My First Week and an Opinion on Test Scores

I have enjoyed my first week in the school district.  I have had the opportunity to meet many people that work in the school district and even the people at Lumpy’s! I have taken a ride (thanks to Mr. Smith) out to Claridge and I immediately felt as if I was back home in the country in Tioga County. I am starting to get a sense about why and how the school district has performed so well over the past few years. 

There has been a laser focus at P-T on achieving a 100% proficiency rate on the PSSA exam in English and Math.  Detractors may argue that test scores do not mean that a student will be successful (or not) in life, and I agree.  What the test scores do reflect is good teaching and powerful instruction.  The debate about whether or not test scores are good or bad is a fun one to participate in, but largely irrelevant to understand the real value of these test scores. Test scores can be used as a catalyst to start conversations about great instruction and student learning. I believe that anytime you can engage a teacher or an administrator in a discussion about what is working in a classroom, then students benefit.  So, if an administrator starts the discussion with a teacher about their classroom practice because test scores are either high or low in the school or the subject area, then that is a good thing.  Oftentimes collaboration among colleagues and sincere reflection of teaching practice result in these conversations being started; in other words, the education narrative in the school building or school district is now centered on THE MOST IMPORTANT ACT in the school district…teaching students.  So for that reason I believe a focus on test scores benefit students.