STUDENT PROGRESS

Scholar Academy was opened for the 2014-2015 academic year enrolling students in grades K-6. We now offer grades K-8. All courses are designed to meet AdvancED's Accreditation Standards (previously known as Northwest Accreditation Commission) and the state of Utah graduation requirements. Scholar Academy will align its course work with Tooele School District to allow students a smooth transition to a secondary school within Tooele School District.

Scholar Academy will meet all state requirements for assessment. With the adoption of Smarter Balance the state assessment system (RISE) will give both formative and summative student achievement data to the Scholar Academy teachers and administrative team. Analyzing student achievement data will be an integral part of the professional learning communities for both grade level and vertical teaming.

Below is a brief description of state and local tests students will take while at Scholar Academy.

GRADE MONITORING

Scholar Academy uses the state's grading system, ASPIRE.  All grades, progress reports, and report cards are printed from our online gradebook which is accessible to parents and students through the website.

RISE Testing

Scholar Academy students in grades 3-8 will take the Utah State Criterion- Reference Tests by grade level. They are grade specific tests and students will take the tests that correspond to the grade for which they are enrolled.

ACT Explore Test

Students in grade 6 may take the ACT EXPLORE test. The Explore test helps students identify areas of academic strength and weakness in four areas important for success in college and the workplace? English, math, reading, and science. The Explore, curriculum-based test scores show the knowledge and skills that students are likely to have in each of these areas. The Explore test also includes a career planning component designed to help students consider possible career options.

Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills

DIBELS NEXT is a set of measures for assessing acquisition of early literacy skills from kindergarten through 6th grade developed at the University of Oregon. Utah currently assesses 1st- 3rd grade reading proficiency with this tool. DIBELS NEXT will be administered to all Scholar Academy students in grades K-6 who perform below grade level. Although research on DIBELS supports use for screening and progress monitoring of reading students, most recently Utah and other states are using the tests as a formative assessment tool to determine if students are reading at grade level. The research is not as clear in this area, but Scholar Academy will follow all USOE testing mandates. Currently the data from the DIBELS test is used to determine the third grade students who are reading on grade level. (For further information on DIBELS go to https://acadiencelearning.org/acadience.html).

Progress monitoring is included in research-based reading programs. As we select textbooks, one factor to consider in these adoptions will be the programs progress monitoring tools.

Additional Progress Monitoring

A progress-monitoring tool for math will be selected at