Where Do We Go Next?

Learning-Focused
Aug 04, 2008

Learning-Focused instruction has been implemented in your school. The protocol for following a continuous improvement model is in place. What happens now? Consistent and Pervasive are the watch words for the building, but there are still students who are behind from years of remediation. How do we take them to grade level performance? The Learning-Focused Catching Kids Up Model will help.
 
Catching Kids Up with Acceleration is a school-wide model that can help students who are one to three or more grades behind in any subject area. Acceleration allows students the opportunity to build confidence in their own ability to be successful. Remediation is not eliminated, but is folded into the Catching Kids Up Model. A proper balance is struck between acceleration and remediation, the scale tipping heavily towards acceleration. As you have previously heard in Learning-Focused Workshops, "It is impossible to catch up by going backwards". Catching Kids Up with Acceleration addresses the "root cause" of many students' learning difficulties - lack of prior knowledge, vocabulary and experiences that are needed to connect to new knowledge and skills. Acceleration provides the greatest achievement gains by connecting the research on achievement and learning strategies. The Learning-Focused model for acceleration enables students to obtain strategies to organize, store and internalize new knowledge and/or skills contributing to their burgeoning success.

Scaffolding Grade Level Learning is the consummate guide to the research-based strategies most effective for at-risk learners. The Scaffolding model addresses specific strategies and activities to deal with the issues at-risk learners bring to school every day. This model provides a framework for organizing and designing instruction to achieve grade level standards by addressing:

  • Student engagement issues

  • Challenging content-level texts

  • Deficits in vocabulary and background knowledge and the academic problems associated with retention, memory and processing discrepancies.

Teachers do not have to create multiple versions of instruction, but learn how to include strategies that offer access to grade-level standards. Scaffolding has been shown to typically provide gains of 16-25% in core content on state and nationally norm-referenced tests.

Scaffolding with Technology describes and illustrates multiple strategies that address reading, pre-writing and writing, research, math, note-taking and graphic organizers for all learners. Examples, templates and instructions are provided on how to scaffold learning with technology. Students can gain access to the curriculum through adjustable methods of engagement, leveled reading options, auditory feedback and color coding. Scaffolding with technology improves teacher implementation of flexible strategies that increase student engagement and achievement.

Vocabulary Instruction , while a part of normal instruction in the classroom, also plays a vital role in Catching Kids Up. Learning-Focused vocabulary instruction provides a practical and sensible way to utilize multiple strategies for diverse learners while addressing state standards. Vocabulary instruction is a powerful method to address the aforementioned primary causes of the achievement gap - lack of prior knowledge, vocabulary and experience. As with other Learning-Focused solutions, the emphasis is on consistent and pervasive in a useful and easy method for teachers to incorporate into their current lessons.

Differentiated Assignments is a powerful approach to providing every student the opportunity to learn. Designed to help all students succeed in meeting standards, differentiated assignments lead to high student engagement which builds efficacy and esteem leading to a deeper understanding of the essential content and skills required by state standards. Teachers are provided with practical ways to adapt/tier assignments and activities to reach disparate student learning styles, levels of readiness and interest. Learning-Focused Differentiated Assignments furnishes teachers with the opportunity to design assignments with four models that can easily be adapted to different subjects. This is the way to differentiate without burning out!

These components combine to provide the acceleration and support that at risk learners need to build success and confidence in their ability to achieve in school. Catching Kids Up is only one piece of the Learning-Focused Balanced Achievement Model. For other solutions to bring your school into balanced achievement, visit www.LEARNINGFOCUSED.com.