Article 22. Student Performance Data

Student Data Principle Statements

1 Student data should be used to further and support student learning and success. We will:

● Use standardized testing data as soon as it is available, and we will protect time to do this work

● Use formative and summative data when planning for future student learning as soon as it becomes available

2 Student data are most powerful when used for continuous improvement and personalizing student learning. We will:

● Ensure PLC teams use data to plan for the continuous improvement of student learning

● Use data to inform curricular revisions

● Staff uses data from formative and summative assessments to personalize student learning, and allow students to set their own learning goals

3 Student and school data should be used as a tool for informing, engaging, and empowering students, families, teachers, staff members and school system leaders for continuous improvement. We will:

● Use data protocols when analyzing all data

● Train students, families, teachers, staff members and school system leaders on how to use the data dialogue to set goals and empower students and improve organizational effectiveness

4 Students, families, and educators should have timely access to information collected about the student.

5 Student data, professional input of educators, observations, formative and summative assessments should be utilized in the examination of student progress.

6 Students’ personal information should only be shared, under terms of agreement, with contracted service providers and/or researchers for legitimate educational purposes according to the guidelines outlined in the school’s privacy policy for personal data. We will review and utilize our privacy policy for personal data with all stakeholders as well as the confidentiality agreement that all staff signs.

7 Everyone who has access to students’ personal information should be trained and know how to use, protect, and secure it effectively and ethically. We will:

● Train staff on a regular basis in the effective use of data

● Train staff on ethical use of data and include the signing of a confidentiality agreement on an annual basis (included in contract)

8 Colegio Bolivar, having the authority to collect and maintain student personal information, should:

• have a system of governance that designates rules, procedures, and the individual or group responsible for decision making regarding data collection, use, access, sharing, and security, and use of online educational programs;

• have a policy for notification of any misuse or breach of information and available remedies;

• provide a place on our website and in the contract signed by families each year where students and families can go to learn of their rights and have their questions about student data collection, use, and security answered.

Article 23. Levels, Uses, and Types of Data

Article 24. Roles and Responsibilities

All stakeholders at Colegio Bolivar have specific roles and responsibilities in relation to assessment and evaluation. The following are the roles and responsibilities that each stakeholder has: Students:

• Do your best on every assignment

• Use assessment information to self -reflect, set goals, and work to achieve them

• Complete all assignments and homework on time

• Provide school communication to your parents

• Celebrate success

• Check class websites and platforms regularly for grades, assignments, project deadlines and report comments

• Be prepared for assessments

• Get adequate sleep, nutrition, and arrive to school/class on time every day

Teachers:

• Clearly articulate the assessment criteria for each graded assignment in advance

• Post and communicate daily learning goals to students

• Align assessments directly to standards and benchmarks from the curriculum

• Provide rubrics and/or models for each major assessment piece, including exams

• Post assessment rubrics for projects and assignments online

• Use data from multiple sources, including previous years’ data, to inform instruction and assessment

• Provide and explain results to students and parents regularly and promptly

• Give agreed upon school-wide assessments as well as other teacher selected assessments

• Provide supplemental resources

• Provide communication of assessment (course outlines, homework, and grading policy)

• Actively participate in Professional Learning Community teams

• Celebrate success

• Use examples of student work to show evidence of the process of learning over a period

• Use pre-assessments to access prior knowledge

• Provide opportunities for peer and self -reflection

• Use assessment data to guide differentiated instruction

• Identify and refer to LSS students with special needs

• Collaborate with LSS personnel in the RtIi interventions and/or the development/ implementation/follow up of individualized plans

• Maintain assessment records

• Generate grade reports and facilitate three-way conferences

• Keep current with changes in important external assessments (i.e., SAT, AP, Pruebas SABER, and MAP etc.)

