A Toolkit for Educators to Explore Qualitative Data in Schools - Collect Qualitative Data

Opportunities for collecting data from students

Students provide great insights into classroom and school practices, but they are busy with their coursework, electives, and extracurriculars. Consider the following options for data collection with students.

Collect data in advisory classes.

Many middle and high schools have an advisory class, also known as homeroom or study hall. The purpose and timing of advisory classes varies from school to school and district to district. However, even when advisory is used for academic and nonacademic guidance, there are days throughout the school year when advisory entails 30 to 60 minutes of unstructured time during the school day. This time can also be used for collecting qualitative data from students.

For 30-minute advisory periods, there are two options for qualitative data collection: 1) an open-ended survey and 2) journal or reflection prompts. We recommend up to three questions to allow students time to reflect and respond to the questions or prompts. Both options are similar in the type of qualitative data collected, but the methods are slightly different and either can easily be incorporated into the practices you already use in your classroom.

For example, educators who typically incorporate technology into their teaching practices, including online polls or QR codes, can use a polling website such as Poll Everywhere or Teams polls to administer an open-ended survey. Educators can set up the poll with two to three open-ended questions. Then, they can create a QR code for the website that allows students to scan the code upon entry into the classroom. From there, students can respond to the prompt from their phones at their leisure.

The advantage to an online survey is that responses are stored online and easily accessible for data analysis. However, if the survey is anonymous, there may be limitations in tracking whether all students have completed their survey and submitted responses and, if not, which students still need to respond.

Alternatively, an open-ended survey can be distributed on printed paper. Educators can ask students to turn in their survey as they are leaving the classroom, as they would do with an exit slip. The size of the paper can depend on the number of questions and the length of responses expected. For example, if you expect students to provide shorter responses, a half sheet is appropriate. As with an online survey, administrating a paper survey would require educators to draft survey questions ahead of time and hand them out as students enter the classroom.

If educators expect to collect data multiple times throughout the school year, they might consider asking students to keep a journal in the classroom. Journals may require some effort to implement: Depending on available resources, educators could ask students to bring a journal of their choosing and even give students time to decorate the journals, which may promote student buy-in to the data collection process. One consideration for educators is to think about the nature of questions students will respond to and the degree to which journal storage is private.

For longer advisory classes, educators should consider facilitating one-on-one interviews or focus groups with a group of students, depending on the number of students and size of the classroom. The sensitivity of the topic and the number of students in advisory are also factors to consider when planning interviews or focus groups to collect qualitative data. For classes with fewer than 12 students, educators can facilitate a focus group with the whole class. With larger classes, educators should consider convening a smaller group of students in a quiet corner of the room.

Collect data from warm-up questions and exit slips.

Warm-up questions and exit slips are a great way for educators to engage students in the day’s learning objective and gauge information about their knowledge that can inform teaching. Typically, educators use warm-up questions to revisit the previous day’s learning goals or quickly assess students’ grasp of a new concept. Educators can also use daily warm-ups as an opportunity to introduce a new learning standard. Similarly, educators often use exit slips to gauge students’ degree of learning on the day’s learning goals and use that information to inform future lesson planning. If these practices are not part of an educator’s classroom, they are relatively easy to introduce.

Depending on the length of a class—whether 50, 60, or 90 minutes—time for a warm-up or an exit slip may vary. A warm-up takes up the first 5-10 minutes of class, while the exit slip is usually the last 5-10 minutes—adequate time for one open-ended survey question or a short journal prompt. Note that the major difference between collecting data in an advisory class or via warm-up/exit slips is the amount of time students will have to respond to questions or prompts. Warm-ups and exit slip tickets require more targeted questions and should probably not exceed one thorough question or two quick responses.

Collect data during school lunch.

