Doing the Right Thing

This is the week interim reports are due. These are student reports issued between report cards. Being midway between the start of the year and the first quarter, the data collected in the first weeks of school can be limited but also very important.

Early in the year the Principal delivered an urge to action: raise standards and improve learning outcomes. A newer teacher I work with took this request to heart and explained that she purposefully used more assessments on a range of outcomes from recall of content knowledge to applications of learning, and demonstrations of personal responsibility. She had also applied all she learned in her PLC the prior year on classroom management, lesson design, and student engagement. But, still she had a sense that students weren’t stepping up to the plate.

As she entered grades, she noticed an alarming pattern of failures. In response, she decided to ask the students to reflect on their achievement with a simple prompt: What grade do you think you earned and why do you think so? Here are some of the answers from her students:
“I think I’m doing horrible because I’m missing assignments”
“I don’t think I’m doing too good because I’m never prepared.”
“I think I have a C. I do half of my work and sometimes none of it.”

“I didn’t do any homework.”

“I did a good job on the test, but other than that I honestly think I could do better.”
“I’m doing well. I’m always here on time with all my work and my test grades are good.”
“I do my work… but not all the time.”
“I’m not a big fan of homework.”

She asked me what to do? Change instruction, content, pacing, resources, or difficulty? Provide more scaffolds, support, and differentiation? When she asked the students, the majority said she should make the class easier. They also said they really like her class and intend to do well in school but just don’t seem to be able to act on that goal. This is a dilemma that teachers face every day. What would you do?