The vexing problem is students who are below grade level in math. And the five why's, I think a lot of the time, you know, your you think of might be teaching practice. Being in a fourth grade math classroom on a regular basis. I know that the teacher does not differentiate at all in a class of 25 kids, and there are several kids who are, you know, a couple grade levels behind in math. So that is you know, kind of using that the root cause.

You could also say the root cause is the COVID slide, right? But it's also due to, you know, the school, maybe not having in math interventionists, right? The students are not getting that individualized, mass support in a small group setting. Students are getting individualized literacy support a small group setting on an almost daily basis, but for math, there is not that support going on. So that's the vexing problem I am seeing currently.

One of the vexing issues for my school involves our after school program, which is targeted to students who are below grade level in math and ELA. Initial participation in this program is lower than desired, and only continues to diminish throughout the school year. 

Why are our students consistently scoring below grade level on state-wide assessments? 

We have always been asking ourselves "why are students not performing well on state assessments?" This is an issue that the 5-whys can help us identifying some of the factors that contribute to this issue. 

My classroom visits have shown me that we need to revisit training on bell to bell teaching. We have so many new staff that have not had that training. And it would be really good to refresh for the veteran teachers. Get back to basics. I see so much down time with students and teachers sitting at their desks. If I ask why, it will come back to training in high leverage instructional practices. We need training on that. 

Why are our math scores so low? This question has been nagging at me for the last 2 years. Using why may get us to the information we need to improve student performance. 

Why are teacher assistants and other Instructional Support staff so passive in engaging with scholars during instructional time?

Why are our students test scores so low? 

We have many vexing problems (just like any school) but one that we had been making huge gains on but are now back to working on is our literacy scores. We were closing in on 80% of our students reading at grade level 3 years ago. The scores low - Why Students were not physically in the school - why Due to Covid - WhyClosed or scared to come - why Lack of trust I realized through writing this that we have to build up our stakeholders' trust again. I had worked hard on my first year but on questioning this I realize that we will have to go back to square one and get our attendance back up to 80% - last year we were at 25%.

I& RS Process. 

A vexing issues for us is over-testing and ensuring that the testing that is done is producing quality data. 

The I&RS Process.

This year our school went into CSI status due to being low performing in Reading and Math. The 5-why process can help find the root cause of why our students are low performing in 3rd-8th grades 

Why are our student assessment scores so low if we are using curriculum aligned to the standards? If I can go into classrooms with a specific focus or "Why", I can pay attention to what will solve the question rather thn trying to take it all in. 

A problem that is weighing heavily on our school right now is dropping scores in our end of year tests. We see a growth from where they start, but not enough to be proficient. I am going to go through this why process with my admin team and staff as we start training in August.