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    Parents,

    Fulton County Schools’ “Learning & Teaching” department has been working on a very important initiative for the past few years entitled “Standards Mastery Framework” (SMF).  I wanted to provide you with a quick snapshot, regarding the general elements of the framework and the thinking behind it. 

    Approximately four years ago, a district-wide strategically-selected team of teachers began a collaborative journey to determine those state standards (in all content areas) that ultimately have the greatest impact on student achievement, growth, and overall learning.  These targeted standards were deemed as “prioritized” and will begin receiving more attention and focus in the overall instructional picture.  These are the standards that are considered to have leverage and longevity for long-term learning and mastery of concepts.  A “learning map” was constructed, for each prioritized standard, that contains three vital elements:

    “Prioritized Standards”

    “Proficiency Scale” to determine each student’s level of understanding against the prioritized standards

    “Evidence Blueprints” that provide the teacher with assessment measures to determine each student’s mastery level, based on the tiered proficiency scale

    During the 2018-2019 school year, River Eves was in the “gearing up” stage of the SMF rollout.  This means the school year was devoted to teacher training and experimental phases of the SMF framework.  During the 2021-2022 school year, River Eves was in its first year of SMF implementation.  During this school year, we will continue to improve our practices using this competency-based approach where students and teachers will work together to establish learning goals, as well as track & monitor learning and progress against each prioritized standard.  Please keep in mind that all state standards will still be taught.  However, if the standard is not classified as a “prioritized” standard, then it will not be tied to a learning map.

    River Eves is very excited about this district-wide work and believe that it will allow for a more personalized learning process and (most importantly) will allow for more student choice in reference to displaying learning outcomes.