It's not about you!

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Currently, my school district is in the middle of our Benchmark Assessment window. Benchmark Assessments are given district wide to serve as a check on our instructional system. Assessments (tests) serve many purposes. Broadly speaking, tests can be broken into two categories - formative and summative. Formative assessments are used as an assessment for learning, while summative assessments are an assessment of learning. Examples of formative assessments are daily tickets out the door, weekly quizzes and minute by minute teacher observations. Formative Assessments help the teacher understand where a student is on their learning path so their next step can be carefully planned. Summative assessments are end of unit exams, end of quarter/semester exams, and the like. These snapshots in time are often called educational autopsies because, while you have data to analyze, students and teachers have already moved on.

We ask our teachers to analyze benchmark data to initiate a discussion on best practices. Many teachers (even entire school sites) are great at this. If the data shows that a teacher outperforms another, we must ask why. What instructional strategies did the teacher use? What learning activities did the class participate in? The idea is to pull out what works best. Sadly, some teachers often feel that student test scores are a reflection on them as a person. This is a misapplication of data. As a result they shy away from (even fear) this kind of data analysis. I believe that this fear lies in an antiquated, fixed mindset notion that some people are great teachers and some are not. Are great teachers simply born? No. The issue is compounded by the fact that, for many, the role of "teacher" is very tightly woven into their personal identity. Pointing out instructional weaknesses are often perceived as personal jabs. This must change if progress is to be made. As a professional developer and coach, I believe that all teachers and students can achieve at high levels.

Just as some adolescents are crippled by changing in the locker room, some teachers are hesitant to share scores. To those teachers, I say, "It's not about you." It is, and always should be, about students. When benchmark data is analyzed, it's important for teachers to understand that they should not take the scores personally. It doesn't mean that you are a terrible teacher. It just means that whatever you were doing, was not working well and you should try something else. A scientist doesn't take it personally when a experiment does not yield the results they were expecting. Neither should teachers.

Oh and there is no one at the district office sitting around, pouring over test scores, trying to determine who should be on the "naughty" list. Set aside your ego and talk to your colleagues. Rather than beat yourself down because your class scored low, find the bright spots in the data. Find out who scored better and ask why.