Ongoing CoachingWe believe that assessments and data alone will not improve student learning. It is the ways in which educators apply these assessment results that can have a dramatic effect on student achievement. MPSP coaches schools to use formative assessment data to inform instruction with the goal of positive changes in student achievement. Schools need support in interpreting the data and putting it to use in classrooms. After each round of assessments, MPSP staff work with school leaders and teachers to train and coach them not only on a process to identify key takeaways around content, but also on a process to take that information and put it to use in the classroom. As a result, some teachers use the data to inform after-school tutoring with a specific group of students, while others use it to re-teach an entire unit to the whole class, and still others are able to save valuable time by realizing that students have already mastered a concept they were planning to teach. The school leaders then assist their teachers to determine if their actions helped their students learn. Additionally, we also provide coaching around skills, processes, and structures necessary to create a school community that supports the optimal use of this data – including support around assessment culture, action planning and accountability. We ask schools the questions they need to consider as they adapt this work to fit into the culture of their school. This builds the capacity of school leaders to lead the long term sustainability of this work in their school community. |
