What should be the principal's highest-priority action to ensure teams can analyze formative data and develop intervention plans?

• A. Modifying the master schedule so that the grade-level teams have common planning and progress-monitoring time
• B. Increasing classroom sizes
• C. Reducing professional development days
• D. Assigning more homework

Answer: (A)

The most important move is to create time and structure for collaboration. When the master schedule provides grade-level teams with common planning time and dedicated progress-monitoring periods, teachers can routinely review formative data, discuss why students are or aren’t meeting targets, and plan targeted interventions together. This shared, regular data analysis and intervention design leads to more consistent decisions, quicker adjustments, and clearer progress tracking across the grade levels.

Without that coordinated time, analyzing data and turning it into actionable plans becomes piecemeal or isolated to individuals. Increasing class sizes makes collaboration harder; reducing professional development days limits coaching and shared practice; and assigning more homework doesn’t guarantee an effective schoolwide approach to data use and intervention.