Kirk Weber

How Dolly Parton Unilaterally Fixed a Massive Flaw in American Education washingtonsun.com/perspectives...

Michigan: 2026 Assessment Results statetestscoreresults.substack.com/p/michigan-2...

A New Tool Can Predict Absenteeism—Before It's Chronic www.edweek.org/leadership/a...

48% of Americans back “bell-to-bell" school cellphone bans for middle and high school students, which would ban cellphones for the entire school day. Do you think cellphones should be banned in schools? Let us know in the comments.

Why are so many kindergartners chronically absent? hechingerreport.org/why-are-so-m...

For chronic absenteeism, pandemic recovery is possible but still uncommon www.k12dive.com/news/for-chr...

Enrollment declines could cost states $11.5B annually by 2030-31, analysis says www.k12dive.com/news/enrollm...

For the rest of the world, Motown was great pop music. But for Detroit, it was a deep source of pride and identity that continues to resonate today.

Standards and accountability: what’s the score? fordhaminstitute.org/national/com...

The Road to Reading for English Learners www.aft.org/ae/summer202...

How Steep Enrollment Declines Are Now — And What It Means for District Decisionmaking marketbrief.edweek.org/meeting-dist...

The 2025–26 School Year in Review, From Your Point of View www.edutopia.org/article/the-...

The best books about data storytelling aren’t always about charts. In my latest article, I share six books that shaped how I think about clarity, context, and action. #DataStorytelling #Education

Developing deep learning in students at risk: Enhancing understanding - Kappan Online kappanonline.org/developing-d...

Five Things to Know About Largest Cellphone Ban Study www.the74million.org/article/five...

Good school data creates understanding. Great school data creates movement. My newest article, The Last Mile, explores the gap between interpreting data and actually changing what happens next for students. #Education #DataStorytelling #MTSS

What is high school today? - Kappan Online kappanonline.org/what-is-high...

Put a chart on a screen in a meeting, and it rarely stays “just a chart.” It becomes an inkblot. People see curriculum problems, attendance issues, accountability pressure, initiative fatigue, or judgment. Same chart. Different stories. datastorytellingforschools.substack.com/p/the-chart-...

Every school dashboard starts with a purpose. Over time, many become digital junk drawers: another metric, another filter, another initiative, another “just one more” request. New article below: “When Dashboards Become Junk Drawers” Clarity requires maintenance.

Two lenses for better school data: Investigate the chart (G.A.S.P.) Solve the case (Clarity, Context, Action) That’s how charts lead to decisions. Article Link: datastorytellingforschools.substack.com/p/two-lenses...

Paul Thomas: There Was No "Mississippi Miracle" dianeravitch.net/2026/04/29/p...

Most school data charts aren’t wrong. They’re just not the final form. Same data. Different experience. Different interpretation. Different action. From Dylan → Hendrix to your next data meeting. Link to article: datastorytellingforschools.substack.com/p/your-first...

Most school data isn’t ignored because of the data. It’s ignored because it’s hard to read. Use one typeface. Use size and weight intentionally. Align your numbers. Readable data leads to better decisions. Article link: datastorytellingforschools.substack.com/p/why-your-s...

Most school data works like a Norman door. You pull… when you should push. Nothing is broken. But the design leads you to do the wrong thing. If you have to explain your chart, it’s not working. I break this down and share a chart chooser for schools:

Some of the most common charts in schools are also the most misread. • A big segment isn’t always the biggest problem. • A dip isn’t always failure. • A score isn’t as precise as it looks. I break down 5 examples and what to watch for: datastorytellingforschools.substack.com/p/the-5-char...

Stop using red, yellow, and green in your school data. If everything is highlighted, nothing is. Color should focus attention, not compete for it. Gray for context. One color for action. I break this down in my latest article:

Excellent use of Sankey

The chart isn’t the hard part. Trusting it is. Most school data work happens before the visualization ever exists. Here’s what it actually takes to trust a school data chart:

‘There’s just no way’: Time poverty as an obstacle to pedagogical change - Kappan Online kappanonline.org/theres-just-...

Most school data charts have a clarity problem. Most school data meetings have a meaning problem. C.R.A.P. fixes the first. G.A.S.P. fixes the second. Glance. Annotate. Structure. People. That’s the difference between seeing data… and using it.

Southern states boost early reading, but gains stall in middle school hechingerreport.org/proof-points...

Most school data charts don’t fail because of bad data. They fail because they make the audience do the work. Clear charts reveal the insight in seconds. New article on cognitive load + school data visualization:

When @colinwoodard.bsky.social visualized persistent poverty—defined as a poverty rate of 20% or higher for four consecutive periods—the regional disparities across the U.S. are striking. "Persistent poverty varies massively across U.S. regions" www.nationhoodlab.org/persistent-p...

Most attendance tables show every number. But they hide the story. Three simple visuals can reveal what chronic absenteeism data is really saying. "What Your Attendance Table Isn’t Showing You" Article: tinyurl.com/2888htzh

Women, war, and wealth, while polarizing topics, each play a significant role in current events. 📢 🌍 The data vis in this week's Dispatch demonstrates their widespread impact. Discover these and much more on our blog: 👇 www.datawrapper.de/blog/data-vi...

Most school data meetings don’t fail because of bad data. They fail because the conversation never leads to a decision. The slides look great. Everyone nods. A month later, the same charts appear again. Why this happens: bit.ly/4sEBS6Y

Where have all the bands gone? | Datawrapper Blog www.datawrapper.de/blog/bands-s...

Schools don’t have a data problem. They have a "last mile" problem. Getting data is easy. Turning it into decisions is the hard part. Full article here: bit.ly/3PjZfUI

Totals are not movement. If we care about how students shift between performance levels, we need visuals that show flow. New piece on earning complexity in school data work: bit.ly/4cltyEb

Snapshot data tells us where we are. It does not tell us why we are there or what to change next. That is the difference between reporting and improvement. More here: "Beyond the Snapshot" bit.ly/3NdreVv

I’ve started a new Substack focused on K–12 data storytelling. My first two posts: • Beyond the Snapshot • Don’t Show Them the Board Slides If you work with school data — district, building, coaching, MTSS — I’d love to connect.

Solving Chronic Absenteeism Isn't 'One-Size-Fits-All,' This Leader Says www.edweek.org/leadership/s...

New Report: Students’ Attendance Still Matters—and Schools Do Influence It - Attendance Works www.attendanceworks.org/new-report-s...

"Parents trust report cards more than test scores — with consequences for kids" hechingerreport.org/proof-points...

"Does missing school harm students even when they aren’t 'chronically absent'?” fordhaminstitute.org/ohio/comment...

Clive Thompson on Why We Should Learn the Language of Data | WIRED www.wired.com/2010/04/st-t...

The Culture War on Repeat www.educationnext.org/the-culture-...

Easy A's, lower pay: Grade inflation's hidden damage hechingerreport.org/proof-points...