Who Won the Race?

I am a NASCAR fan.  The race is in Phoenix this week and I have my tickets!

One great thing about racing is the instant measurement of results.  At the end of the day either you won or you didn’t. Everyone knows the final outcome. You can see it right in front of you.

Wouldn’t it be great if keeping score in our school was just as straight forward?  I would like to know each week how my efforts stack up against my competition.

The post-race interview gives the drivers a chance to evaluate their teams’ performance (and plug their sponsors). Imagine what the post interview would sound like for yours truly.
“Mark, you had a great performance this week!  Tell us how you did it” the reporter asks.  
“Well I couldn’t have completed the department budget in record time without the help of my teammates.  I really didn’t think we could pull it off, especially on Wednesday when we had to deal with that personnel issue.  My Blueprint Education, Kids at Hope, Hope High School Online (shameless sponsor plug) team really came through.  For most teams something like that can really take you off your game but my team came together in the last quarter of the week and pulled off a great show.  There will be a big celebration tonight!  I can’t wait to get back out there next week and make it happen again with the new school opening!”

In sports the measurement of results is in the rule book.  It is easy to know where you placed.  For a school, the results are not so black and white.  How do you measure student success?  In the real world the greater challenge is determining what to measure.  We must stay focused on results and relentlessly measure metrics that matter.  

Did you win this week? Would you know it if you did?