KnowledgeBases > Sharing Your Findings
When sharing data with your school improvement team, faculty, or larger community, make sure the data readable. Do not present complex graphics, pages and pages of spreadsheets, or charts too small to see. Whenever possible, keep data simple and make them exciting. Try to create a representation of information that makes the key finding jump out of the display. Eliminate irrelevant data and have clear explanatory notes available.
Communicating Sensitive Information
- Anticipate what the questions might be.
- Be prepared with short, simple answers.
- Be a knowledgeable as possible, but don't try to share everything you know.
- Answer the questions they ask, but only the question they ask.
- Keep the door open for more questions and more details as they become more comfortable and curious.
(Source: Getting Excited About Data, Corwin Press)
A Comment on Graphing
Graphs work exceptionally well to show trends in data or for making comparisons. One rule of thumb, often violated, is that the "Y" axis should have the same range for each graph in a series. For example, if you chart the number of boys and girls in first grade and the maximum "Y" axis value is 30 - since there are only 25 students, then 30 should be the "Y" axis value for all the other grade level graphs. Failure to follow this rule results in graphs which can be misleading.
Pie charts work well for representing "point in time" data, but do not communicate well when used as a series, showing change over time. Bar graphs or line graphs do a much better job of communicating.
Make charts big enough to read from the back of the room. Use an overhead and provide handouts so that the audience can take notes.
Pacing
Keep in mind that your audience will likely be seeing the information for the first time. Be prepared to show individual data points prior to making a statement of similarity or difference. Be sequential in your development of ideas. Don't overload folks with aside comments.
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