Academic Rigor | 3D
This week’s Lion Lines blog is a continuation from our previous one entitled ‘Introducing The Thriving Index’. For context, it might be beneficial to read that post first before proceeding.
As an educational institution, we aspire to provide our students with the very best academic instruction, curriculum, and experiences so that they are fully prepared to experience success in their future academic pursuits. We want our graduates to be able to excel academically on any of the high school campuses in the Jackson metro area.
In our prior post, we shared our conviction that we do not believe the success of our institution can be summed up in student test scores alone. In the same way, we do not believe the value of a child can be reduced to how they perform on tests.
TRS Academic Interventionist, Mrs. Davis working with a group of students
So which is it? We do or we don’t value academic rigor?
The answer: Yes and No.
Yes, we believe in pursuing academic excellence for all of our students. We believe tracking individual & collective test scores is beneficial to optimize the educational experience for our current and future students. We are committed to using tried and true educational best practices as well as new research to equip our faculty with all that they need to provide a first-rate education for our students.
But no, we won’t impress unnecessary pressure on teachers and students to ‘perform well’ on tests for the sake of making our school ‘look good’. We won’t over-emphasize academic excellence above spiritual formation, emotional health, physical development, and community engagement. And we won’t allow academic assessments to drive our admissions selections where we choose the smartest applicants for placement in our school to make us look good.
Academic Rigor, represented in our Thriving Index as MIND, is undoubtedly a vital area of development for children, and we are committed to placing an appropriate emphasis that is held in proper tension with the holistic development of a child.
We believe it is important that you hear that TRS appropriately values academic rigor as we take deliberate steps during the 21-22 school year to strengthen our academic programs. Part 1 of our Academic Rigor posts is focused on 3D: Data Driven Decisions.
TRS is thrilled to announce our partnership with Dr. Marnetta McIntyre. Dr. McIntyre is an educational expert with more than thirty years of experience and specializes in using data to drive decisions. Dr. McIntyre has two goals for the 21-22 academic year.
Dr. McIntyre shares that the first goal is to train our faculty to extract value from academic testing data to inform and shape their future academic instruction. TRS already utilizes STAR testing to assess individual & collective academic proficiency. This ongoing training for our teachers will equip them to diagnose which teaching methods are and are not effective for their students both individually and collectively.
In addition to her 3D deep dive, Dr. McIntyre’s plan to enhance academic rigor through professional development for our faculty incorporates cross training our faculty on a plethora of instructional models including:
Understanding the Mississippi College and Career Standards in Math and Language Arts
Developing lesson plans using the Madeline Hunter model
Small group instruction training
Norman Webb’s Depth of Knowledge
the Gradual Release Model.
As it relates to Norman Webb’s Depth of Knowledge, Dr. McIntyre says she used this model to train teachers "to construct more high-level questions to use in the classroom. We worked on identifying questions and problems that require more thinking on the part of the student. The questions and problems we examined were from the Mississippi Academic Assessment Program (MAAP) because I wanted the teachers to see and experience the complexity of the state assessment and how students need to be prepared should they enter a public school after attending TRS.”
The second goal is to see at least one year’s academic growth for every TRS student as supported by the STAR testing data and other measures.
TRS student engaged in learning his lesson
To meet these goals, Dr. McIntyre is working alongside Interim Head of School, Mrs. Lisa Moore and Principal, Mrs. Leanna Range-Norwood to assess and strengthen academic strategic planning, team-building, and professional development for our faculty. “Dr. McIntyre has provided us with a framework to have conversations that focus on student growth and learning. She helps facilitate conversations that lead to appropriate rigor,” says Mrs. Range-Norwood.
As we continually strive for excellence at TRS, we are grateful for Dr. McIntyre who not only understands ways to develop the school academically, but she also recognizes the importance of the Word of God as we embrace this academic emphasis.
"I believe we can accomplish more than we dare to imagine, dream or think because we have the missing link that is not present in most of the schools in our area…that missing link is God," says Dr. McIntyre.
Dr. Marnetta McIntyre
Stay tuned for our next installment of the Lion Lines as we share more of how we ambitiously pursue academic excellence to better equip our students for their future.
