The data that really matters to teacher

In our public school system, chasing test score data, we often miss what matters. The plan is to sell parents' never-ending reforms while overlooking the vast inequalities rooted in our public schools. In this world, I find there is the data that matters and the data that really matters.

There is the data that counts and the data that really matters. Some data teachers upload to the cloud, and principals and Politicians love that data. There is, however, the data that really counts to teachers. It is uploaded into our teaching hearts. That heart data is what holds us strong, inspires us, but most of all, it reminds us why we became teachers in the first place.

The data that matters is standing right in front of me.

Myra grade 2: "Dr. Turner, you were right; there is a book for everyone."

Dr. T: "Did you find your perfect book, Myra?"

Myra: Oh, yes, "Too Loud Lily" is about a girl just like me. She is a little too loud, a little too bold, loves to dance, but her heart is golden."

Dr. T: "That does sound like you...Would you read it to the rest of the kids and me?"

Myra: "Of course, Dr. Turner, I have read it over 100,000 times; I can read it with my eyes close. I am going to use my teacher's voice. I am going to a teacher one day. Do you know what kind of teacher I am going to be?"

Myra: "I am going to be a Reading Teacher."

Dr. T: Myra, you just made my day."

See the child, not the test score,

Dr. Jesse P. Turner

CCSU Literacy Center Director

Uniting to Save Our Schools

If you are wondering which song did Dr. Turner listen to on his morning walk today. Its Barry Lane's "More Than a Number" > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_Vf8cwTWRY&t=12s <