From its work with high performing schools successfully closing the achievement gap, ANet evaluated and structured a series of organizational and instructional practices linked to specific achievement targets. Each practice has several levels of development so schools can continue to improve their practice over time.

Organizational
Leadership
Curriculum alignment
Scheduling

Teaching
Analysis
Data Meetings
Action Planning
Reflection Meetings
Achievement Culture

Depending on their staring point, schools move progressively through specific developmental paths that combine the right practice at the right level to build their capacity to use data to drive achievement. From ANet’s experience, identifying a few specific actions at a time for schools increases the probability that those actions will take hold.

ANet invests in regular external evaluation to consistently validate the connection between practice and achievement and refines its practices based on research in its various Networks.

Every six to eight weeks, schools administer two ANet assessments—one in English Language Arts and one in Mathematics—to students in grades three through eight. Each assessment takes place during one regular classroom period and tests recently taught material. With ANet assessments, schools can:

• Assess their students’ mastery of the state standards and degree of difficulty of the year-end state tests;
• Measure mastery of recently taught skills and concepts as assessments are aligned to the scope and sequence of participating schools;
• Compare their results to those of other ANet participating schools taking the same set of assessments; and
• Easily administer the assessments as they are paper-based and designed to be administered during a regular school day and class time.

ANet practices and assessments work in combination to help schools:

• Identify and address gaps in student learning; and
• Provide regular and real-time checks on whether the data-driven practices are actually leading to achievement at the school, district or CMO level.