Pressing On

Thought, Comment, or Observation

For any who believe we need to take our foot off the accelerator or even put the brakes on to all we are doing to improve teaching, learning, and leadership need only to present evidence that we have achieved our mission. I will certainly yield to the data.

Our evidence – student performance data for 2009-2010 will soon become a matter of public record. It will be released to our students, staff, parents, community, and state. These results will tell a story – or at least a chapter in a story about convictions, commitment, courage, and character.

This chapter – 2009-2010 will include successes and disappointments. This chapter will show growth – growth in every area. We will see schools making Annual Yearly Progress in every target area and others achieving many but not all.

The data – numbers and statistics are devoid of faces, names, and all that is human. This data, at the end of the day will cause people to make judgments, draw conclusions, and affix blame. Lost in these translations is a reality that numbers simply do not capture the humanity underpinning teaching and learning.

In that vain, numbers cannot be easily dismissed either. We cannot offer excuses, justifications, or rationales for continued under performance or continued poor performance. We must use the data to unpack the deficiencies in an unwavering commitment to inform and improve our work – the work of teaching.

In the past 36 months and as detailed in previous chapters (2007-2008 and 2008-2009), we have done much to begin alignment of standards, curriculum, instruction, and assessment but must intensify our efforts to get this in place.

Similarly, we must intensify and accelerate the work with common formative assessment and the benchmark assessment work to ensure alignment of standards, curriculum and instruction.

The answer to how is yes! We must press on!