Arguing with success

Data.  As soon as you’ve crunched the numbers, you know.

Your students are performing well in subject A, but not so well in subject B.  Your data shows improvement in this area but a slight decline over here.  If you compare your scores to the state, you look great.

So what are you going to focus on?  Are you going to take your lowest indicators, label them your “things we could improve upon” and ignore the rest?  What are your plans for the areas in which you are performing well?

Sounds like a great time for a couple cliches:

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

“You can’t argue with success.”

It’s not easy, and it takes courage–but you’d better argue with success.  It’s the best way to break free from “good” and take steps toward “amazing.”