I interviewed Ms. Johnson on Wednesday November 14th, 2012. The interview was conducted after school in her classroom.

The interview consisted of ten open ended questions that provided insight as to how a practicing teacher approaches interpreting and communicating assessment data. During the interview, I learned more about Ms. Johnsons philosophy of education, her reason for becoming a teacher and other valuable information. Most importantly, I learned about how she uses assessment data in her classroom. Ms. Johnsons current third grade class consists of twenty-one students, eight girls thirteen boys, all of whom are African-American. Majority of the students are on free or reduced lunch and about half of the students come from a single parent household. As far as demographics regarding performance level, four students can read at or above grade level according to Star testing. Some of the students have been retained, and only one student has an IEP. This student is pulled out of the classroom to get additional help with English Language Arts (ELA), Reading, and Mathematics. Ms. Johnson chose the teaching profession mainly because of her mother. Her mother used to be a teachers assistant (TA). When her mother was a teachers assistant, a TAs job did not seem as important in the classroom compared to a teachers job. However, Ms. Johnson saw firsthand that her mother did just as much as a teacher would. She was pushed to pursue a career in education and obtain a degree mainly because of the influence and encouragement of her mother. Ms. Johnsons philosophy of education has grown and developed throughout her nine years of teaching experience. She believes that all children can learn and that teachers must be adequately prepared to put in the time to plan an effective lesson and carry it out. The teacher must reach each student on his or her academic level and pay attention to the interests of all students, while making a difference.

The Teaching and Learning Framework that drives the instruction in her instruction is created by the school district. The five Is that drive her instruction are instruct, inform, intervene, improve and include. The framework and the five Is focus on building a world class culture of teaching and learning. Ms. Johnson uses the five Es (engage, explore, extend, explain, and evaluate) to instruct science in her class. Her class is assessed by taking computer tests, administrative assessments and benchmarks. The administrative assessments are given once a week by the principal, and the benchmark tests are given once every nine weeks by the school district. When it comes to assessing her class, Ms. Johnson likes to use a combination of teachermade and commercially- made assessments. She mainly does half and half unless there is a standard the students do not understand, then she would use teacher- made assessments. Because the data is tracked, Ms. Johnson is able to use the students assessments results to inform her instruction. She analyzes the areas where students need extra help, and then proceeds to reteach and reassess. Data drives instruction. I thoroughly enjoyed interviewing Ms. Johnson. Having worked with her for majority of the semesters, I have observed various assessments that Ms. Johnson and the school have administered to the students. The interview allowed for me to gain a deeper understanding of how the results of the assessments are used. Near the end of the interview, Ms. Johnson offered to give advice to me, a beginning teacher. She explained that the best advice would be to keep an open mind and to remember that all students are different. They may come from different backgrounds and have different learning styles. There is always something to do, whether it may be planning work or work to plan.