Allyson Fritz shares what she has learned about conducting empathy interviews from her work on reducing chronic absenteeism in Washington State. The first rule: an empathy interview is about LEARNING, not changing other people's behavior.
Imagine peering down an ordinary school hallway, clutching an entry ticket that was sent to you. You turn a corner and stop in front of a wall. There, you spot a concealed opening and step through to Diagon Alley, the hidden magical market from JK Rowling’s Harry Potter novels.
Now that I support 19 schools, I’ve come to understand that the “conduit role” is necessary but not sufficient. The real power of the “data lead” role lies not just in presenting the data, but in bringing together the people who need to talk about it, facilitating their conversations, and supporting them as they turn insights into action.
There was one student in particular, who I’ll call “Alex.” He excelled in conversations with his peers and often shared his thoughts in class discussions, but his performance on written exams did not reflect the full depth of his understanding.
Too often when teachers get data, they don’t know what to do with it. At the University of Chicago Middle Grades Network, we use two protocols in succession (the first with staff members, the second with students) to transform data into effective action. The staff meeting protocol is called “What? So what? Now what?” and based on what we learn from that, we organize a “data circle” with students. Here’s what that looks like in detail.
