4 Ways to Simplify Your Method of Tracking Student Progress

With all of the recent changes in education relating to common core, there is constant pressure put on administrators and teachers to have students meet standards. To complement enterprise software, forms and charts to track student progress, some administrators, counselors and academic coaches use a whiteboard as a visual representation for tracking. Based on my conversations with administrators, counselors and academic coaches, I have found several reasons why a whiteboard is a complementary tool for tracking students:

1. 1. It encourages collaboration and ensures that the school’s mission and goals are aligned among administrators and teachers. By recording and showing progress, it allows administration to keep track of how the students are progressing individually and as a whole.
2. It helps to allocate resources and execute strategies as a group for students who need one on one instruction, group instruction or extra attention before exams.
3. Because it is “always on” and always available to view, a whiteboard is a constant reminder to administrators and staff of how their students are doing in specific subjects.
4. A whiteboard allows administration to group students by subject, grade, progress, testing and behavioral issues. The color-coding system (red, yellow and green magnets) is easily understood and shows immediately how the school is doing.

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As an educator, it is important to keep up with technology and the latest advances in software; however, considering a hands-on, visual tool for your team to collaborate could help communication and the execution of strategies in your school. Administration and staff need to communicate and collaborate effectively in order to successfully work toward the school’s mission, goals and objectives.