Rationale to Data Chats: John Hattie studied 250 influences on Student Achievement, and Self-Reported Grading (tracking their progress or data) has an effect score of +1.33 on student achievement, second only to Collective Teacher Efficacy (+1.57). The research proves time and time again that this is an extremely beneficial strategy to increase student achievement. This strategy involves the teacher finding out what are the student’s expectations and pushing the learner to exceed these expectations. Once a student has performed at a level that is beyond their own expectations, the student gains confidence in their learning ability.

With that in mind, I have created some simple iReady data tracking forms. There is one for upper grades that allows celebrations, goal setting, and domain discussions, one for lower grades with a graph to color in, and one that is ONE PAGE for just graphing diagnostic results. These may be easier to work through than the official iReady data tracking documents to ensure data chats occur in your classroom.   

Tips

• If you use the graphs, I recommend having the student highlight or star the goal on Diagnostic 2's column when you discuss their Diagnostic 1 results.
• I also recommend using a sharper or marker to line the score on the graph before handing it to the student to color in to make your time more productive. 
• Print the one you choose, one per student with the two sheets front and back. Hole punch them and add them to one Data folder. You don't need to make a completely new binder or folder for each student unless you want to! I only ever used ONE binder as my Data Chat Binder, and it housed every student's data in alphabetical order.