What is a data wall?
A data wall uses simple and inexpensive materials like sticky notes and masking tape to visualise individual students’ achievement overtime on a physical wall.
Why use a data wall?
Building a data wall is a practical and powerful way to focus your work as a teacher on the growth and achievement of every student.
Any grouping of students, from a single class to the whole school, can form the basis of a data wall. The power of a data wall comes from including every student in that group – not just those struggling, flying or doing okay.
This shifts the conversation from ‘my students in my classroom’ to ‘our students in our school’, and it shifts the motivation from ‘improving my practice’ to ‘improving our practice’.
Creating, using and analysing data walls
For more information about creating, using and analysing data walls, download the latest professional practice note and teacher tips, see:
For more information about the research and methodology behind data walls, leading international expert talk about using data walls, see Dr Lyn Sharratt on data walls
About professional practice notes
Professional practice notes are resources we developed, which draw on the best available evidence from international research, leading experts, and case studies from high-performing schools.
We will release professional practice notes regularly to help improve your practice in the classroom.
Questions and feedback
If you have a question about this practice note or would like to share your feedback, email: professional.practice@education.vic.gov.au
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