What the Data Says About the Teachers

There’s a grade level in my school where every teacher is new to the building or the grade after the big shuffle we experienced last spring. Now consider the MAP scores that their kids came out with during the spring testing:

In 2007, 83% of the kids met the goal in math.
In 2008, 71% of the kids met the goal in math.

In 2007, 19% of the kids scored in the gifted range on the test.
In 2008, 4% of the kids scored in the gifted range on the test.

In 2007, 5% of the kids scored more than one grade level below the goal.
In 2008, 18% of the kids scored more than one grade level below the goal.

I knew that the scores in this particular grade were going to tank; the 2007 team had been working together for quite some time, and they really knew their math inside and out. They were super teachers who had a really great system in place; there was no way that the 2008 group could equal what they did.

Data doesn’t care, though. The trouble with data is that sometimes numbers shouldn’t be allowed to speak for themselves, because without context they’re worse than meaningless—they’re just mean.

And this is why we as teachers shouldn’t fear data, but instead we should accept it for what it is and listen to what it tells us.

The history of education can be written in numbers, and that’s never been more true than it is today.