Professional Goal

Professional goals help me to stay focused with the end in mind. My district emphasizes the importance of students doing well on benchmark assessments that are created by the county and given to student typically every four and a half weeks. We use this data to measure how well students are performing on the current units, according to the district pacing guide. My professional goal is to continue using ongoing assessments and design them to mirror the expectations for students on benchmark and Milestones. I believe that students should be aware of what they should know and they will be assessed. In the past, some of my students struggled with benchmarks because they felt that the questions did were not similar to the problems that they saw in the classroom. On our district professional learning days, I articulate this concern to the county curriculum coach. There is a need for transparency with county assessments, standards, educator responsibilities, and the students. I have been working more closely with the county math coach to design lessons that will mirror the expectations for students.

In addition to helping with benchmark assessments, the math coach and our Analytic Geometry team are collaborating on remediation strategies for students who failed our first unit test. We are also designing a second assessment with 3 to 5 questions to address the standard students did worse on. Although the first unit assessment grade will not be substituted, students will have a second opportunity to score well on a shorter, less heavily weighed summative assessment. This strategy helps me to stay focused on my own professional goal, while helping my students. Ongoing assessments lets the students, myself, and my team know where they are. Then, we can remediate and enrich the content in real time.