Show Me The Data!

The state released each district's report card and SPI a few weeks ago.  At our board meeting Monday night, I presented the information to the board, as well as sent it to the newspaper. I will begin meeting with teachers next week about the data.

Want to know a secret?

I hate it.

I hate the feeling I get when I get the email from the state saying it is ready.  I hate the feeling I get when I open it up, not sure what to expect.  I hate the feeling when I have someone compare us to another school.  I hate how the test is structured.  I hate that ALL students take the same assessment.  I hate that students who have not mastered the English language are expected to read and write on an assessment at their grade level.  I hate that we compare 11th grade data year from year...it is not the same students taking the test!  

I think you get my drift...

But here is what I like.

I like that we have information on our students.  I like that we are doing a test that is aligned to the standards.  I like that we get to evaluate ourselves as teachers; looking into our own strengths and weaknesses.  I like the feeling of having conversations about what we need to change and evaluating what we see from these changes. I like to feeling we get when a student rocks the test!  I like that it does make us uncomfortable and asks us to think about what we are doing within our classrooms.  

It is hard to admit...but it does make us better educators.  I made the excuses...it is only a snap shot...it isn't an easy test...it is not about the kids...but if we strip it down and back away from the excuses, it boils down to what are we doing or not doing that is helping our kids find success.  The kids we have isn't going to change.  Guess who will need to in order to find that success?

Here is a great blog post that is related to the topic at hand.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/myth-busting-if-i-just-had-better-students-ben-johnson