The GREAT Academy is committed to your student’s academic success.  As a part of this commitment, all of our students are required to have Academic Improvement Plans (AIPs) or Enrichment Plans.  The AIPs will be developed and monitored in the Professional Learning Community (PLC) Framework . PLCs place the focus on learning rather than teaching, working collaboratively, and being results driven.  This process is ongoing and uses action research to achieve better results for the students we serve.  This is also the process that we will use to complete each student’s Next Step Plan.

The GREAT Academy will embrace The 3 Big Ideas of PLCs:

1. Focus on Learning
The fundamental purpose of the school is to ensure high levels of learning for all students.This focus on learning translates into four critical questions that drive the daily work of the school. In PLCs, educators demonstrate their commitment to helping all students learn by working collaboratively to address the following critical questions:

• What do we want students to learn? What should each student know and be able to do as a result of each unit, grade level, and/or course?

• How will we know if they have learned? Are we monitoring each student’s learning on a timely basis?

• What will we do if they don’t learn? What systematic process is in place to provide additional time and support for students who are experiencing difficulty?

• What will we do if they already know it?

2. Build a COLLABORATIVE CULTURE

• No school can help all students achieve at high levels if teachers work in isolation.

• Schools improve when teachers are given the time and support to work together to clarify essential student learning, develop common assessments for learning, analyze evidence of student learning, and use that evidence to learn from one another.

3. Focus on Results

• PLCs measure student effectiveness on the basis of results rather than intentions.

• All programs, policies, and practices are continually assessed on the basis of their impact on student learning.

• All staff members receive relevant and timely information on their effectiveness in achieving intended results.