Many states and school districts require educators to have dedicated time during the lunch period for an uninterrupted lunch. Whether or not that happens—and there are many reasons that it may or may not happen—school lunch can be an opportunity for educators to collect qualitative data from their students. Advisory periods, warm-up questions, and exit slips lend themselves more to written forms of qualitative data collection, like surveys and journal prompts; lunch period is an opportunity to get students’ verbal responses and input on specific topics. The following three approaches can help educators collect qualitative data during lunch:

• One-on-on interviews. Educators can sit down in the cafeteria or classroom over a series of multiple days or weeks to interview individual students about their experiences and thoughts on specific topics.
• Focus groups. Educators can select small groups of students to conduct focus groups in the cafeteria or the classroom over multiple days or weeks until they have gathered the information needed to answer their research questions.
• Informal conversations. As with one-on-one interviews and focus groups, educators can hold informal (less structured) conversations with students. Informal conversations can involve strategically asking individual students or small groups interview questions as they are walking to the cafeteria and/or standing in the lunch line.

The school day can be busy enough that it’s challenging to engage with qualitative data collection. However, incorporating qualitative data collection into parts of the school day can help educators collect small but significant data on their students’ perspectives and experiences in the classroom and school.

Opportunities for collecting data from teachers

Teachers are also an excellent source of information on school policies, practices, and the overall school community. Between preparing for classes and providing academic instruction and support to students, teachers have very full days. School leaders or other educators seeking to collect qualitative data from teachers should consider the following options for recruiting and scheduling teachers for data collection efforts.

Collect data in staff and department meetings.

Many schools have recurring meetings for all teachers, and smaller meetings are sometimes organized for teachers of the same grade level or content area. Depending on what information school leaders or other teachers hope to gather from data collection—such as common themes in math learning objectives for students across grade levels—staff meetings to collect all feedback and information from students can be an excellent way to collect qualitative data and resolve challenges.

Collect data in one-on-one interviews.

One-on-one interviews with teachers are opportunities during the school day to connect with individual teachers about their perspectives on different topics. Ideal times for one-on-one interviews include before or after school, during teacher report times, in planning periods (assuming the teacher can pause their planning time to accommodate an interview), at lunch, or on teacher professional days when students are not at school.

Collect data through classroom observations.

Classroom observations are one of the best times to observe teacher practices and help teachers improve their instruction. This partnership requires the teacher and observer to discuss priorities for the observation and determine the teacher would like to receive feedback. Be sure to notify the class of the upcoming observation so that students who might not be used to other people sitting in their class are prepared. For more information on how to develop an observation tool, see our next section.

Opportunities for collecting data from families

Families are the most difficult group to collect qualitative data from because they are one of the groups in a school community not expected to be at school Monday through Friday. However, before hosting new events to engage families in qualitative data collection, note that there are often already opportunities to engage families on the calendar.

Collect data during school pick-up and drop-off.

Time with parents during pick-up and drop-off is often quick unless your school has a long driver line. Quick pick-ups and drop-offs are enough time to share a QR code or link to an open-ended survey where parents can provide feedback or other information on the school community. For longer pick-ups and drop-offs, school leaders or teachers can have informal conversations about their experiences in the school community.

Collect data in parent-teacher conferences and PTA meetings.

Every school year, there are moments when parents and caregivers are expected to come to campus to discuss either their students’ progress or general things about the school community. These occasions also present opportunities for targeted conversations, whether an informal conversation in the library or a formal focus group in a classroom.

Collect data during evening school events.

Few things fill up a school parking lot like a basketball game or school play. Such events represent another opportunity to have more informal conversations and, if planned accordingly, can be a recruitment tool for more in-depth feedback via scheduled focus groups or interviews.

Regardless of who you intend to talk to, there are several small moments during the school day—and on some school evenings—when collecting qualitative data can support student learning. These opportunities are meant to spark ideas of how to use typical classroom and school practices to support qualitative data collection.

Summary

• Collecting data from students, teachers, and families can compete with instructional time, but qualitative data are useful for achieving long-term goals.
• If you’re hoping to collect data from students, consider the following opportunities:
  • Open-ended surveys or journal prompts during advisory classes
  • Warm-up questions and exit slips during instructional time
  • Interviews, focus groups, or informal conversations during school lunch
• When collecting data from teachers, consider the following opportunities:
  • Staff and department meetings
  • One-on-one interviews
  • Classroom observations
• If you’re interested in collecting data from families, consider the following opportunities:
  • Pick-up or drop-off times
  • Parent-teacher conferences and PTA meetings
  • Evening school events
• Download a resource to determine the best data collection method at school here!