Beliefs & Practices

We believe student learning and growth is our common goal, and because we believe this, we:

• Collaborate to create common expectations and identify learning targets for grade levels, courses, and  grade spans; 
• Refer to learning targets in the daily life of a classroom; 
• Use common assessment criteria;  
• Allow for redrafting of work coupled with reteaching; 
• Continue to improve, grow, and learn as professionals;  
• Support professionals to improve student learning 

We believe students learn best when they are engaged, and because we believe this, we: 

• Design instruction that is meaningful, authentic, and relevant; 
• Teach students using their concerns and  interests; 
• Challenge students to help design the work; 
• Collaborate to find best practices to enhance student  engagement; 
• Use reflection and feedback to help students set goals, develop tools for learning, and assess  their own work 

We believe students learn in a variety of ways and at different rates, and because we believe this, we: 

• Facilitate the use of multiple pathways to demonstrate knowledge and skills; 
• Allow multiple opportunities to  demonstrate learning; 
• Offer enrichment opportunities in and out of the classroom; 
• Build support systems  that can happen as close to the moment when a student needs help as possible and during the regularly scheduled day; 
• Commit to a mindset of continuous improvement for all students; 
• Give students time to grow  in their learning 

We believe students need practice and feedback before being expected to demonstrate learning, and because we believe this, we:

• Assist students to practice formatively and demonstrate summatively; 
• Provide opportunity to practice and  make mistakes; 
• Give specific, descriptive feedback; 
• Communicate progress & performance clearly with  students and families; 
• Ask students to reflect on their learning goals and growth 
• We believe students need to develop habits of work, and because we believe this, we
• Consider habits of work separately from academic skills and knowledge; 
• Develop work habit criteria for the  group and goals for individual students; 
• Teach and help students practice habits of work; 
• Provide feedback  on habits of work 

We believe professionals use evidence from student work, behavior, and feedback to inform decisions, and because we believe this, we:

• Collect evidence from multiple sources of information; 
• Store data in a consistent manner so that it can be  accessed; 
• Analyze and use data; Improve curriculum, instruction, assessment, and systems based on  evidence; 
• Create structures and practices to support students academically, socially, and emotionally