Field Note #1: A More Useful Way to Measure Progress

16 Feb

“Shouldn’t you be doing more for your child? Get her more support or have her tested?”

This was what a well-meaning parent asked my mum when I was in Grade 1 and still wasn’t reading independently, unlike her child. Compared to my peers, my mum naturally asked herself the question many parents quietly carry: “Am I doing enough for my child?”

As parents, you feel the weight of responsibility for caring and nurturing your child to the best of your abilities.

You want to know that you are preparing them to thrive and succeed in life.

Because you care, it’s only natural that questions and anxiety emerge about whether your child is progressing as they should.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.

When Comparison Becomes the Measure

We hear from other parents about what their child can do and wonder why our child isn’t doing that yet. We compare our kids at playgroups and social gatherings. We watch test scores and NAPLAN results, hoping they sit level or above the mean.

With all this information swirling around us, it’s easy to assume that progress is uniform, visible, and relative to others.

Even when we know deep down that development isn’t that simple, outside pressure can quietly shape how we judge our child’s growth. Comparison distracts us and makes it easy to miss learning that may be happening right in front of us.

Three Things That Change How Progress Looks

When you’re feeling concerned about your child’s progress, consider these three facts:

Learning consolidates

Learning often needs time to consolidate before it shows. The time needed to build efficient and accurate neural pathways ranges from hours to days, with sleep being a key helper. Plateau periods may also occur, where practice doesn’t immediately reflect improvement. However, this necessary and temporary phase often allows for rapid gains later. What can look like stagnation may be learning quietly happening in the background.

Uneven development

Children develop unevenly across learning and development areas. Some differences between boys and girls across ages and subjects are developmentally typical. Even within a single subject, a child may grasp one concept quickly and find the next more difficult. This is why milestones and curriculum can be helpful guides, but some variation at a given point in time does not automatically affect a child’s long-term outcome.

Comparison magnifies noise

Comparison magnifies noise (i.e., distractions) and hides meaningful progress. It ignores uncontrollable differences between learners. Not all children arrive at the same starting point with the same “tools”, knowledge and experience. Nor do they learn in the same way or at the same pace. From this perspective, it’s easier to see how sideways comparison can be unfair and can hide a child’s real progress.

Progress Needs a Different Reference Point

Taken together, these three patterns tell us something important: learning does not move in a straight, visible line, and it does not unfold evenly across children or across skills. When progress is judged mainly by comparison to others, it becomes much harder to recognise what is actually changing and growing in front of you.

This is because comparison shifts the reference point. Instead of asking “Is my child moving forward from where they started?” we begin asking “Are they keeping up?” — and those are very different questions.

A More Useful Way to Measure Progress

The most useful way to understand your child’s progress is to measure it against their own starting point, not against where other children happen to be.

In fact, one of the most powerful gifts a parent can give a child is a progress marker that points inward, not sideways.

When progress is measured this way, learning becomes about growth rather than ranking. Children learn to notice what is getting easier, what they can do now that they couldn’t before, and what their next step might be. Over time, this protects motivation, confidence, and identity because success is no longer dependent on being ahead of someone else.

This inward reference point is also a gift to parents. Instead of using other families or children as the measure for “doing enough,” you are invited to consider your own baseline: where you started, what you have been putting in place, and what has genuinely shifted over time. This doesn’t remove responsibility. It makes responsibility more grounded and more accurate.

When Outside Reference Points Are Useful

Focusing on personal progress does not mean ignoring outside information altogether. Benchmarks, milestones, and professional input have an important role, particularly when concerns persist or when patterns don’t shift over time.

Returning to the opening story, my mum didn’t ignore the comparison she heard. She checked it thoughtfully. Mum spoke with my teacher, who asked about my early language development and recognised a familiar pattern: children who are late talkers often take longer to read independently, but then make rapid gains once their language systems mature.

Because that delay was understood in context — expressive language late, reading also late — it signalled development, not danger. By the end of Year 2, I had not only caught up, but moved ahead of my peers.

In that moment, outside input didn’t create worry. It created clarity.

It’s a bit like checking your mirrors while driving. They help you stay aware of what’s around you. But you don’t steer by looking sideways. You steer by looking ahead — knowing where you’re going and remembering where you began.

Small Experiments You Can Try This Week

You don’t need to try all of these. Choose one that feels manageable this week.

Use Learning Intentions + Growth Pathways

To notice progress, it helps to have a direction you’re aiming towards. Traditional “SMART goals” don’t always motivate children — or parents. A more supportive and engaging approach is to pair:

A Learning Intention (the direction) + A Growth Pathway (the next small step)

Example:

Learning Intention: Build confidence with writing.

Right now: Can write short sentences with support.

Next growth step: Write two connected sentences independently about one idea.

Child choice: Story, comic, or letter.

Progress sign: Writing feels easier and ideas are longer.

This keeps learning purposeful and flexible, while making progress easier to notice.

Make Progress Visual

When we only look at a child’s work at one point in time, growth can feel abstract and easy to miss. Making progress visible helps both parents and children see learning happening — which builds confidence, motivation, and momentum.

Examples:

Before-and-after snapshots
Try a quick check before starting a topic and again after learning it (e.g., a short quiz, a few questions, audio recordings of reading across months, a KWLH chart, or a sample task).
Visual progress trackers
Use simple charts where growth can be coloured in or added to.
Example: If the focus is writing more words, one square = 10 words. Watching the chart fill up makes growth tangible.
Portfolios (digital or paper)
Keep samples of work across the year. Occasionally look back together and notice what’s easier now compared to earlier.

Build in Simple Reflection & Self-Assessment

Reflection helps children notice what they’re learning, what’s getting easier, and what they’re still working on. When children can self-assess in simple ways, progress becomes something they participate in, not something that only adults decide.