It is now April, and for many of us, the resolutions we set in January are starting to feel more like a memory than the habits we hoped they would be. Why is that? I think it is a combination of two factors: 1) We were not honest about our expectations — we shot too high or too low and didn’t take into account what we could honestly do. 2) We focused on the wrong issue. For example, we wanted to lose weight but tried to increase our exercise rather than fix our diet. Right intention, but the solution didn’t quite work because we didn’t fully understand the problem.
This happens in education, too. Perhaps a teacher knows her students need help with reading and increases the amount of time spent on those skills but doesn’t provide new strategies; the increased time doesn’t have the desired effect. Or a district worried about closing the achievement gap finds software that is proven to increase student test scores, but doesn’t train teachers on how it aligns with other efforts and strategies. Again, good intentions, but neither the district nor the teacher fully understood the problem...
This article originally appeared on The74. Access the full article here.