Using Classroom Data to Monitor Student Progress Lani Seikaly, Project Director School Improvement in Maryland Web Site.

How do state standards change expectations for what happens in classrooms?

Before Standards After Standards n Focus on how well teachers taught n Taught what they thought was important n Different expectations for different groups of students n Students screened for higher level courses and activities n Focus on how well students learn n Teach specified content standards n The same expectations for all groups of students n All students have an opportunity for higher level courses and activities

Documenting student progress is the primary way the school demonstrates its effectiveness.

Do you know what your students know and are able to do?

Do you know where your students are in relationship to the indicators you are responsible for teaching?

Can you identify which students need interventions?

If you can’t tell me where they are, who can?

How can we improve their performance if we don’t know where they are? How do we know that our instructional strategies are working if we don’t have this information?

Can you tell me what kind of progress your students have made over the year? If so, what data did you use to determine progress?

If not, how do you know what value you have added to their learning this year?

An annual state assessment program doesn’t provide the information that teachers need to make daily instructional decisions. A teacher needs much more information to diagnose individual student needs and make decisions about when and what to re-teach.

You use state assessment data n To decide where you need to focus your school improvement efforts n To see what kind of progress you are making across years n To disaggregate data to determine if all groups are making progress n To benchmark schools outperforming you

You use school data about your instructional program to clarify your problem.

You use classroom data n To monitor student progress n To inform instruction n To determine intervention strategies n To inform teacher staff development needs

We must ensure that teachers: n Know what to teach n Know what good student performance looks like n Know how to monitor student progress n Know what to do if students are not progressing

What do teachers need to monitor student progress? n They need to know how to collect appropriate data to track student progress and to diagnose strengths and weaknesses. n They need to know how to determine whether a student is making satisfactory progress. n They need monitoring tools that are directly related to content standards and the performance expectation of what students should be able to do.

The bottom line ---- What information should teachers be able to provide? n What are your students learning? n What evidence do you have of this? n What are you planning to do about it?