Measuring Growth

State assessment scores came out yesterday.

This was the day I had been eagerly anticipating. 

I couldn't wait to see how the use of vertical white boards

Impacted learning in my classroom!

As my eyes scanned through the scores,

Searching for my data,

My heart plummeted.

We had scored below the state average.

The high hopes I had to see an increase in learning

Just wasn't meant to be.

What could I have done differently in my teaching?

What gaps still exist?

Should I have used a more traditional approach of instructing?

Would incorporating homework again be the fix all?

What would the scores have been had I NOT implemented the Thinking Strategies 

as outlined in Building Thinking Classrooms?

As I crawled out of the pit of disappointment,

I realized that the state assessment is just one snapshot of my student's learning.

Growth was shown by our daily Test Trainer (MidSchool Math math curriculum).

While I would have liked to have seen more growth,

(What teacher wouldn't???)

I couldn't ignore the fact that growth was evident.

I also checked our Fastbridge scores.

Again, the students showed growth.

My take away from all this?

Change takes time.

There is more than one way to measure success.

Look for the positive in all things.