Data Driven

I think of myself as a very logical person. I look for reliable sources and I appreciate a good, evidence based argument. But I have to admit, I find myself cringing a bit every time I hear the word “data driven” decisions in the context of education. I heard a highly respected educational speaker on Friday say “If you don’t have data, you are just a cat with an opinion.” I chuckled along with the room, but I winced a little too.

Was he talking about qualitative data, like SAT scores or admission rates or the AP scores that get a school into US News and World report? Or was he talking about qualitative data, the kind social scientist Brené Brown collects as she researches shame? Maybe he meant the number of hours a child spent volunteering at the local food bank, or writing blog posts or coding a video game. How does one decide what is a measure of success when you are talking about children?

Perhaps he was talking about all of these data points. There are so many ways to measure purpose and achievement and greatness

This TED talk by Cathy O’Neil takes my skepticism to another level. She speaks about the need for us all to hold “objective” algorithms accountable for human bias. See what you think.