The Formative Period can be a period of rapid growth in student knowledge base and performance potential. If teachers were successful in building a learning environment with behavioral and academic rituals and routines that equipped all students for success and if the students started to master active listening, reading to learn, effective note taking, and prioritizing learnings, teachers can reduce performance gaps and support nontraditional learners.
If teachers haven’t been successful in developing these foundation pieces, academic leaders need to consider extending their opening activities for one or two more weeks. To get maximum growth in the Formative Period, students need to work in an academic environment that prepares them for success.
The Formative Period is a time when the focus is on building proficient learners. Content is covered and students begin learning to use what they learn, but there is a strong “building an efficient learner” strand in the curriculum.
The Formative Period usually begins after the third week of school, but that can be delayed if opening activities have not been successful.
Maximizing growth and potential requires the development of an effective core set of competencies in all students, so it may be necessary to delay the beginning of the formative work. The Formative Period lasts until mid-December or early January.
The goals for the Formative Period focus on making all students effective learners. Emphasis is on the development of formative work habits, high levels of engagement, formative assessments, and independent use of learning. In an effective Formative Period, students become independent learners and independent performers.
This book is the aggregation of the research and fieldwork that has gone into our approach to working with struggling schools as well as adding value to blue ribbon schools. We tried to write it in a step-by-step, show your math, chunked out format so that if the leadership team were never able to attend an Ed Directions PD, they could still plan and monitor their school year with the student-focused understanding of the Rhythm of the Learner Year in mind.
School Improvement & Planning | Academic Audits & Consulting | Professional & Leadership Development
From kindergarten to high school, we are dedicated to boosting student performance, closing achievement gaps, and focusing education on the students’ needs, first and foremost.
