Expectations for High Student Performance

District Instructional Resources Page

District Guidance for Teaching & Learning

Atlanta Public Schools Standards of Service

The faculty and staff are committed to using effective instructional practices in every classroom in order for our students to be successful and achieve at the highest level. To meet this goal:

We will adhere to the following Non-Negotiable Instructional Expectations

We are a PBIS / SEL school.

We Communicate frequently and honestly with all stakeholders.

Lesson Planning is at the CORE of our work.

Frequent Common Assessments are given and used to drive instruction.

Positive, Organized, Student Focused Class Environments are essential.

We will teach the Georgia Standards of Excellence with fidelity by: 

• • Designing challenging lessons aligned to the State Curriculum and District Units of Study

  • Identifying key concepts in the language of the standards

  • Using essential questions to connect instruction to the standard

  • Asking students to explain the standards in their own words

  • Planning with the "end in mind" -- using the assessment to generate the learning activities.

We will use a collaborative, team-based improvement process to monitor student progress by:

• • Developing common formative assessments that are explicitly aligned to standards

  • Collecting, charting, and analyzing student work as a team and individually on a regular basis

  • Identifying students who are not meeting standards, meeting standards, or exceeding standards in order to re-teach in small groups.

  • Using common and benchmark assessments to assess student progress

  • Adjusting instruction based on assessment results

  • Using a variety of instructional strategies to address student needs 

All teaching and learning activities will reflect a shared understanding of what students should know, be able to do, and understand and will be built around a Lesson Planning Framework that consists of: 

• • PBOs (Performance Based Objectives): SWBAT....IOT (The prerequisite skill or knowledge (SWBAT) that the students must have or know prior to being able to demonstrate mastery (IOT).

  • Activating strategies: Opening is focused on the PBO / Standard, element(s), and essential question

  • Teaching a mini-lesson: Modeling while referencing standards and key vocabulary

    • Using exemplars (examples of student work that meet or exceed the standard)

    • Engaging students using performance tasks during the work period

    • Using higher-order thinking questions to probe student understanding

  • Summarizing: Various strategies to assess student understanding through -out lesson and during closing

 Our classroom environment will be built on:

• • Strong student-teacher relationships based on the school and district’s core values

  • The social-emotional needs of our students

  • Established rituals and routines

  • Displayed PBO's and key vocabulary

  • Evidence of the common framework for instruction

  • Evidence of student work that reflects the Georgia Standards of Excellence

Our communication with parents will be:

• • Frequent, clear, and consistent

    • Weekly Blasts on Class Dojo of Classroom Happenings

  • Focused on building a partnership with parents for improving student performance

    • Contact documented in SIS for any student who has a grade lower than 70% or whose grade drops by more than one letter grade.

    • Contact documents in SIS for any student not following the Code of Conduct (Prior to Office Referral or RTI movement).

In order to improve the overall climate of our school we will:

• • Support students through our school Each One, Reach One Initiative

  • Implement PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports) with fidelity

  • Give at least two days outside of Staff Meetings and Tutorials to collaborate with my TEAM and/or Sponsor and After-School Activity/Club

  • Participate in Staff and Parent Engagement Activities that support creating a "Family" environment.