Administrators:

• Facilitate assessment and data review regularly

• Provide time for Professional Learning Community teams

• Provide Professional Learning time for teachers to review data regularly, including curriculum and half days

• Review data and use it in development of continuous school improvement

• Provide necessary resources to ensure effective assessment and reporting

• Ensure curriculum is reviewed regularly

• Ensure common use of assessments and communication between classes and grade levels

• Celebrate success

• Ensure data review with individual teachers

• Monitor that the discipline and counseling data is uploaded

• Revisit mission/vision from the perspective of data/institutional plan goals

• Make sure that data-related practices are in line with Deeper Learning principles

• Monitor that the data be valid and reliable

• Inform parents of institutional progress

• Hold quarterly meetings to identify the focus for the analysis, then the data analyst prepares the reports, and last, they are taken to the section and grade levels, with the help of data coaches.

Parents:

• Be aware of their child’s abilities, strengths, and areas that need improvement

• Support all school policies and appropriately help their child at home

• Have open communication with teachers and staff (i.e., ask questions and get clarification)

• Check and read school communication

• Attend conferences and meetings

• Celebrate success

• Check class websites and PowerSchool/Schoology regularly for grades, assignments, project deadlines and report comments

• Ensure their child is prepared for assessments, gets adequate sleep and nutrition, and attends school on time every day, ready to learn.

Article 25. Revision of the Assessment and Evaluation System

The Assessment Committee meets annually to review and update, if necessary, this document. Feedback from different stakeholders is taken into account in this process. All reflections, observations (administration walk-throughs, checklists, and comments from formal observations) as well as outcomes of professional learning opportunities provide further data for the review process.

Article 26. Glossary

Activities

Sample tasks which might be used in order to teach the standards and benchmarks. In the Colegio Bolivar unit plans, the activities are not considered mandatory but rather “illustrative examples” that attempt to show what teaching to the standards and benchmarks might look like.

Assessment

Techniques used to analyze student accomplishments against specific goals and criteria which include paper-pencil tests, exhibits, interviews, surveys, and observations. Good assessment requires a balance of techniques because each technique is limited and prone to error.

Benchmark

1. A developmentally appropriate content or performance standard.

2. The best possible samples of work to anchor an assessment.

Common Assessment

An assessment agreed to collaboratively by more than one teacher responsible for the same grade level or course and given to all students in that course or grade level.

Criteria

The qualities that must be met for work to measure up to a standard. To ask, what are the criteria? Means to ask, what should teachers look for when examining student products or performances to know if they were successful? How will teachers determine acceptable work?

Curriculum

It is the "roadmap" that provides detailed guidance on translating the school mission into practice. It is also the "contract" that the school makes with each student and parent.

Evaluation

It is the process of interpreting or making judgments about assessment data to determine the extent to which students are achieving instructional objectives.

Formative Feedback

This refers to a wide variety of methods that teachers use to conduct in-process evaluations of student comprehension, learning needs, and academic progress during a lesson, unit, or course. Formative assessments help teachers identify concepts that students are struggling to understand, skills they are having difficulty acquiring, or learning standards they have not yet achieved so that adjustments can be made to lessons, instructional techniques, and academic support.

* Formative assessments are commonly contrasted with summative assessments which are used to evaluate student learning progress and achievement at the conclusion of a specific instructional period usually at the end of a project, unit, course, semester, program, or school year. In other words, formative assessments are for learning, while summative assessments are of learning.

Proficiency Scales

A proficiency scale is a table used by teachers and students to determine the student's current level of progress toward meeting the standard. Proficiency scales indicate student achievement as it relates to a given standard and use a four-point system where a score of 3.0 indicates proficiency within a standard

Rubric or scoring guide

Specific descriptions of performance of a given task at several different levels of quality

Standard

In current usage, the term usually refers to specific criteria for what students are expected to learn and be able to do. These standards usually take two forms in the curriculum:

• Content (similar to what were formerly called goals and objectives), which tells what students are expected to know and be able to do in various subject areas, such as mathematics and science.

• Performance, which specifies what levels of learning are expected. A performance standard specifies how well students are expected to perform.

Summative Assessments

These are used to evaluate student learning, skill acquisition, and academic achievement at the conclusion of a defined instructional period typically at the end of a project, unit, course, semester, program, or school year. Generally speaking, summative assessments are defined by three major criteria:

• The tests, assignments, or projects are used to determine whether students have learned what they were expected to learn. In other words, what makes an assessment “summative” is not the design of the test, assignment, or self-evaluation, per se, but the way it is used i.e., to determine whether and to what degree students have learned the material they have been taught.

