Gap Closing
Can you jump across the Grand Canyon?
When we look at the big picture of education, sometimes that's what it feels like we're being asked to do. There are millions of students taking dozens of different subjects. Budget pressure and time pressure weigh heavily. The changing world causes uncertainty.
Motivation can run low.
When struggling students fall behind, it can seem an insurmountable challenge to catch them up. What can metrics do to help?
Interim Goals
Could you walk across the Grand Canyon?
Yes, of course you could. With the help of trusty backpack, good hiking shoes, and some well-stocked waypoints along the way, you can cross this immense gulf in a couple days.
The problem is framed in a different way. We break down the long journey into a set of interim goals. The goal of today is to reach the next waypoint. Tomorrow, the waypoint after that. In this way, we eventually reach the finish line.
Now, of course education is not so simple as this analogy. Exactly how to raise achievement is a huge question and a set of many challenges. No metric will help a child with his homework or help build a student's science project. From the metrics standpoint, we strive to set meaningful goals. Let's look at how.
Measuring the Gap
For gap closing, our goals are two-fold.
First, we want visibility into the relative performance of different groups. This can be done by showing achievement of groups side-by-side. This chart is nearly the same as the current ODE chart, though we'll use the bullet chart format for reasons you'll see in a moment.
The gap has been completely closed in both of these graphs. Hooray! Well, sort of. In the second chart, the gap closed due to the declining performance of our reference group. I don't think anyone would count a 20% proficiency rate as a success. We'll keep this in mind in the next section on goal-setting.
Setting Interim Goals
How can we cross a large gap in steps? The key to success is setting interim goals. Set goals too high, and motivation plummets. Set goals too low, and our long term goal will recede in the distance. A proper step size motivates and propels.
A further question is whether to base an interim goal on our final goal, or to base it on the performance of the reference group? The "Be Independent" design principle recommends the final goal. Remember, the reference group performance may drop, closing the gap in a way we're not hoping for. By basing our interim goal on the final goal, we are assured of eventually reaching our final goal.
The Ohio Department of Education calculations introduce an Annual Measurable Objective which is met
"If the subgroup’s percentage point increase over the previous year in percent proficient or graduation rate is greater than or equal to the current year gap , then 100 points are assigned (i.e., the current year gap was cut by more than half)."
Simply stated: Go halfway!
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Let's add interim goals to our charts. The bullet chart format easily accommodates them. The chart also shows the long-term goal.
And, here is a view of gap closing over time, with interim goals marked out.
The report card grade reflects if the interim goal is met, and if not, how close we came.
One final note - there may be groups which have a lower learning rate due to severe, permanent learning disabilities or other factors. In this case, goals may not be reachable in the standard number of instructional hours. A different strategy for setting interim goals might be needed here.
Recommendations
1. Define yearly interim goals to close gaps.
2. Use bullet charts to compare groups and line charts for achievement over time.
We can also show performance over time. This reveals an interesting truth. There are TWO ways to close a gap. There's a Good Way, and a Not-So-Good way. Remember, a gap implies a reference group. What happens when our reference group doesn't do so well?
