Create an internal accountability system growing out of student learning goals that promites measurable gains in learning for every student and eliminates acheivement gaps
At Focus On Results, we work with districts to set achievement targets for students that are attainable yet challenging, with the goal of inspiring them to challenge themselves further once their achievements have been met.
In measuring student progress toward the goals set by the instructional focus, we support schools and districts by:
- Putting in place school-based progress checks every 6 to 8 weeks to gauge how well students respond to the instructional focus.
- Using their progress to continually adjust classroom instruction on a daily basis.
- Paying special attention to whether groups of students are falling behind.
- Promoting and shamelessly celebrating gains in student learning.
- Using the S.M.A.R.T.e system to set student achievement goals — make sure the goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time-bound, and that they touch every student in the school.
Results we've achieved
In 2001, we completed an 18-month support initiative for 16 U.S. Department of Defense schools world-wide. Focus On Results' efforts to help these schools led to measurable gains in student performance in each of the 16 schools.
Scores on the Terra Nova multi-subject test were used to measure the progress of the Framework schools, as they came to be known. While the non-Framework DoDEA schools raised their scores an average of 1.4 points, the Framework schools that worked with Focus On Results gained an average of 4.1 percentile points — nearly three times as great a gain.
After 18 months of support, these schools showed impressive results in multiple areas of the Terra Nova. By the end of the initiative, the 16 schools had gone from the lowest performers in the system to actually out-performing the system in growth in multiple academic areas.