Tracking Competencies and the Utah Core Curriculum

The computerized tracking and recording system will record student progress towards competencies. Students will be listed as either having achieved a specific competency, be in-progress on a specific competency, or the default of not having yet attempted a specific competency.

A specific student's competency page will indicate for that student whether they have achieved each prerequisite competency. There will be space for additional comments by the approving instructor, the student and their parents, as well as for links to relevant digital copies, photographs, etc... of the student's work product so that it can be later reviewed and displayed in a portfolio. All of this information will be securely made available online or through alternative methods to Academy teachers, staff, the individual student, and their parents.

Each specific competency will include information on its overall curriculum tie and the State Core standards addressed. All Utah Core curriculum Standards and Objectives will be referenced by at least one required (non-elective) competency. Teachers will integrate these standards into their instructional practices in order for their students to pass the required competencies.

Teachers and administrators will be able to modify or add competencies based on their direct experience with students working on the competencies or on additional resources found for learning the skills and knowledge required.

All competency information will be versioned. The changing of actual competency requirements and/or the prerequisite list will create a new version in a moderation queue. A lead teacher or administrator will review and approve each modification. Changing the resource list won't require approval from other staff members. Competencies may be updated as frequently as desired by teachers. Newly approved versions of competencies will be dated and take affect as soon as they are approved. All previous versions of each competency will be preserved for future reference in electronic form.

All students with the competency in-progress, as well as teachers and staff will be notified of the changed requirements automatically. Students who have already started work on an older version of a competency will decide in conjunction with their teacher mentor if they will be required to demonstrate that particular competency based on the new competency version or the version in use when they started their work.

Students who have already demonstrated a competency will not be required to re-demonstrate a new or changed competency. Student records will reference the date they started and passed a particular competency and be able to be easily referenced to the correct competency version active as of that date.

It is anticipated that by using a collaborative system wherein teachers and staff can easily add new resources for learning a competency as they are used by students or discovered or created by instructors, the resource list for each competency will become more and more comprehensive over time.

Teachers and Administrators will be able to access the computerized tracking and reporting system on a continuous basis in order to monitor student progress towards Utah State Core Standards.

Student progress over time will be monitored in this manner in order to provide teachers, administrators and staff with the ability to see trends in student learning in order to drive future instructional changes.

Administrators will also be able to use the computerized tracking and reporting system to monitor the instructional practices of individual teachers and the progress of their students. This information can then be used to provide future training opportunities for teachers.

Teacher Understanding of the Curricular Emphasis and Effectiveness Goals

Teachers will be trained in the curricular emphasis and in the Academy's effectiveness goals. This process will include the Academy providing certified Montessori training for the Level 1 teachers as well as training in Competency-based instructional methods for all teachers. Teachers, the Board and the other Academy staff will be presented with the Academy's effectiveness goals and given an opportunity to plan in detail how to accomplish those goals.

Computerized Tracking and Reporting System

The computerized student tracking system will be designed using technology to reduce the expense to the Academy as much as possible. Currently it is planned that each staff member will be provided with a laptop computer. Computer systems will be setup for student use in each classroom. The actual number of computers will vary with budgetary constraints and the specific needs of each level. For example, a level three classroom will have a much higher percentage of computers than a level one classroom.

Student computers will run a free, multi-user, and secure operating system that will enable the students to have their own network stored login environment to save their work in. Some computers may be connected to via additional displays, keyboards and mice in order to enable multiple students to use the same physical computer at the same time, but still within their own login environment.

Students will use these computers to perform a restricted set of tasks, including: web browsing for research, web browsing to access the Academy student information and progress site, electronic mail, word processing, spreadsheets, database software for recording science experiment data, and for more advanced students, computer programming, mathematics, and scientific modeling software.