The stretch between winter and spring break can be one of the most challenging times of the school year. Students are often tired as the winter months drag on, while teachers juggle daily instruction, assessment demands, and the quiet pressure of looming accountability measures such as standardized assessments or annual reviews. During this time, data can begin to feel like something done to teachers rather than something used for students.
But data doesn’t have to fuel anxiety or drain energy. When used thoughtfully in the company of supportive colleagues, it can do the opposite. It can restore focus, strengthen collaboration, and remind educators that their daily instructional decisions matter. This is where Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) can make a meaningful difference, especially when teams devote their time to reviewing data that connects directly to what they are teaching and the growth they hope to see in their students.
Effective PLCs don’t chase after every available data point. As teachers know, data is rarely in short supply. Instead, strong teams narrow their focus by asking a guiding question: “What evidence will help us understand how students are growing and what we should do next?” When PLCs concentrate on a smaller set of meaningful measures, the work can become clearer, more purposeful...and even more hopeful. Meetings feel less like compliance exercises and more like collective problem-solving.
For example, a team using SPIRE for intensive literacy intervention might bring Concept Mastery Assessment results to a PLC—data that are easily tracked by teachers and students alike, painting trajectories of growth and highlighting areas that need extra attention. If some students have not yet demonstrated mastery of a concept, the conversation naturally shifts to instructional response—reteaching, pacing adjustments, added practice, or strategies that have worked in other classrooms.
Similarly, teachers using EPS Reading Accelerator may focus on encoding (spelling) data gathered through group-administered Progress Monitoring Skill Checks or class-level fluency reports generated by EPS Reading Assistant. If decoding skills or fluency are not strengthening as expected, teams can consider factors such as program usage or attendance and brainstorm how to respond. In each case, the data reflects instruction students are actually receiving and prompts thoughtful, student-centered next steps.
Regardless of the specific measures reviewed, PLCs are most effective when teachers have a voice in choosing the data they examine. This sense of agency invites reflection on where instruction is working, where it could be refined, and how to support all students in making measurable progress.
When PLCs prioritize relevant, actionable data, they create a positive feedback loop: instruction informs data, data informs further instruction, and teachers see the impact of their efforts together in real time. Instead of feeling weighed down by numbers, educators can identify trends, address gaps, and celebrate progress. By focusing on data that is not only meaningful and measurable, but also motivating, PLCs can become places where clarity, energy, and hope are nurtured, benefitting both students and the teachers who support them.
