It is inevitable, teacher
evaluations are becoming increasingly important at the state level and it filters
down to districts and school buildings where principals and teaching faculty
are expressing varied opinions. No
matter the opinion, we are in the thick of the evaluation process and this is
the time of year when many of us are in the final stages. As I was working on my own evaluation I noticed
some common “catch phrases” and “acronyms” regarding achievement data and
student growth. I am sure you could
guess what they are:
·
Data Drives
Instruction – I say that a lot…
·
RTI approach to
differentiation
·
Achievement
dashboards
·
Progress monitoring
with fidelity – My RTI committee loves this!
·
SMART Goals
·
Data Binders to
triangulate data… I think I just like saying triangulation!
·
Standard Based
Grading
·
F&P tracking
documents
·
Digging Deeper
Assessments
· Data Notebooks created by students
·
MEAP, NWEA, GPWA,
FASTT, TTM, GES3, MLPP, Class A… ok, you get it!
It really got me thinking… what
do I want to showcase in my evaluation regarding my achievement and student growth
philosophy? I summarized with the
following:
There are many phrases and acronyms that educators
utilize when talking about assessment data and student growth. Many of them are stated within my
evaluation. Simply measuring student learning
and reviewing data does not increase learning… Good Instruction Increases Learning! Data should inform our
decisions; however, educators need to be careful, not to get hung up on chasing classroom/building
data, but to focus on the following:
-
Building
relationships that support a culture of learning
-
Motivating
and creating a love for learning
-
Maximizing
instructional time
-
Increasing
student engagement, empowering to be life-long learners
Rather than chasing data we should be focused on
creating a culture of achievement, one where assessment data is used to gauge
how to create lessons that maximize effectiveness of student engagement and
learning. Educators should utilize
assessment strategies that are informal in nature; and that drive decision
making, emphasizing flexibility and responsiveness to individuals during the learning
process. The most important informal assessment
data educators should be looking at is student engagement and excitement for
learning. If educators are able to build
positive relationships, maximize instructional time, and create a love for
learning that motivates students to be cognitively engaged throughout the day
then we should not need to worry about summative achievement data… they will achieve!
I feel this sums up my
assessment philosophy for my evaluation.
So, as you think about the many summative assessments we give each
school year; I want you to focus on what is truly important:
- Building
relationships that support a culture of learning
- Motivating
and creating a love for learning
- Maximizing
instructional time
- Increasing
student engagement, empowering to be life-long learners
Thank you for always putting
students first and not thinking they are a number, recognizing their individual
needs! Educators are the best!
Have a great week of teaching
and learning!
Keith
Well stated! Your assessment philosophy and 4 points make more sense to me than any phrase that contains the word triangulation, even if it is fun to say...
ReplyDeleteThanks! Triangulation is a fun word but our focus needs to be on the 4 points. Thank you for reading!
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