Data for Instruction
Teaching staff begin each school year with an intense period of data analysis. They take a close, analytical look at each child’s academic profile through the Measurements of Student Progress (MSP), as well as Mondo (reading) and math benchmark assessment data. These nested data sets deliver layers of information about the strengths and struggles of each child, and enable teachers to look at data from multiple angles until an accurate picture comes into focus — a picture that makes it clear what each child needs to reach grade-level learning goals.
Professional Learning Community = Peer-to-Peer Support & Expertise
All the grade-level teams get together at weekly PLC meetings to create common assessments. Customized for the school’s particular population, these formative and summative assessments measure progress toward state standards. The results teachers see, day-by-day, unit-by-unit, target specific standards and provide critical information that drives modifications to instructional strategy and grade-level interventions.
Teachers also mine this rich source of assessment data to plan extension activities for those who have met the standards and need a greater challenge. For Title I staff members, the common assessment data plus the MSP results guide and shape supplementary small-group interventions for struggling students.
We Can Make the Connection
The collection and analysis of up-to-the-minute data, the teacher and student support systems in place and the built-in time for teachers to collaborate create a collective viewpoint that there is a right path to high academic achievement for each child, regardless of the challenges they face — one of the Nine Characteristics of High-Performing Schools.