Using Data to Ensure Sustainability

Elise Guest

Whitehall School District, a small but high-performing district in western Montana, approached the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Northwest with a unique challenge. Given their strong achievement levels, district leadership was seeking a deeper understanding of what was driving their success and how to sustain it.

In the previous installment of this data-driven Multi-Tiered Systems of Support in Reading (MTSS-R) series, my colleague described how a REL Northwest team used data analysis tools and resources with Hardin School District to successfully create a custom data analysis protocol and apply a continuous improvement process to support the development of their MTSS-R structures and systems. This was part of our work on a REL Northwest project team that has been working with Hardin and other Montana districts to support these efforts. (REL Northwest is operated by WestEd in partnership with Marzano Research.)

In this blog, I’ll be sharing how our similar work with Whitehall reveals how important it is to:

align efforts across all levels of a district,
embrace a long-term mindset of sustainable continuous improvement, and
not only add new data-backed best practices to educators’ plates but also remove ones that the data show aren’t working well in a district’s specific context.

Divide and Conquer

With just two schools (one K–5 and one 6–12), Whitehall began with an individual focus for each.

Elementary: Revamping the Reading Intervention Process

Whitehall’s elementary school literacy leadership team determined they would revisit their existing processes for identifying students in need of a reading intervention and tracking their progress. They decided to overhaul not just the intervention delivery, but also the structural elements surrounding it. This included revising their note-taking procedures, enhancing associated professional learning for staff members, and refining their data collection methods. The goal was to make the entire intervention process more purposeful, effective, and clear.

This approach allowed the elementary school to create a more robust system for identifying students in need of support and tracking their progress over time. By making these processes more intentional and data-driven, they aimed to ensure that no student would slip through the cracks and that they could tailor interventions more precisely to individual needs.

Secondary: Enhancing English Language Arts (ELA) Core Curriculum

Meanwhile, Whitehall’s 6^th–12^th grade ELA team focused on identifying how students were performing according to specific grade level ELA standards so teachers could accurately tell when a student gained proficiency so teachers could move on to teaching new skills and concepts.

The goal with these changes was to not only help educators appropriately challenge high-achieving students, but also to allow for earlier identification of students for additional support and instructional differentiation, potentially reducing the need for more intensive interventions down the line.

Putting it All Together: Districtwide Alignment

Using resources from REL Northwest’s Continuous Improvement for a Multi-Tiered System of Support in Reading facilitator’s guide, the REL Northwest team supported both schools in data analysis and went through data-informed decision making processes similar to those we used at Hardin Public Schools.

Jason Slater, the 6–12 principal of the district, found the process effective: “The immediate impact was seen in two areas: logic-based, student-centered communication between teachers and administrators about learning, and a closed-loop process at the classroom level where plans were made, implemented, and their impacts assessed.”

Several factors played into Whitehall’s success with this effort. One of the most impactful resources that resonated with the Whitehall team was the “Adapt, Adopt, Abandon” flow chart created by REL Northeast & Islands. This step in the PDSA cycle helped them systematically evaluate their practices and make informed choices about which to keep, modify, or discard.

District leadership also made a concerted effort to make these changes transparent to all staff members, highlighting that it wasn’t about adding more to their plates but rather about being intentional about spending their time and energy by removing the least effective practices so educators weren’t overloaded. The overall process provided a common language and approach across both schools, helping to align efforts and strengthen a districtwide culture of sustained continuous improvement and shared responsibility for boosting student outcomes.

Another factor was leadership’s recognition that sustainable change requires ongoing effort. They don’t complete just one PDSA cycle over 3–6 weeks and say, “good enough.” The district is deeply committed to the continuous improvement process. And now, equipped with data analysis methods and tools, they have all the tools they need to drive long-term success and periodic refinement of their new protocols.

Slater explained the district’s leadership team plans to review their outcomes, understand their underlying factors, and develop strategies for enhancement based on that analysis, and that administration will examine how to use the tools to create sustained practices.

This REL Northwest work shows that even high-achieving districts can benefit from a structured approach to data analysis and continuous improvement. By focusing on specific areas of their MTSS-R systems and committing to a data-informed decision-making process at all levels, Whitehall is taking concrete steps toward ensuring continued high performance.

This blog is part of a series highlighting REL Northwest’s work with districts to improve their MTSS-R implementation. Through these partnerships, we’re helping districts transform their approach to data, leading to more effective interventions and, ultimately, better outcomes for students. Read the rest of the series and check out REL Northwest’s blogs here and here.