The Importance of Re-teaching

Posted on Dec 04 2009 at 10:53 AM

By Melissa Mullineaux

Everyone knows that teachers teach, yet, “re-teaching” is a term that is rarely discussed. And if re-teaching is discussed, is it done so in the context of being specific, data-driven, and student-focused? In my short time teaching in D.C., I have witnessed an incredible commitment by the administration and fellow teachers at my school to re-teaching as a means to closing the achievement gap. One of our main priorities is to ensure that each student gains the necessary skills to perform at or above the proficient level. One way to achieve this goal is to re-teach material when necessary.

Even though I have taught in various teaching capacities during the past four years, I have not witnessed the level of student success from re-teaching as I have this year. In an effort to be more specific, let me explain my school’s routine for re-teaching. First, our students are given an assessment that is aligned with the D.C. standard-based tests. The assessments are then mailed to a company that grades the assessments. When my school receives the assessment results, we are then able to review the data and identify which students do not understand certain content that was previously taught. At that point, we create a 2-week Action Plan to re-teach the material in a way that is both specific and rigorous. After two weeks, we administer our own assessment based on the content that we re-taught for the previous two weeks. Next, after grading the assessment, we are then able to calculate the percentage of students who improved.

If all goes according to plan, 90% of students would demonstrate understanding of the specific content. The remaining 10% would then receive an additional action plan that would include re- teaching the content in a different way to ensure understanding. While re-teaching is an obvious component of teaching, the way we are re-teaching has proven successful in supporting a higher percentage of students. It is VERY exciting that we can identify exactly how each student is performing according to the learning standards.

Clearly, re-teaching occurs inside the classroom in various ways; however, I am learning the importance of not just re-teaching, but being deliberate and focused when re-teaching. I understand that every school is not able to mail assessments to a company that will grade them. Furthermore, re-teaching is a term that I rarely heard prior to teaching at my current school. Yet, with closing the achievement gap and elevating student achievement as our goals, I am convinced of the critical role re-teaching plays in providing a quality education for every child.
 

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