We want to track our students’ progress and growth – it’s the very heart of education. However, tracking progress effectively can be a challenge, especially when you’re managing tens or dozens of students.<\/p>\n
Effective progress tracking happens when your data and your system work in harmony.<\/p>\n
In other words, your student data (results) and your benchmarking (what these results compare to, eg individual improvement, position in class, classes performance against a greater area) need to be complementary.<\/p>\n
This was discovered in a landmark study by researchers Fuchs and Fuchs (2002), which found that:<\/p>\n
\nWhen teachers use systematic progress monitoring to track their students’ progress in reading, mathematics, or spelling, they are better able to identify students in need of additional or different instruction; they design stronger instructional programs, and their students achieve better results.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Reaching this harmony requires a trial and error, but we think we can help you with the latter. Here are four missteps to watch out for when tracking student data.<\/p>\n<\/div>