What is radar?  Radar is a term that we use at Winterboro High School  to keep a critical laser focused lens on students who are in danger of not meeting expectations.  During our Data Meetings today, we identified those students who need Radar, or our extra interventions.  We looked at high stakes test data (ACT Aspire, ACT, etc) as well as classroom anecdotal notes kept during small group instruction to content specific grades taken on a students comprehensive report card.

Teachers are the experts when it comes to problem diagnosis.   Due to our integration of small group instruction, teachers know their students better than I have ever witnessed.  Teachers are able to diagnose student deficiencies and are able to come up with an immediate plan of action.  They are also able to share their findings with their colleagues and share best practices on how to combat these deficiencies so as to attend to the whole child.

After our data meeting, teachers are tasked implementing a plan of action in place and keeping record of student progress.

So…….Why do teachers need a Radar?  As teachers, we must identify problems specifically in order to fine tune our instruction to meet the needs of each student in our classroom.