I attended yet another meeting this morning, as well as one yesterday afternoon. Both left me feeling overloaded and also blocked.

I keep reminding myself that at this time last year, I felt much the same. I remember sitting in meetings and thinking, “I have no idea what they’re talking about or what I’m supposed to do about it. Why on earth did they hire me?” I’ve had very similar reactions during most of the meetings I’ve attended so far this year. People refer to my “program” as though there actually is one. Hello? I’m the first person who has ever had this job, which did not exist 23 days ago. The only program I’ve seen evidence of is sketchy compliance with State Board of Education rules regarding remedial services for students.

As I discussed in my last post, one of the difficulties is identifying those students who are at risk and who might qualify for remedial services. It’s not so difficult in the middle schools, where standardized tests are given annually, with results that are broken down by strands and standards. However, in the high schools, there’s a marked lack of standardized testing in general, and even less that yields usable data. While most teachers know who’s in trouble within the first few days of class, what they don’t know is why. What skills or content is the student lacking? What strategies work best to assist that student? What resources are available to assist the teacher in providing the necessary differentiation for these struggling students?

All of these are questions we were charged with answering this morning in my meeting. I posed the possibility of teacher-generated performance assessments, something my old school will implement this year and which Ms. C. also suggested. The problem with such assessments is that 1) they would not be standard and available to all teachers across the district, and 2) they would not have been tested to see that they are indeed valid assessments. As one supervisor remarked, “Bad assessments yield bad data.” So what now?

I’m frustrated. And feeling stuck. Surely any moment now, I’ll have one of those teacher’s epiphanies where the answer floats up from the depths of who knows where. Any. Moment. NOW.

I’m waiting.

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