When was the last time you had an aha moment with data?
Mine came when I saw my own elementary school on a list I helped create. That moment, and an unexpected hobby, taught me how curiosity and structure work together to make discovery possible.
As a seven-year-old in Memphis City Schools, I didn’t know the words tracking or segregation, but I could tell something was off. Everyone in my hallway looked like me; the kids down the other hall didn’t.
Fast forward a couple of decades. I was leading accountability work at the Tennessee Department of Education, running an analysis to identify schools with the largest achievement gaps; a list we called focus schools.
When the results came back, the second school on the list was the one I’d attended as a child.
That moment hit like a freight train. It wasn’t just emotional—it was illuminating. It showed me that frameworks, when applied thoughtfully to data, turn information into insight. They help you see what’s happening half a state away, without being in every classroom.
That’s the same principle I carry into my work today at ClassLink, where analytics give leaders visibility into what’s happening in digital learning environments they can’t physically walk into.
Luck, Data, and Paying Attention
During the pandemic, I picked up a hobby that reminded me of this lesson: searching for four-leaf clovers.
At first, it seemed like good luck. Maybe a winning lottery ticket was on its way. But the more I searched and read about it, the more I learned that luck isn’t random. One of the predictors of luck is attention and the ability to notice what others overlook.
That same mindset drives good data work. Data discovery isn’t about luck. It’s about perspective, pattern, and persistence.
Here’s what both four-leaf clovers and data have taught me.
Start High To See Clearly
When you’re searching for a four-leaf clover, don’t crouch close to the ground. Stand up and scan the whole patch. You’re looking for a square pattern among circles.
As leaders, we have the privilege and the responsibility of perspective. When you stand high enough, patterns emerge. You can see anomalies, gaps, and opportunities you’d miss up close with your head down in the work.
Perspective lets you ask the right questions before you invest in the details.
In data, that means starting with intention. And as a leader, you’re uniquely positioned to ask: Who is this analysis for? What decision will it inform? Which questions deserve our time?
At ClassLink, our analytics tools are designed to give leaders that high-level perspective first. We’re not trying to capture every possible action students take inside a digital resource. Instead, we give leaders a high-level view of what’s being used and what’s not, so they can ask sharper questions and decide where to focus next.
That broad lens helps districts and schools ask better questions before they dive deeper. For example:
- Are students logging in and accessing learning tools as expected?
- Are the most expensive licenses being fully used?
- Where is engagement strongest—and where is it fading?
Once you can see the big picture, you can start to explore the anomalies—the digital “four-leaf clovers” that stand out.
Perspective doesn’t just help you see the data. It helps you build an analysis strategy that reveals your four-leaf clovers: the places where change is possible and progress begins.
Make Sure the Patch Is Big Enough
There’s roughly one four-leaf clover in every 10,000. That’s about the size of a car tire! If your patch is too small, you’ll assume they don’t exist.
The same is true in data.
You can’t draw meaningful conclusions without enough information to see a real pattern. One day of usage, a single survey, or a handful of anecdotes won’t cut it.
For instance, a small dip in logins on a Tuesday might mean little on its own. But when you have enough data to see the same dip every Tuesday, across multiple schools, you start to ask better questions:
Is it a scheduling issue? A pattern of disengagement?
When your dataset is wide and deep enough, the story becomes clearer. You can stop guessing, and start understanding.
A single data point can spark a question, but enough data points can guide a decision.
One Discovery Often Leads to Another
Here’s my favorite part of clover hunting: if you find one four-leaf clover, don’t stop. They often grow in clusters because a gene increases the likelihood of that fourth leaf.
Data behaves the same way. Trends are rarely isolated. They depend on context, systems, and conditions that connect across environments.
That’s why one of the most powerful features in ClassLink Analytics is seeing relationships across datasets—linking logins, application usage, and engagement patterns. It’s rarely just one metric.
For example, a district might notice lower engagement in a specific application. But once they dig in, they realize that usage is tied to a lack of training or awareness. The data points connect, revealing a system-level condition.
I’ve seen similar patterns in prior data work. One district noticed a rise in chronic absenteeism and traced it back to an overzealous use of cleaner on school buses—the fumes made students sick. Once they fixed the condition, attendance rebounded.
The same principle applies to digital ecosystems. When you find one pattern—low logins, underused tools, unexpected drops—look again. You may find 25 more shaped by the same condition.
Cultivating Luck and Insight
Whether you’re scanning a field or a dashboard, discovery rarely comes from luck alone. It comes from creating the conditions where insight is possible:
- Start high. Step back and frame your questions.
- Size your patch. Gather enough data to see real patterns.
- Trace dependencies. Look for the relationships.
At ClassLink, we build analytics tools that make this process easier by helping leaders see what’s really happening, so they can focus their attention on what matters most.
Because the best insights in data don’t just happen. They grow from curiosity, persistence, and perspective—the same qualities that help you find a four-leaf clover when everyone else walks by.