• Summative assessments are given at the conclusion of a specific instructional period, and therefore they are generally evaluative, rather than diagnostic i.e., they are more appropriately used to determine learning progress and achievement, evaluate the effectiveness of educational programs, measure progress toward improvement goals, or make course-placement decisions, among other possible applications.

• Summative-assessment results are often recorded as scores or grades that are then factored into a student’s permanent academic record, whether they end up as letter grades on a report card or test scores used in the college-admissions process.

Learning Support Services

Article 27. Students with Outstanding Performance

In Preprimary, classes are offered for the enrichment of the English language to those students who demonstrate outstanding skills in this language. The "Optimal Match" program is offered in Primary School to students who show outstanding academic performance. In Middle School and High School, Colegio Bolívar offers advanced courses to students with outstanding academic performance (Honors, Pre-AP, and AP).

Article 28. Students with Low Performance or Differentiated Learning Processes

Colegio Bolívar implements a variety of processes and strategies to help students with low performance. The Learning Support Services department provides assistance to identified students following the Multi-

Tiered System of Support model. This department and the counselors provide support not only to students but also to teachers and guidance to parents.

Additionally, in Middle School and High School, students are offered academic instruction after school hours to help them overcome difficulties.

Article 29. Re-Teaching/Re-Evaluation

Academic instruction based on student learning is adjusted according to assessment results. Reevaluations can be implemented when necessary to demonstrate what the student has learned and to determine areas of focus.

Article 30. Differentiation and Student-Centered Instruction

Colegio Bolívar implements a variety of teaching and assessment strategies. Students have multiple opportunities to demonstrate what they have learned, and their teachers provide continuous feedback so they can clearly see their progress.

The school offers various opportunities for students to meet the parameters and standards defined for each educational level. The school designs follow-up activities to improve students' performance throughout the academic year. This includes recovery strategies that provide support to students facing difficulties with the standards established for their academic level and stage of development. Some of these strategies include:

• Differentiated Instruction

• Internal reinforcement

• Internal referrals to the Learning Support Services department and external referrals to specific professionals or tutors

• Accommodation plans and Modified Curriculum Plans (MCIP)

• Homework plans

• Monitoring of recommendations made to the student regarding their performance

• Assistance from the Learning Support Services department

• Other strategies based on the individual needs of the student

Article 31. Intervention Policy for Students with Special Needs

Colegio Bolívar supports its mission through a commitment to seven principles. The intervention policy presented in this document provides specific information on how our institution meets the fifth principle: "the school has a responsibility to address the needs and support the individual talents of students." Students with special needs are those who require interventions that go beyond the regular school program to help them reach their full potential, whether they are performing above or below the expected academic level for their grade.

Article 32. Intervention Model

Inspired by the Multi-tiered System of Support (MTSS), Colegio Bolívar considers three levels of intervention:

Level I: Teachers use differentiated instruction to address the different readiness levels and learning styles of students in their classroom. They address these different levels through lesson planning. Within the normal distribution of a learning curve, there is a segment of students who face greater difficulties, have specific learning needs, or were discharged from Learning Support Services during the previous school year. These special strategies for Level I students (Accommodation Plans) are implemented by the classroom teacher with assistance and monitoring from Level I facilitators from Learning Support Services (LSS)

Level II: Students who do not make the expected progress in Level I and therefore require additional support and time, as well as more explicit instruction, are identified (see Referral Process). These students receive help within the classroom from the classroom teacher and/or LSS in small instructional groups using Level 2 programs and close monitoring.

Level III: Students who need specialized instruction in specific skills receive individualized support from LSS outside the classroom, in a pull-out manner, in one or more academic areas. In Pre-Primary and Primary: support in Language (reading, writing, oral expression in English/Spanish) and enrichment. In Mathematics, Prerequisites for Learning, and Enrichment. In Middle School: support for Learning Processes in cognitive skills and Study Skills, and in High School: support for learning accompaniment within the classroom through co-teaching methodology and specific support spaces for some students in Study Skills.

