ACADEMICS AND THE GRADING SYSTEM CURRICULUM
The Imagine Academy of Columbus employs a scientifically based curriculum, purchased from SRA/McGraw-Hill. It is generally known as Direct Instruction (DI).
The DI curriculum includes research-based programs in reading, Saxon math, language, writing, and spelling. Each major program is comprised of six levels. The curriculum also includes remedial programs for reading and Saxon math that have proven very beneficial to our older students who have not had the advantage of studying with this program since Kindergarten. The Direct Instruction programs are flexible enough to address the needs of our special needs students as well as our accelerated students.
These programs enable our teaching staff to be more effective. All lessons are scripted for the instructor, so emphasis is not on teachers developing instruction but on explicit evaluation of each student’s progress. The scripted lessons are based on over four decades of sound educational research and have been shown to superior to most other curricula.
DI is a mastery-based curriculum, so all students learn all concepts equally well in every lesson. The program is replete with testing, both formal at regular bi-weekly intervals, and less formally on a daily basis-the numerous student responses during a lesson are immediately evaluated by the teacher. Inaccurate responses signal the teacher to remediate immediately. The scripted lessons tell the teacher exactly what and how to remediate. This immediate error correction and the Active Student Responding, upon which DI is based, serve to direct the child towards quick, accurate, and eventually fluent mastery over the curricular content.
Teachers turn in weekly reports of lessons completed and the explicit assumption is that all children have mastered all material in each and every completed lesson. The curriculum provides a clear standard against which each teacher’s performance is measured. Should performance fall below expectations, adjustments are made in teaching technique or placement of the child. The school employs curriculum specialists to collect and analyze student data and to train, evaluate and manage teachers, and report to the school administration on student progress.
The Imagine Academy of Columbus also employs the Saxon Mathematics curriculum for all grade levels. This is a spiraling curriculum that focuses on the daily review of skills that the students have already attained with the introduction of new concepts to build upon as they grow. It incorporates such math topics as algebra, geometry, measurement, number sense, and logic skills in all grades K through 8th. Students are also given the chance to use manipulatives and work through projects as a component of this program.
The Imagine Academy of Columbus employs a scientifically based curriculum, purchased from SRA/McGraw-Hill. It is generally known as Direct Instruction (DI).
The DI curriculum includes research-based programs in reading, Saxon math, language, writing, and spelling. Each major program is comprised of six levels. The curriculum also includes remedial programs for reading and Saxon math that have proven very beneficial to our older students who have not had the advantage of studying with this program since Kindergarten. The Direct Instruction programs are flexible enough to address the needs of our special needs students as well as our accelerated students.
These programs enable our teaching staff to be more effective. All lessons are scripted for the instructor, so emphasis is not on teachers developing instruction but on explicit evaluation of each student’s progress. The scripted lessons are based on over four decades of sound educational research and have been shown to superior to most other curricula.
DI is a mastery-based curriculum, so all students learn all concepts equally well in every lesson. The program is replete with testing, both formal at regular bi-weekly intervals, and less formally on a daily basis-the numerous student responses during a lesson are immediately evaluated by the teacher. Inaccurate responses signal the teacher to remediate immediately. The scripted lessons tell the teacher exactly what and how to remediate. This immediate error correction and the Active Student Responding, upon which DI is based, serve to direct the child towards quick, accurate, and eventually fluent mastery over the curricular content.
Teachers turn in weekly reports of lessons completed and the explicit assumption is that all children have mastered all material in each and every completed lesson. The curriculum provides a clear standard against which each teacher’s performance is measured. Should performance fall below expectations, adjustments are made in teaching technique or placement of the child. The school employs curriculum specialists to collect and analyze student data and to train, evaluate and manage teachers, and report to the school administration on student progress.
The Imagine Academy of Columbus also employs the Saxon Mathematics curriculum for all grade levels. This is a spiraling curriculum that focuses on the daily review of skills that the students have already attained with the introduction of new concepts to build upon as they grow. It incorporates such math topics as algebra, geometry, measurement, number sense, and logic skills in all grades K through 8th. Students are also given the chance to use manipulatives and work through projects as a component of this program.
