Where's the Data?

Data is a touchy subject in teaching. We are moving, or already have, towards being a data-driven profession where our instruction is based on that information. That is scary for some, a necessary evil for others, and entirely fine for another group. I feel like I fit into the latter of those groups, but that is a feeling... data is devoid of feeling! That, to me, is where the hangup is. Data removes the heart and soul from teaching, leaving you with numbers which you wonder "are they really representative of that kid? was it just a bad day?" Where I've struggled of late is capturing the minutia in data. Here is what I mean. I teach literacy through social studies. I'll teach reading skills, we'll practice using them, and we'll use all of those skills holistically to comprehend text. When I assess, I'm often assessing holistically. That is, I am not simply looking at inferring but rather summarizing, monitoring details, envisionment, etc. When it gets scored, I don't say you are below standard in inferring, but above standard in summarizing. I note those areas that need work, but look at them holistically in order to determine where they are at as a reader. You can always be weaker in a particular area, but show proficiency in total. I struggle to capture the data when it is broken out by reading area. I know it because I make some notes, and group kids for reteaching on those areas. But as a whole I don't have a spreadsheet, or data collector, that shows that progress over time.... and I want that. That's going to toss and turn in my brain for the next foreseeable future. Author Post-Script: I had seen a post on the Tempered Radical waaaay back about this sort of thing and decided to go digging. I found it in this post, and how he used Excel to solve that problem. Worth checking out.