Why I Jumped…

I spent fifteen years in the classroom. Fifteen years. When I left the classroom in 2014, everyone, including me:), was surprised. Teaching seemed to be a lock for me. I had established curriculum, honors classes, and a solid reputation. Why would I shift my career when I was finally “in the cut”?

Here’s why I jumped to tech leadership from my cozy teaching niche–I saw a chance to help teachers make their jobs more manageable and their lessons more engaging. So many of my coworkers were burning themselves out trying to keep their students engaged and accountable, and I knew about so many digital educational tools that my coworkers could use to improve their practice.

Classroom technology is sometimes regarded with cynicism–as a “flavor of the month” toy. Classroom tech is fun until it stops working or the novelty wears off. While it’s true that not all edtech is of equal educational value, most educational technology–hardware and software–can be transformational when used for the right reasons. Using a learning management system, I was able to build and deliver differentiated instruction for all my learners and provide asynchronous lessons for students who missed class. With student response systems, I gathered immediate meaningful formative assessment data in real time while giving the shyest students their voice. I leveraged online assessment and grading tools to build data sets that illuminated class trends, identified student skills gaps, and revealed weaknesses and strengths in my curriculum. I had to share what I learned about data-based decision making with my peers.

As a teacher leader and district administrator, I have learned so much more about how assessment and data can be used at the school and district level. I have become my district expert on how states use high-stakes testing data to evaluate school performance, and I am exquisitely aware of the strengths and weaknesses of using tests to measure school performance. I have learned how data needs to be visualized differently for district leaders, campus leaders, and classroom leaders. I meet deadlines and build relationships with the outside partners who need to know more about my students, all 2500 of them. 🙂 When I meet a district or school leader who does not understand testing, I jump in to help and wonder how I could have helped sooner. The lessons I learned in the classroom–about respect, about student needs, about building relationships, about the critical need to build up skills deficits while delivering grade-level content–form the base of how I do what I do.

I know teaching is a complex endeavor. After all, students are not simple machines, and learning is not a linear process. Dynamic assessment is not a solution for every issue our students and teachers face, but assessment is powerful when used correctly. That’s why I advocate for transformative assessment. I support data and assessment. I am a conversation starter and a paradigm shifter who can see so much wasted potential in districts who do not find the time to maximize the data they have.  I make a big difference for thousands of students, and I am proud of what I do.