Academic Monitoring in Western Governor’s University

Academic Monitoring in Western Governor’s University

Bruce Greening

July 19, 2010

Academic monitoring involves closely observing students’ progress in one or more subjects over a given period of time.  Teachers use this information to compare the performance of a certain student to that of his or her classmates in order to identify students who are doing well, struggling or underachieving.  An academic monitoring procedure, when executed accurately is what sets apart successful and unsuccessful schools and teachers.  Efficient teachers are able to modify the method of instruction based on the students’ performance (Avery 2008). This will not only improve the students’ performance, but also the level of instruction.  The Students’ monitoring has two purposes; the achievement of students’ goals and the improvement of instruction methods.

The following monitoring methods have proved successful with time;

Use of data to assess students’ instructional needs; This happens when teachers conduct curriculum-based tests regularly.  The teacher collects the students’ work, andfrom these academic records, can assess a student’s specific problem.

Focus on effective instruction at the appropriate level;Knowingeach student’s instructional level is crucial to providing successful classroom instruction.  This information is a result of past assessment and constant monitoring of students’ progress.  This way a teacher can instruct a student depending on their instructional level, so that students who have challenges can be assisted.

Continuous self assessment by teacher on their instruction methods; Progress monitoring is not beneficial for students only, but for teachers as well.  Teachers should monitor their own instructional methods, and assess their effectiveness from time to time, since they influence the students’ performance.  This will help them to know if they are setting a suitable pace of instruction, in providing the right instruction match based of the students’ levels.

Using continuous progress monitoring; Monitoring of students’ progress is important so as to provide appropriate academic support(Zorigian, 2010). When teachers continuously monitor the students’ academic progress; they are in apposition to make informed choices regarding the act.............