I write, and so I know the meaning of a "work in progress."
Unfortunately, I think the concept of progress has been captured by individuals who use smoke and mirrors and talk and talk and talk, but never do anything. Recently, I have been hearing and seeing and reading about school in which "we are making progress." Closer examination, however, reveals that leaders in those schools are holding meetings and talking about change, but students and parents and teachers are seeing nothing.
I am not a fan of "checklists" of things that have been accomplished (I tend to adhere to Einstein's adage "what you can count doesn't matter and what matters can't be counted"), but at some point, progress or claims of progress must be examined against reality. My friend who is a musician rehearses all the time, but at some point, he must get on the stage and perform, and his audience judges his performance. When we accept "we are working on it" as evidence, we have begun to accept stagnation.
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