Data, oh, how I love data.

If done right, it doesn’t lie, it doesn’t hedge, it gives you a straightforward answer in black and white or, if it’s in graph form, lovely primary colors.

That’s one thing I love about Kentlake High Site Council meetings, Principal Joe Potts gives us plenty of data to chew on, usually it’s done well and gives me significant insight on what’s been going on at the school.

At the meeting on March 2 we talked about data that evaluated discipline, as in who got disciplined and for what, as well as some information gathered by administrators called “walk through data” that were snapshots of what was going on in classrooms.

Potts wanted to discuss the 30/60/90 plan, but we dug deep into the disciplinary data and I shared some of my anecdotal findings as well as statistics I’ve encountered while working on my series on teen drug use in Maple Valley called “Under the Influence.”

But, I can’t let myself go off on a tangent on teen drug use. Not yet, at least.

There were a lot of truancies, 807, but for some reason what stuck out to me was the concepts of defiance and disruptive behavior. There weren’t high incidences of that, but, they seemed like such similar ideas I asked for definitions.

Defiance, the teachers on the site council explained, is when a student refuses to follow a reasonable request. For example, a request to remove a ball cap or ear buds or to complete a task, which is then refused. Disruptive behavior, on the other hand, is when a student may be standing up and shouting in class.

The disciplinary action isn’t the same and the teachers said you have to be careful when filling out the discipline referral forms.

Something I thought, but did not say, was “I don’t remember what the process was when I was in high school but that’s because I never ended up in the principal’s office.”

Well, I did once my senior year, but that was not for my own bad behavior. That’s a story for another time. It’s a good one, though, it involves assault, the police, expulsion and my willingness to stand up for an underclassman. In short, I am awesome. I kid. Mostly.

Anyway, I was interested in understanding how kids at Kentlake are disciplined so I could understand the data that was presented to the site council.

At the start of the meeting, Potts talked about how rumors led to a series of confrontations between two groups of girls at the end of the semester, in fact there were five fights in one day. He explained that there hadn’t been five fights all school year leading up to that day and that it was clearly an anomaly. I believe it, having spent some time at Kentlake over the past few months.

Those kinds of incidents, Potts noted, are why the administration encourages the staff to be out in the halls between classes as students tromp from one part of the school to another. It’s preventative.

On a related noted, Potts said, the school (like many others in the area such as Tahoma High) lost its King County Sheriff’s Office provided school resource officer in December. A new school security officer was hired recently and was expected to start on Monday. Potts explained the new security officer had previously worked at Eastlake High School in Redmond and before that spent five years in the intelligence field in the Navy. He thinks the new security officer will be a great addition to the school.

Going back to the disciplinary data, it appears that 99 percent of incidents occur in the classroom, so they are handled by teachers.

Potts said, “Our discipline is down… our district office is very pleased with us.”

One area that members of the site council found surprising was the surprisingly low incidences of kids caught with drugs, alcohol or cigarettes at school.

This is where my recent findings through the work on the series with teens in Maple Valley seemed to be useful — yay! I have something of value to offer! — as the statistics seemed to line up with what’s going on in the Tahoma School District and the state according to healthy youth survey data I have received.

During this discussion, Potts asked what got kids into drugs and alcohol.

If the kids I’ve been talking to lately in Maple Valley are right, and I think they are, as well as the law enforcement and drug prevention specialist I’ve dealt with through Tahoma, it’s a social thing. It’s something they try out at parties or while hanging out with their friends. There isn’t much though about the consequences other than how to avoid getting caught or the potential to become addicted.

It’s an interesting discussion to have with adults. I hope, though brief, it was enlightening.

I felt like I learned a lot Wednesday night about the progress the school has made this year so far in terms of helping teachers communicate more effectively with students about what they’re expected to learn.

That’s where the “walk through data” came into play in the discussion.

Teachers in the room explained that some educators at Kentlake were already telling students in kid-friendly language what the “learning target” for the day was, something administrators were checking on in September and again in February, as well as doing it in such a way that it made sense to all kids despite their learning style and could be evaluated in their students’ work.

Significant improvements were made in these walk throughs, which one teacher described as five minute snapshots, so while they seem a bit limited they still at least give a glimpse into the change at Kentlake.

That was a big thing I noticed at the first meeting in October when we looked at a spring climate survey given to students a little more than a year ago. They felt disconnected from the staff and the administration.

It seemed that way, still, early in the school year but now it appears that progress is slowly but surely happening.

Next time, speaking of progress, we’ll look more closely at the 30/60/90 plan that Potts laid out at the beginning of the year. We can evaluate the progress that has been made to improve the school over a 30, 60 and 90 day period. We’re more than halfway through the school year so there’s likely going to be a plan that goes beyond 90 days.

On Friday morning I spoke with Potts a bit during the Covington Rotary luncheon. The Rotary had invited principals from all the Covington area schools in an effort to further develop partnerships with educators in the community.

Potts told me he really enjoys the site council meetings. I totally agree. They really allow me to gain a greater insight into how education works around here, what’s good, what’s not, what can realistically occur at a school level and how educators can all learn from one another.

It also shows me the commitment and passion Potts has for transforming Kentlake.

Through partnerships, through community outreach, through higher expectations for staff and students, change is happening there and by the end of the school year there will be plenty of data to prove that.

Oh, how I love data!