Street Data
A Next-Generation Model for Equity, Pedagogy, and School Transformation
with Carrie Wilson, Foreword by Christopher Emdin, A Joint Publication with Learning Forward
Radically reimagine our ways of being, learning, and doing
Education can be transformed if we eradicate our fixation on big data like standardized test scores as the supreme measure of equity and learning. Instead of the focus being on “fixing” and “filling” academic gaps, we must envision and rebuild the system from the student up—with classrooms, schools and systems built around students’ brilliance, cultural wealth, and intellectual potential. Street data reminds us that what is measurable is not the same as what is valuable and that data can be humanizing, liberatory and healing.
By breaking down street data fundamentals: what it is, how to gather it, and how it can complement other forms of data to guide a school or district’s equity journey, Safir and Dugan offer an actionable framework for school transformation. Written for educators and policymakers, this book
- Offers fresh ideas and innovative tools to apply immediately
- Provides an asset-based model to help educators look for what’s right in our students and communities instead of seeking what’s wrong
- Explores a different application of data, from its capacity to help us diagnose root causes of inequity, to its potential to transform learning, and its power to reshape adult culture
Now is the time to take an antiracist stance, interrogate our assumptions about knowledge, measurement, and what really matters when it comes to educating young people.
Free resources
Street Data: A Pathway Toward Equitable, Anti-Racist Schools
Shane Safir and Jamila Dugan talk on the Cult of Pedagogy Podcast about what schools have done historically to address equity gaps, why those efforts have largely failed, and why their approach is far more effective.
Street Data Documentary Series
Created by the Cult of Pedagogy, this mini-series documents educators from two schools as they work through the Equity Transformation Cycle outlined in the 2021 book by Shane Safir and Jamila Dugan, Street Data.
Letter from Shane Safir: Educators in British Columbia are closing opportunity gaps for Indigenous learners
Shane Safir tells her story of working with educators in British Columbia.
Appendix 8.1: Empathy Interview Transcript With Teacher Think-Aloud
Appendix 8.1 from Street Data is an adaptation from a real middle school teacher's empathy interview with his student, along with accompanying think-aloud analysis.
Figure 8.3: Student Reflection Questions for Student-Led Conferences
Figure 8.3 from Street Data provides an example rubric and reflection for student reflection questions in student-led conferences.
Table 6.1: Four Criteria for High Quality Performance Assessment
Table 6.1 from Street Data walks through 4 criteria for high quality performance assessment and what each looks like in practice.
Table 5.1: Shifting From a Pedagogy of Compliance to a Pedagogy of Voice
Table 5.1 from Street Data walks through 6 steps to shift from a pedagogy of compliance to a pedagogy of voice.
Chapter 1: Leading for Equity
"To understand street data and its potential for transformation, we must first understand the ways in which our current beliefs about learning and equity have been formed."
There is some good content in the text surrounding issues of equity and being cognizant and proactive surrounding issues of data with culturally and linguistically diverse learners. The text strays too far from the paradigmatic framework in which we train teachers.