How Barrington 220 Turns School Data Into Action With ECRA School Improvement

A High Performing District That Keeps Raising the Bar

Barrington 220 is a large community unit school district in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. It serves students from preschool through high school and into its transition program. Ernst says the district consistently performs in the top 10 percent of schools in Illinois.

“We have an amazing student and staff population who work together to achieve high outcomes,” said Zach Ernst, Director of School Improvement at Barrington 220.

For a district already performing at that level, school improvement is not about collecting more data. It is about using the data it has with more precision, in every school and every classroom.

Lots of Data, and a Plan for Using It

“Really in today’s world, we get lots of data,” Ernst said. “Where it really makes a difference is how you use that data, and can we get it to be used in a very easily interpretable way, and then one that becomes actionable.”

That is the problem ECRA School Improvement is built to solve. The solution uses predictive analytics to project each student’s expected performance from their academic history. Its Projected vs. Actual Framework then shows whether students performed above, at, or below their personalized expectations, so school district leaders and teachers can see what is working and where support is needed.

“ECRA has been an amazing partner with us in Barrington to help use data to really help change student outcomes, using it in a way that is dynamic, it’s responsive, it’s timely, it’s efficient,” Ernst said.

Data Review Protocols Built for Teachers

K12 data and analytics only matter when they reach the people closest to students. Barrington 220 worked with ECRA to build that bridge.

“We’ve set up a number of data review protocols within our schools, partnering with ECRA, ECRA’s consultants, ECRA’s data team, and really designed personalized data meetings and data protocols that have allowed teachers to more easily navigate, access their student data, and then take action,” Ernst said.

Each protocol is designed to move a team through three steps.

The protocols follow the same cycle that drives ECRA School Improvement. Predict success, set goals, take action, and evaluate impact.

A Partner Who Responds

Software alone does not change how a district uses data. Ernst points to the people behind it.

“Their customer service, this is one of the things that I can’t speak highly enough about,” Ernst said. “When I have an issue, a question, a concern, a need relative to our school data, or relative to one of the tools within ECRA’s platform, I immediately can get a response, a partner to troubleshoot, to think about, to consult with about how we can take a need that a school or multiple schools may have relative to data, and how to turn it into action.”

He sums up the relationship in one line. “ECRA brings a very personalized touch.”

Growing Data Leadership From the District Office to the Classroom

The partnership has also built capacity inside the district, beginning with Ernst and reaching administrators, teachers, and students.

“I really can’t speak highly enough about how impressed I’ve been, how much I’ve appreciated this partnership in growing my own personal understanding and leadership role within data across the district,” Ernst said, “and then really helping to grow not just our administrators’ understanding, but taking it out and helping our teachers and our students better understand their data.”