-being, attendance, extracurricular.” Teachers add observational, qualitative data to expand on the numbers. “Very quickly, everybody is on the same page of understanding the student. That allows us to have an in-depth and quality discussion about a student and what we might want to do to help them. That leads to, what do we think the next step needs to be with this particular student on their learning journey?” Follow-up action is planned, including a timeline for reporting back about outcomes.
Having multiple engines and ways to visualize data “gives us different lenses for looking at a student,” Walker explains. “With more lenses, it becomes much more powerful.” Data tools also provide opportunities for richer discussions in professional learning communities (PLCs). Within the existing PLC structure, teams can use visualizations and protocols to look at relevant data as part of collaborative inquiry. On an individual level, teachers make use of data tools for writing report cards and preparing for parent conferences.
Beyond the classroom, administrators are able to gather an accurate picture of how ISL compares to other international schools. This used to be a slow process, dependent on long waits for assessment data. “Now it’s almost immediate,” Walker says. As soon as MAP scores are available, for example, LAC tools enable ISL “to have a look at how our school is faring in comparison with other schools around the world or in specific regions.” That’s a question of interest to the school board, as well as to division leaders and teachers.
Sustaining the Culture
After 16 years at ISL, Walker is preparing to retire at the end of the current school year. Transition plans are not yet finalized, but he is confident that the data culture will be sustained at both the strategic level and in day-to-day operations. “We have colleagues who have become very passionate about data,” he says, and processes in place to ensure that the knowledge doesn’t leave with him.
For schools who are new to building a data culture, he offers encouraging advice. On a logistical side, the many data engines available from LAC can be quickly adopted. “That lets you produce analytics very quickly.” Beyond its existing engines, “LAC is flexible in terms of producing things quickly. They can adapt and develop engines to meet your specific needs.”
More important than the tools, however, is ensuring that your school is committed to building a data culture. “You need people to see that this is worthwhile—to understand the why of this.”
Once a school’s data is organized and accessible, teachers and leaders can look at the information together and make connections. “You get a lot of eyes on the same information—and we don’t all see it with the same lens. You create that collaborative culture where we’re all looking at the data but perhaps seeing it differently when someone else points out a connection.”
Looking at data collaboratively can feel a bit like star gazing, Walker says. Borrowing a metaphor from data expert Matthew Savage, he says that looking at a data dashboard “is like viewing the night sky. At first you just see random stars. But then somebody points out where Orion is, and suddenly you see the sky differently.” With a robust data culture, he adds, “you are creating a constellation of student data stars.”
Questions to Consider
Although each school’s data journey is unique, the story of ISL raises questions for other schools to consider. For example:
What is the “why” for building a data culture in your school? Is this purpose shared widely?
How will you recognize and build on quick wins to demonstrate the practical applications of data analytics?
Which existing structures (such as PLCs or student support) might benefit from timely access to data?
What new questions might your staff want to explore with access to additional data (such as student well-being or PASS surveys)?
David Walker has had the privilege of shaping learning environments across Europe, with 39 years of experience in education, including 22 years in leadership roles. Originally from the United Kingdom, his journey in international education began in 1990, and he’s had the opportunity to teach and lead in Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Currently, he serves as the Deputy Lower School Principal at the International School of Luxembourg (ISL), where he works in a Primary Years Programme setting—a model he’s been passionate about since 1997.
Suzie Boss is a writer and global educational consultant who focuses on the power of teaching, learning, and storytelling to improve lives and transform communities. The author of a dozen books on project-based learning and other innovative practices, she is a regular contributor to Edutopia and an adviser to Consilience. A frequent conference presenter, she consults with schools around the world interested in shifting to a more student-centered approach to teaching and learning.
