Last year I got asked about how would I describe successful progression. I have never heard of this term and it through me for a loop. Any suggestions if it ever comes up in an interview again?
Not sure on that one. Does it mean that students are making progress or that your curriculum is progressing at a reasonable rate? I hope that you asked them for more clarification during the interview. A lot of times schools are so used to their own lingo that they forget outsiders may not be familiar with the vocab. It usually doesn't hurt to ask for more clarification and that's always better than trying to lie your way through it.
I googled it, and most of the hits refer to the student's successful progression to higher education/labor market/trade school. However, most of the hits were British, so it may be something else in the US.
My district uses this term to mean to mean a successful progression through the learning unit. They've divided each subject into 5-6 units through the year. So for Unit 1, the teachers are supposed to make a "learning progression" (what will students be expected to know when, how will you teach and assess) for the unit. Students who make a "successful progression" are at least 80% proficient on the end of the unit assessment. It may be different elsewhere. I agree with newbie that if you're not sure it's best to ask for clarification rather than just making something up in an interview. We definitely use some "lingo" in my district that an outsider probably wouldn't understand.
I would ask for clarification, saying something like, "in your district, what do you mean by successful progression? Do you mean in a unit of study or throughout the year?" Or you could say something like, "I view successful progression as X and this is how I determine that I've (or the student) has been successful."
