"Short term progress can be accomplished at the expense of the mid-to-long term (win the battle, lose the war), but it doesn't have to be. What I am advocating...is that schools set aspirational targets, take action to obtain early results, and intervene in situations of terrible performance, all the while investing in the 8 sustainability capacity-building elements described...Over time, the system gets stronger, and fewer severe problems occur as they are preempted by the corrective action sooner rather than later" (Leadership and Sustainability, p. 25).
All Iowa schools are required to have both short term and long range goals for reading, math, and science. However, systems thinkers know that for academic performance to improve, districts must also be monitoring and working on goals for climate and culture, system-wide essential learnings/employability, and technology as a tool for learning. There may be other goals that are pertinent to your own learning community.
To the left is one example of a school system's short-range and long-term goals in those six areas as set by their SIAC (School Improvement Advisory Committee). You will note that the goals are not set around the Iowa tests because that measure is used to report out Adequate Yearly Progress to the federal government for "No Child Left Behind". This school system has classroom teachers use the results of the short-term goal assessments in the fall and the spring as pre and post test data with "treatment" between the two tests. They then measure each child's progress because they know that to improve the system, they need to bump the performance of each learner.
Michael Barber believes that it is necessary to "Create the virtuous circle where public education delivers results, the public gains confidence, and is therefore willing to invest through taxation and, as a consequence, the system is able to improve further. It is for this reason that the long-term strategy requires short term results" (Courage and the Lost Art of Bicycle Maintenance, p. 2).
Leadership teams who communicate both good and not-so-good data to their stakeholders create a system where data is used not as a sword to destroy but as a ploughshare to cultivate deeper understanding of both the system and its individual learners. Systems thinkers know that "Any system is only as strong as the individuals within...." Schools led by systems thinkers keep an eye on data from the K-12 system, the building level system, and the classroom system, as well as on data provided by each individual student. For example, you may want to modify the Treasure Hunt on the APR! template in order to engage your K-12 staff in using the data provided by your Annual Progress Report to inform their instruction.
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