Student Surprises

Term 1 is a big one for assessments - as teachers get to know where their new students are at and what their  learning needs are.
Each year this is an interesting and somewhat draining time, getting to know 25-30 people as fast and as indepth as you can, so that you can start to teach them with some direction in mind. Often the previous years teacher passes on some basic data to you to help you with a starting point too. This is all great until...

You come across the inevitable surprise children. And not a surprise in a good way so much. The children who just don't seem to match the picture that last years teacher left you. The data you are discovering seems to indicate much lower attainment. What do you do?

Here is where things can go horribly wrong... Do you start moaning about last years teacher over inflating the child? Do you tell the child they've gone backwards since last year? Do you ignore it and carry on? Should you highlight them and test them over and over to see if you get a different result? Are they now deemed to be failing or at risk because the results differ?

The truth is that data is often only a snapshot in time. Children perform differently on different tasks, at different times of the day, with different people, depending on their mood, focus and desire. Humans (yes, we teachers are only humans) make errors - in judgement, and in recording or transferring information. All of these things could be legitimate reasons why data doesn't match. So why make a big deal about it? It is done and is history.

When I gather data about my students learning needs at the beginning of the year, it is for one purpose, to help me know what I need to help them with now, from this moment forward. While I can't completely ignore last years data (as parents were informed with it), comparing this data and questioning it endlessly is not teaching my students. Formal assessment takes up much of a teachers teaching time these days as opposed to actual teaching. -but that's another blog... Any assessment should be wholly for me and my students and to plan our next steps.

So yes, there are student surprises, data doesn't seem right. I should be aware of this...but should I be focusing on this aspect of the child, or focusing on the skills they are showing me, and the needs I am discovering right now?