Student Progress & Growth Monitoring
Cologne Academy uses a variety of tools to measure and determine students’ academic growth and proficiency of grade level and our enriched Core Knowledge Sequence standards. These tools include informal, formal, and summative assessments, observable engagement of students during classroom activities and instruction, and other data sources. Educators can use these assessments to identify the needs of the students and adjust instructional strategies to meet the needs of their students and encourage individualized academic growth through appropriate instruction.
To monitor the progress students are making academically, teachers at Cologne Academy collaborate in vertical and horizontal grade level teams to collect, connect, create and confirm student and instructional data. Within professional learning communities (PLCs), instructional coaching, peer mentoring, and collaboration with department leads, teachers are able to address these fundamental questions (Richard DuFour; Learning by Doing):
1) What do we want students to learn?
2) How will we know they have learned it?
3) What will we do for students who struggle?
4) What will we do for students who know the content?
Cologne Academy uses best-practices evidenced by top preforming national schools under the direction of the following resources:
Bambrick-Santoyo, Paul. Driven by Data: A Practical Guide to Improve Instruction. San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass, 2010. Print.
Bambrick-Santoyo, Paul. Leverage Leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2012. Print.
Fountas, I. & Pinnell, G. Teaching for Comprehension and Fluency. Portsmouth,NH: Heinemann, 2006.
Print.
Lemov, Doug. Teach Like a Champion. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2010. Print.
Love, N., Stiles, K., Mundry, S., and DiRanna, K. The Data Coach’s Guide to Improving Learning for All
Students. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2008. Print.
Teachers at Cologne Academy are entrusted, charged, and trained to be able to;
1) Work productively in PLCs,
2) apply principles of cultural proficiency to data use and school improvement,
3) understand and draw sound inferences from a variety of different kinds of data,
4) accurately identify root causes of problems this data surface,
5) implement research-based instructional improvements linked to goals, and
6) monitor interim and long-term progress toward goals.
Students are able to articulate their goals and their commitment towards attaining these goals. Teachers and students review each lesson’s objective before beginning instruction so that there is focus and relatively to the lesson. Teachers give exit tickets to assess their effectiveness of each lesson by analyzing the student responses.