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I was recently sitting in a district planning meeting. The topic, chronically poor student performance.
The assistant superintendents made a compelling case on the need to go slow, how Rome wasn’t built in a day, and how with steady progress over 3 to 4 years the scores could get all the way up to marginal.
Performance gains are self fulfilling prophesies. If you believe it will take 3 to 4 years to get to adequate, it will. If you believe it will take a year, it will.
Huge gains are possible and darn near automatic, if you adhere to the science of improvement. But even more exciting is the fact that the further behind you are, the bigger the gains you can make. The crisis schools that I work with generally make 20 to 50 point gains in a year.
So my advice to you the LYS reader and leader, the deeper the hole you are in, the more ambitious and aggressive you should be. Be great, not marginal.
Think. Work. Achieve.
The assistant superintendents made a compelling case on the need to go slow, how Rome wasn’t built in a day, and how with steady progress over 3 to 4 years the scores could get all the way up to marginal.
Performance gains are self fulfilling prophesies. If you believe it will take 3 to 4 years to get to adequate, it will. If you believe it will take a year, it will.
Huge gains are possible and darn near automatic, if you adhere to the science of improvement. But even more exciting is the fact that the further behind you are, the bigger the gains you can make. The crisis schools that I work with generally make 20 to 50 point gains in a year.
So my advice to you the LYS reader and leader, the deeper the hole you are in, the more ambitious and aggressive you should be. Be great, not marginal.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
1 comment:
People who want to go slow do so for the sake of adult comfort. Going fast is good for kids but requires adults to become professional and proficient fast. That hurts. Going fast may mean making hard decisions. Do you give that teacher who is less than marginal another two or three years because they are close to retirement, so you let them age out instead of confront them? Or do you put that teacher on a growth plan? A high school I led to recognized academic standards has a new principal. She objects to growth plans for teachers "because that is how principals get fired." This young woman has an serious moral flaw: she is a coward. She could decide to do what is right for kids, but that is uncomfortable for adults, and that could lead to conflict. If you are in a district that prohibits growth plans (yes, those kind of districts exist. In fact,there are a lot of them) get out and go somewhere serious about helping kids.
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