The past cannot be changed, the future is yet in your power

With state performance data being released to school districts this week, administration and teaching staff alike will experience emotions that span the high/low continuum.  In the end, each school district and school will need to respond to the data in a way that grows student performance moving forward.  I recently listened to a discussion on Waukesha's 2017-2018 Wisconsin Forward Assessment results.  As I listened and reflected, I began to think of the SAIL work and goals that each building has dedicated that last 2+ years to.  I reminded myself that true, long-lasting change takes time, especially when you are instituting new and/or changing old practices.  While we all want to see an immediate result from our efforts, we are frequently reminded about that tortoise analogy and, I guess it applies here as well.  Since patience is not something I am particularly good at, my attention immediately shifted to actionable steps that we can take now to impact the end result.  One of the areas of focus for the District Director team is that of intentional planning for student learning.  Are students learning?  How do we know?  How can we respond to students who are not learning?  Many if not all schools are currently taking steps to strengthen the building PLC, SST, and PST process so that the questions posed above have a platform to be discussed and problem solved.  Scheduling and engaging in these problem-solving practices with fidelity will prove great benefit for the collective success of the students in each building in the end.