Research paper discussing the use of progress monitoring can help Article

Research paper discussing the use of progress monitoring can help provide educators with a valuable tool to improve their own teaching - Article Example One way that a teacher can tell whether one method of teaching is better than another is by using progress monitoring assessments (Johnson, 2005, p. 319). In the absence of these assessments, teachers would subjectively prefer methods with limited effectiveness; hence leading to poor learning outcomes. Succeeding sections of this paper contains detailed description of benefits offered by progress monitoring tools to teachers. The first step in the application of progress monitoring involves determining a learner’s actual rate of academic performance. Teachers can identify this rate by administering bi-weekly measurement of student’s average score in class tests (Gloria, 2010). Subsequently, a comparison between the actual rate of learning and the average or expected rate of learning is developed. Average rates of learning are usually the normal mean rates used within a local academic context. Comparing the two rates will objectively ascertain whether or not a student has learning difficulties. In addition, the comparison also facilitates determination of effectiveness from each teaching method used by educators. After capturing the facts concerning a student’s actual progress, educators can adjust instructional techniques and other intervention responses accordingly (Evans & Lang, 2006). Technically, the first benefit of progress monitoring assessments to teachers is formulation of informed decisions on instructional techniques. Conroy and Holly (2013) agreed that progress monitoring helps to pinpoint a student’s rate of learning. Sometimes, teachers may rest content with a misconception that a student is progressing expectedly because that student passes each test in class. However, progress monitoring is not about focusing on a single point of an academic journey. It is about checking whether a student’s pace of learning will facilitate achievement of pre-determined goals