By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

Riverchase Middle School teachers are looking to make it easier to track students’ performance and tailor instruction to each student by adding the school’s first data room.

The school recently created the room to give teachers a constant visual reminder of how their students are performing in each subject area, said RMS Principal Charles Smith.

“Many times, data is reviewed at the beginning of the school year and then filed away,” read a Shelby County Schools press release. “The administration wanted to make data more visible for the teachers in order to make positive instructional decisions.”

The room is separated by grade levels and academic subject areas, and each student is listed on the wall with their scores on state assessments. Students’ discipline and attendance records are also included.

“Throughout the year, the students will be monitored and instruction designed to help each student improve,” read the release.

RMS teachers hold grade-level meetings in the data room every week, and use the information in the room to help plan lessons. During meetings, the teachers discuss each grade level as a whole and then review individual students “discussing strategies to help improve their performance,” read the release.

“It allows teachers to focus on specific areas of need. It also provides time to change instructional focus and implement interventions if necessary,” Smith said. “It is designed so they can evaluate the student data, renew their teaching strategies and redirect their instructional efforts to better meet the needs of the students.”

Smith said the room helps to take “away the guess work on reaching students,” and helps ensure kids “do not fall through the cracks.”

“The accountability bar is being raised, and the data room has put RMS on the right track,” Smith said.