Guest Post: PelotonU Uses Data to Drive Student Success

Sarah Saxton-Frump is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of PelotonU, where she directs the college completion program and trains new partners. Last week, a colleague of mine looked at me – with eyebrows raised in panic – and said, “But, I’m not a math person!” I suggested she do some data analysis to find out if a new strategy she tried was working. That sounded like complex mathematical analysis to her, though, and she panicked.In reality, humans are hardwired to collect, interpret, analyze, and synthesize data. We start as babies when we mimic adult facial expressions and sounds. Every middle schooler who’s tried to “fit in” uses data to understand what’s cool and what’s loathed by the Queen Bee of the 8th grade. For many of us, this data collection is instinctive and automatic, informed by years of observation and analysis of the world around us. But because we’re not looking at numbers and spreadsheets, we don’t typically think of it as data-informed decision making.Click here to read the full post and find out how PelotonU uses the power of data to help working adults in Central Texas earn a college degree.