Data-Driven Doesn't Mean Drowning in Dashboards
Somewhere along the way, "data-driven" became synonymous with "more data."
More dashboards. More metrics. More reports. More graphs in more colors showing more trends that require more meetings to discuss.
But here's what I've learned: data abundance doesn't create clarity. Often, it destroys it.
The Dashboard Paradox
When you can measure everything, how do you know what matters?
Schools now have access to more student data than ever before. Attendance patterns, assessment results, engagement metrics, social-emotional indicators, behavioral tracking. Each data point feels important. Each dashboard promises insight.
The result, too often, is paralysis. Leaders spend hours reviewing data without gaining actionable understanding. Teachers feel surveilled rather than supported. The signal gets lost in the noise.
More information doesn't mean better decisions. It often means worse ones, made slower.
What Data-Driven Actually Means
Being data-driven isn't about collecting more data. It's about connecting data to decisions.
What specific question are we trying to answer? What data actually informs that question? What will we do differently based on what we learn? How will we know if our action worked?
Data without these connections is just overhead. It consumes time without producing value.
The best data systems are ruthlessly focused. They answer a few questions well rather than many questions poorly. They connect directly to action. They tell you something you can use tomorrow, not just something interesting to discuss.
The Teacher Experience Test
Here's a simple diagnostic: ask your teachers how they feel about data.
If data feels like a tool that helps them teach better, you're doing it right. If data feels like surveillance, compliance, or extra work—something has broken.
Teachers don't resist data because they're anti-intellectual. They resist data that doesn't help them. They resist systems that demand input without providing insight. They resist dashboards that serve administrators but not classrooms.
The teachers who embrace data are usually the ones who've seen it work—where the information actually connected to something they could do for their students.
Building Systems That Clarify
The goal isn't more data. It's better questions and clearer answers.
What if your planning tools surfaced which learning targets students were struggling with—without requiring a separate dashboard check?
What if assessment data connected directly to lesson planning, so adjustments happened naturally?
What if information flowed to the people who could act on it, when they needed it, without extra effort?
That's what integration actually means. Not more dashboards—fewer, better-connected ones.
At Lamppost, we build tools where data serves teaching, not the other way around. Where insight emerges from the work teachers are already doing. Where clarity replaces noise.
Because data-driven should mean making better decisions—not drowning in them.
Onward and upward,
—JBJL
