Leverage Leadership: A Practical Guide to Building Exceptional Schools

Chapter 1

Data-Driven Instruction

One-on-One: 90 Seconds That Tell It All

Under Principal Mike Mann's leadership, North Star High School's classrooms usually bustle with rigorous activity. On a typical day, students at this Newark, New Jersey, charter school busily analyze Toni Morrison's writing, complete calculus problems, or perform in community-engaged theater. Today, however, is different. Four times each year, North Star students complete interim assessments (IAs) that track their academic progress. And four times a year, teachers then use their classrooms to meet with instructional supervisors and discuss assessment results.

For Steven Chiger, one of North Star's 11th-grade English instructors, this means conferring with veteran teacher ...