Planning for Success-Take the First Step
The success you read about at Grant High School in the article, “The Finger Pointing School”, did not happen by accident. It is like every other educational success story ever told. The members of the organization identified the school’s needs, charted a clear course, stayed focused and in the end won for the kids. Each one of these stories started with a clear understanding of the needs of the students and the school.
It is a new year and a new opportunity to assess the needs of students. The first step to finding success in the era of growth model assessments is to identify the skill and knowledge level of each student. If you know the students current academic levels you can set goals for them to work toward and provide the necessary interventions and supports which will help each student reach those goals.
There is a wide array of assessment tools available which will help teachers and schools get a clear picture of student skills and knowledge: AIMSweb, DIBELS, Global Scholar, Performance Series. Any one of these assessment tools or others can have a serious impact on helping teachers and school leaders gain a clear picture on the students’ needs. Gathering this data is the first step to success.
Here are some questions to ask yourself as you plan for success:
What assessment has been identified as a benchmarking tool for the building?
When will the assessments be administered?
What will the teacher, principal or student do with the data once it is collected?
Take our online survey and tell us which benchmarking tool you use!
