Teachers don't need more data. They need clarity and support. A practical book about using small, honest data to build trust instead of fear in schools.
Foreword by Dr. Jenni Donohoo, best-selling author and researcher on collective teacher efficacy.
"Most schools don't have a data problem. They have a trust problem wearing a data costume."
Somewhere along the way, data in schools became a weapon. It arrives too late, sits in binders, and gets pulled out in evaluation meetings. Under those conditions, data doesn't build anything. It erodes trust and sends teachers into hiding.
This book offers a different path. Drawing on years in real classrooms, from a dusty diagnostic packet to a stack of exit tickets sorted into three piles, Jessica shows how small, honest data can do what giant dashboards never could: build the trust and collective belief that actually move student outcomes.
Not more. Better.
Before dashboards or protocols, there has to be trust and psychological safety. Skip this and nothing else sticks.
Exit tickets and three piles beat giant platforms nobody acts on. Small signals, acted on fast, move kids forward.
The kid flipping the desk is telling you something, not just being a problem to log. Track to hear, not just count.
If a teacher can't tell what to do next within five minutes, that's a system problem. Data should point to a move.
Jessica is a former teacher and school leader turned edtech founder. She spent over a decade in K-12 classrooms and as a data coach, building custom solutions for more than 160 schools before co-founding Symplifyed.
That mix, classroom on one side and engineering on the other, is why this book reads like it was written by someone who's actually run a PLC. Because it was.
Her north star is making data feel supportive instead of scary, so it ends up serving the student, not driving the decision.
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