Zak's Weekly Musings (February 1, 2023)

Wellington Engagement Index

A couple of years ago, there was a study that found that only 6% of teachers practice below standard, while 94% of teachers are exceeding standards and positively impacting student learning. What this tells me is two-fold: first, feedback instruments should be asset-based by nature; second, teachers should be the primary users, sense-makers, and owners of feedback data. In short, as administrators, we should be seeking to empower teachers to accurately assess their own practice and self-diagnose areas of growth with an eye towards optimizing what they’re already doing well. 

One way to achieve this is through the use of the Wellington Engagement Index (WEI) and the principle of appreciative inquiry. Appreciative inquiry is a method that focuses on discovering, dreaming, deciding, and doing, with the goal of identifying and building on strengths, rather than seeking to fix deficits. The WEI is a tool that can bring this principle to life for us in the Middle School. 

Unlike traditional feedback systems that strip teachers of their agency and only have supervisors use data to assess teachers' effectiveness and direct goal-setting, the WEI is designed to put teachers in the driver’s seat of their own professional development.

This is well and good -- and very much the culture of professional development I seek to nurture in the Middle School -- except I’ve made a mistake. You see, I realize that in an effort to empower, I may have unintentionally usurped your agency and ownership of the dots. In my monthly WEI presentations, I’ve editorialized so much about what the dots mean that I think I’ve likely forced you to jump to my conclusions, which is the opposite of what I strive to do. 

To rectify this, I am going to change course slightly.

This month, the WEI presentation consists of raw divisional and grade-level WEI data sans my own interpretations. Instead, I'm asking for your analysis. In the Google Form below, you will formulate a hypothesis about divisional, grade-level, or individual dots and set a corresponding asset-based goal. You can complete this exercise individually, in grade-level teams, in department-teams, or with a trusted colleague from outside of your department or grade-level. 

Review this month’s WEI presentation and complete and submit this Google Form.