More than a Letter Grade

cc flickr photo by Krissy.Venosdale

Today is the day that the Department of Education will release the A-F letter grades for Arizona schools.  I have to admit, I have spent my fair share of time stressing about how the state's designation might impact perceptions of our school.  Many people will not take time to look beyond the letter grade - they won't get the whole story.  This is unfortunate, because we all know that the value of students, a teaching staff, and schools can not be boiled down to a single letter.

As we consider test scores, and state ratings, it might be tempting to make excuses and dismiss results as unfair and irrelevant.  After all, in many respects, the state letter grade is comparing apples to oranges, right?  It would also be easy to be pessimistic and discouraged by what we read in the paper.  However, neither approach serves the best interest of our students, or school community.  

As I have previously mentioned, we have to be data conscious - recognizing that state testing and rank does have an impact on our students, and school, and taking appropriate steps toward improvement.  We need to use data (well beyond AIMS results) to determine intervention strategies that will improve our instruction and benefit our students -- not because of a letter grade, but because it is the right thing to do for kids.  We must be diligent about improving our instructional practice -- reflective about our teaching, and modeling life-long learning.

Most importantly, we must ensure that we treat every student on our campus as an individual with unique interests, talents, perspectives and immeasurable worth.  We are more than a letter grade!

P.S.  Be proud of what we have accomplished and determined to continue the momentum :)