At the high school level, a gain of 10 to 15 points is considered strong improvement. Early childhood educators use observations of what children can do because young children often cannot put into words what they are doing or thinking. Standardized tests are not used at this level. Through systematic observations of individual students' progress in the formative stages of beginning reading, beginning writing and beginning mathematics, students and their families become active participants in the instructional process. In addition, all kindergarten children are screened using the citywide kindergarten screening assessment of overall development.
All members utilize children's work as a window into their thinking and understanding.
Items used include writing journals, art work, presentations of mathematical ideas and creative arts performances as measures of individual growth. To facilitate whole school change and consistency in programming, an instructional leadership team meets regularly with the Principal to guide grade level teams as they look at student work to inform instructional priorities. Innovations are made in classrooms as a result of these discoveries. Those teachers are participating in additional focused professional development to better support their colleagues. The multilingual team is developing a comprehensive approach to native language instruction for all of our second language learners.