When Katie and I had our discussion about our data we had to do plenty of explaining because our data differed so much. I brought a summative exam over my WWII unit in my class and she brought ACT assessments. When going through my data I had to tell Katie how students were considered proficient in DataDirector. I personally don't believe that 60% should be considered proficient, but, in DataDirector it was. I looked at the questions that the majority of the students missed and decided that because I was on a tight schedule I would need to look at the lesson plans from those days and see what type of teaching style I was using and how I needed to change in future lessons. Katie found out that her students struggled on "inference" questions and she is going to spend extra time in her next unit on those types of questions.
When I have data conferences with administrators I usually feel prepared because I have always made sure I was documenting how I was trying to meet my goals. My data shows what I have been doing in class and what I need to improve on. I relatively enjoy these conferences because I am able to explain what I am doing in my classroom to others and then have help thinking of new ideas. (Not that I do not already do that with other colleagues) I believe teachers need to come into data meetings with open minds and not just have basic data but really look into it and see what needs to be done for the betterment of our students.