Johanna Busch
Dramatic Academic Growth
Introduction
I measure my success as a teacher in a variety of different ways. I want my students to grow socially, personally, and politically. I want my classroom to be and inclusive, safe space for students. I want my students to learn about the world beyond our school and community. Though all of these aspects of my teaching are incredibly important, pushing students to achieve dramatic academic growth may be the most important indicator of my success as a teacher. Almost all of my students at Monarch Academy enter the second grade testing below grade level in reading and math. There are huge knowledge gaps that need to be filled before third grade, where they will experience a dramatic jump in rigor. It is my responsibility to fill these gaps to allow my students to succeed throughout their careers in school and beyond. In this section, I will present evidence that shows that my second grade students made dramatic academic growth in the 2018-2019 school year.
In this section, I will present both quantitative and qualitative evidence, both of which are crucial to assessing academic growth. First, I will present evidence of dramatic growth in mathematics based on the I-Ready standardized test. Because my students take I-Ready three times a year, it is a great indicator of student growth in math throughout the year. The detailed score reports from I-Ready also allow me to use data to tailor my math instruction to my students needs. My students have also made tremendous growth in writing this year. I will demonstrate this by showing examples of informational writing tasks from the beginning, middle, and end of the year. Working on informational writing pieces throughout the year gives students the opportunity to grow substantially in this type of writing. Click the links below to see how much my students have grown this year.
Conclusion
The above pages demonstrate how my students achieved dramatic academic growth in mathematics and writing. Though almost all of my students entered second grade below grade level in reading and math, many of my students will move on to third grade testing on grade level in one or both of these subjects. Because most of my students were only a year or two below grade level at the beginning of the year, it was possible to give these students the extra push they needed to make up gaps in math, reading and writing. Making this dramatic academic growth at a young age will help my students to get the most out of the coming years of school. This growth gives students the foundation they need to succeed in college and twenty-first century careers.