Two Pilot Programs: Chicago Public Schools & Teach for America

Academic Approach Data Use, Curriculum Support, and Professional Development Pilot — Improving Student Achievement on the Prairie State Achievement Exam

Academic Approach is a test preparation company that offers a new approach to high-stakes test preparation. Its founder Matthew Pietrafetta is rethinking the role of test preparation within education to accomplish three objectives:

• Provide sound academic curriculum that improves students academic skills as well as test-taking knowledge
• Support and enhance the good work teachers perform everyday in the classroom through professional development, data analysis, and in-print and online curriculum
• Improve the college readiness of at-risk students by enhancing their academic skills, test-taking strategies, and the proficiency of their teachers in the classroom

Academic Approach has received a grant from the Pritzker Traubert Family Foundation for a pilot program with Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and is working with Teach for America to support its core members in the CPS system. Both programs are geared to promote student achievement on the Prairie State Achievement exam by supporting teachers in the classroom:

• A pilot program with three Chicago Public Schools: Chicago Marine Academy, Austin Polytechnical Academy, and the Univ. of Chicago Woodlawn Charter School.
• A pilot program with Teach for America program directors in English, math, reading, and science.

Academic Approach will be using edWeb.net as the online communication platform to connect and collaborate with the teachers who are participating in these pilot programs. The goal of integrating social networking technology into teacher professional development is to simultaneously enhance the program results by providing teachers a forum for communicating, posting and sharing curriculum, and receiving ongoing support from Academic Approach program directors.

By introducing the edWeb into these programs and providing professional development support on using the edWeb, these schools will gain free access to use the edWeb to create any number of professional learning communities to help facilitate better communication, better collaboration, and ultimately better outcomes for students aspiring toward college readiness.

.

.