In Levels II and III, students may receive additional support from their teachers, such as accommodations in instruction and assessment within the classroom, without affecting the curriculum expectations. Other supports include extracurricular reinforcement in Middle School and High School.

For those students who, despite support within the classroom and intervention provided at the different levels by LSS, still fail to meet the grade-level expectations, as evidenced by being two or more years below the expected level according to standardized tests (MAP, F&P) and/or the Learning Profile results, as reflected in the report cards, a Modified Curriculum Instruction Plan (MCIP) is designed and implemented to modify the curriculum expectations. This plan, designed by a team that includes the relevant teachers, LSS staff, the Level I facilitator, the LSS Coordinator, and Counseling, is approved by the Director of Learning and the Section Principal in a timely manner. Once the plan is ready, it is communicated to parents and formalized as a mutual agreement between the family and the school. The MCIP is implemented by the teachers (including specialists, where applicable) under the supervision of the Section Principal. This implementation requires regular follow-up meetings to assess the student's progress and re-evaluate the plan throughout the school year. The MCIP does not guarantee academic success. Additionally, if, after exhausting all intervention resources, the student still does not meet the minimum academic expectations, the school may recommend to parents a transfer to an institution that can provide a pedagogical alternative more suited to the student's needs.

Article 33. Referral Process

Referrals are made when a teacher, after implementing different strategies within the classroom, considers that the student requires additional support to address their academic needs most effectively. The classroom teacher remains primarily responsible for fostering and reporting the student's academic progress. Both the classroom teacher and LSS have the responsibility to follow up on future actions and decisions after a referral has been sent.

Before making a referral, the teacher must review all available information related to the student. Primary and Pre-Primary teachers must inform parents of their concerns, the actions taken, and the referral to LSS. Procedures and expectations related to the mandatory nature (vs. optional) of the referral process are presented to teachers during Orientation Week and are included in the Teacher's Manual (see the manual for more specific information). In Progress, Level, and LSS meetings, the input of the LSS team and the teachers involved in the process will be used to clarify and discuss the student's performance and particular needs in all academic areas. This could also be the start of the referral process.

In Pre-Primary and Primary, for a student to receive assistance from LSS, the classroom teacher and the Spanish teacher must initiate the referral process. In Secondary School, although teachers are responsible for completing and submitting the referral form, the process can be initiated by the LSS team (grade-level counselors, LSS facilitators, and the Dean of Students). Reports reflecting performance below grade-level expectations and recommendations made in transition meetings should be taken into account. Decisionmaking and recording of all referrals are done in periodic Learning Support Services meetings. Future actions and recommendations are based on the specific needs of each student.

Article 34. Evaluation

Referred students may require an evaluation of their learning profile, which is carried out by a Neuropsychology specialist at the school (Psychometrist). These students must be initially referred by their classroom teachers/special area teachers (see Referral Process). The LSS team (section principal, counselors, LSS coordinator, and LSS team) analyzes the information collected through the administration of different standardized tests to determine the level of intervention the student requires and the feasibility of providing it within the school. The results of the Learning Profile are for internal use only, i.e., for decisionmaking and recommendations related to the student's needs. They will be shared, upon request and with written authorization from parents, with neurologists, pediatric neurologists, or psychiatrists.

Article 35. Termination of Intervention

The LSS team, based on the student's academic performance reports within the classroom, is responsible for making decisions related to the termination or change of intervention at any of the three levels described above. However, in order to make a decision about the termination of support, an inquiry is made with the classroom teachers, Spanish teachers, or subject -area teachers regarding the progress of the student in relation to the specific support provided.

Article 36. External Therapies/Tutoring

Meetings involving both external therapists/tutors and school staff will not take place unless requested by the school. Counselors, teachers, and/or LSS personnel will monitor external interventions (monitoring will be done as follows: Counseling – Psychologists/Psychiatrists; Teachers – Tutors; LSS – Speech and Occupational Therapy).