What Are We About?

The end of the year is on the horizon and summer is coming.  The days are getting longer and even in Vermont, a little bit warmer.  Students and adults are starting to get a little restless, given the calendar, the warmth and it's natural to reflect on what we've done this year.

When we take stock of what we've done in education, it's natural to try to boil it down to accomplishments, test scores, and things that are measurable.  That's a perfectly reasonable approach to assessing where we stand at the end of the year.  But there's much more to the story than just numbers.

We know this because the Vermont Agency of Education has created a Education Quality Review process that is both qualitative and quantitative.  We know this because decades of peer-reviewed educational research tells us so.  We know this because it is common sense.

Education is about children, the teachers that work tirelessly to serve them, and the other cadre of adults that work tirelessly to support the teachers on a daily basis.  So how do you measure this and assess whether you've made a difference in the life of a child?  

There's no easy answer to this and the answer is different for each individual faculty, staff, and administrator.  We each need to assess this for ourselves, reflect and find ways to improve for next year.  What is the evidence we will use to evaluate this for ourselves?

It's May.  What is the evidence can we use to answer the question: What are we about?