CORTNIE BELSER'S MSED PORTFOLIO
DRAMATIC ACADEMIC GROWTH
Academic gains are the ultimate door opener – they are the foundation of a truly transformational teacher. Students make dramatic levels of academic growth. Families know the level of rigor necessary for
college and career readiness in the 21st century.
Introduction
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While students gain personal development and growth through access, advocacy, and habits of mind, the most pivotal component of a student's growth will be their academic gains throughout the year. As 21st-century teachers and leaders, we know that academic growth can be measured quantitatively and qualitatively. By using high impact high-stakes testing trends with the deeper context provided through text-dependent written discourse, I am better able to assess, measure, and track student progress towards grade-level Common Core State Standards (CCSS). As a well-rounded approach, utilizing quantitative and qualitative data gains balances the importance of whole-class goals and individual academic success.
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My district partners with the i-Ready Diagnostic assessment to quantitatively measure student's reading comprehension from beginning, middle, and end of year. While the i-Ready does not provide an aligned measurement to CCSS, they provide an individualized analysis of the student data across three main domains: Reading: Comprehension, Reading: Informational Text, and Vocabulary. Since the assessment is given at three intervals throughout the year, it is supposed to offer teachers an evenly distributed window of time to assess, evaluate, and provide necessary interventions to impact student growth.
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Since i-Ready Window 1 is usually completed by mid-September, I utilize this initial diagnostic data to evaluate how I will address gaps in those standard domains as well as measure students' writing growth. As qualitative data, formative writing assessments provide a continuous understanding of how students are articulating and analyzing content through applied skills. While my district also requires a summative essay each unit, they are often above my students' current content and standards skill mastery and do not offer an equitable representation of our dramatic academic gains. Thus, to analyze the qualitative academic growth, I utilize unit formative assessments and my weekly homework sheet's written responses.
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Below, you can click each image to explore how I students' make dramatic academic growth through quantitative and qualitative assessment data:
Conclusion
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Ultimately, the role of the teacher is to provide access to opportunities through academic success and content mastery for all students. While all students are not the same, standardized high impact testing continues to prevail across America's public schools. For many of my students, dramatic academic growth cannot be viewed as achievement if based on grade-level mastery because the vast majority of them continue to struggle multiple reading levels below grade-level. For my students, the impact of high-stakes tests in their 7th and 8th grade year will either restrict them to the low tier high schools or provide them access to a depth of opportunities at the 2-3 selective schools in the district. As their teacher, regardless of how I feel about standardized tests, I have a responsibility to provide them a quality education that does not inhibit their ability to be successful. This is why utilizing qualitative written assessments to measure student growth is also necessary to provide a picture of the academic growth of the whole-scholar. While a student's engagement and achievement can be viewed through a multitude of lenses, it has always been and will continue to be the dramatic academic growth that defines and differentiates what it means to truly demonstrate teacher and student growth.