Tracking progress is one of the most effective ways to ensure we lead our students to reaching goals. Even though this is now considered common knowledge, tracking is often the piece of the puzzle that gets left to the side because it can feel complicated and messy. Edcite’s Performance Band report is set up to make tracking at multiple levels quick and simple, so you can get to the important stuff- what to do about the data you’ve tracked! If you’d like a step by step guide to using the Performance Band Report, start here.

As a teacher, it was always important to me to be able to answer two questions- Where are we going? How far do we have to go to get there? I know when I was tracking consistently, I could answer these questions easily, and the real magic was that my students could too! Below is a simple path you can take  to tracking at the class and student level, so that everyone knows where you’re going and your progress towards those goals. 

Step 1: Set and Share the Goal: Ensure that you and your students have a clear goal. This might mean each student in the class has their own individual goal or that the entire class has a goal they are shooting for, but either way, it’s important to know what you are tracking towards! 

Step 2: See the Big Picture: In the Performance Band Report, check the aggregate data at the bottom of the report. This will tell you which questions align to each standard, and your students’ overall performance on each standard. Share the data with stakeholders, use it to inform your re-teaches, and export the information to a CSV so you’re ready to track progress (Step 4).

Step 3: Get Granular: Filter the data by student to see individual mastery of each standard. With this information, you can have individual conferences with students and parents, fill out wall trackers, and/or complete individual trackers for or with students.  

Step 4: Track Progress: Starting from your second exam, look at any repeating standards to see what growth was made whole-group, and have students do the same on their individual trackers! This will allow you to celebrate growth and name specific standards to continue working on. 

With just one Edcite report and four simple steps, you can invest and motivate your students in their goals and ensure everyone is aware of your progress towards those goals!

Note: The Performance Band Report is a premium Edcite Schools feature. If you’d like to learn more about Edcite Schools, our premium platform for schools and districts, click here.

About the Author

Kat Strickland Rodriguez joined TFA in 2008 and worked in her placement district in the Rio Grande Valley for the next twelve years. She taught ELA before becoming an Assistant Principal of Instruction, and then earned her masters in Leadership from Columbia Teachers College before founding IDEA Harlingen College Prep in 2020. Kat transitioned to the Edcite team in 2024 and is passionate about serving educators with access to quality assessments and analytics that help adults make informed decisions so kids can excel!