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ATTENDANCE RECORD: Teachers maintain student attendance records based on the number of contacts per month and work submitted. Periodic reports on student attendance are submitted to the school’s Attendance Counselor, who works with families to support consistent teacher contact and student progress.
AURORA LEARNING: Laurel Springs created its own Learning Management System (LMS), Aurora Learning, to deliver online courses to students and to track student progress. Curriculum developers created the courses to be used on Aurora. Teachers use online management tools, such as an online grade book and instant reporting to assess how their students are doing.
ASSESSMENT: A process by which we make inferences about what a student knows, understands, or can do based upon measurement against a standard. It may also be applied to the performance of teachers. Reliable assessment requires multiple sources of evidence. A test is a kind of assessment, but so is a portfolio, an interview, or a survey. Authentic Assessment is measurement by multiple methods over time.
CONCURRENT ENROLLMENT: Students from public, private, and charter schools often choose to enroll at Laurel Springs for a single course. Laure Springs will grant a concurrent enrollment status with the approval, and often the recommendation, of the primary school’s guidance counselor. Generally students choose to request a concurrent enrollment to take courses not offered at their primary school, to take additional courses outside of the traditional school day, or to make up credit.
CUSTOMIZATION: Teachers certified by Laurel Springs in customization create an individualized curriculum in one or more content areas based upon a student’s learning style.
DISTANCE LEARNING: When students complete their learning in a self-paced environment, and are not dependent upon being in the same physical location as the instructor.
DIAGNOSTIC ASSESSMENT: (Entrance Assessments) Diagnostic skills assessments designed to identify special areas of strength and weakness relating to grade-level content standards in K-8.
ENROLLMENT ADVISORS: A live webcast which may include the use of voice, images, a white board for demonstration, and presentations. Teachers use the online classrooms for group and one-on-one meetings with students.
FEEDBACK: Vince Lombardi proclaimed that "Feedback is the Breakfast of Champions". Good feedback has four qualities: it must be timely, specific, appropriate for the student’s age and abilities, and allow for adjustment. Grades are a minimal level of feedback. Milestones, assessments given at regular intervals are applied to the end of units, graded by rubrics, and used as mid-course feedback. Benchmarks translate the standard into what the student should know and be able to do at developmentally appropriate levels. Benchmarks are models that teachers, parents, and students can refer to when designing, implementing, and assessing student outcomes.
LEARNING STYLES: The particular ways in which individuals learn. Learning styles may be expressed as modalities (auditory, kinesthetic, and visual), dispositions, interests, and talents. Learning styles are assessed at Laurel Springs with the Learning Style Profile.
LEARNING STYLES PROFILE (LSP): An assessment that evaluates individual learning styles. The Learning Styles Profile also includes study strategies adapted for each learning style.
MASTERY-BASED LEARNING: A philosophy of learning which contends that mastery of subject material should be obtained before moving on to subsequent topics. Mastery-based learning promotes responsible study skills and student confidence rather than rote memorization.
MILESTONE ASSIGNMENTS: Periodic assessments intended to measure students’ mastery of materials covered in the unit of study.
PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT: A broad term, encompassing many of the characteristics of both authentic assessment and alternative assessment. Generally, performance assessments provide students with opportunities to demonstrate their understanding and to thoughtfully apply knowledge, skills, and habits of the mind in a variety of structured and unstructured situations. These assessments often result in a tangible product or observable performance.
PERSONALIZATION: The tailoring of some course content to a student’s individualized learning needs and interests.
PERSONALIZED DISTANCE LEARNING PROGRAM: An individualized course of study accomplished in a self-paced environment, embracing a support structure that features one-on-one instruction, personalized counseling, and dynamic curriculum and assessment.
PLACEMENT: A placement is a pre-assessment diagnostic, analogous to giving a physical exam prior to prescribing medicine. It is given at the onset of study to help determine mastery of skills and proper course assignment. Pre-assessments should focus upon a child's primary understanding and skills. They should not be graded as the diagnostic assessment identifies the student's "readiness" for a course of study.
PORTFOLIOS: Organized collection of milestone assignments from specific classes which contain a Table of Contents, Student Reflection Sheet, and a Teacher Grade Form.
SELF-PACED ENVIRONMENT: The student and his or her family work with Laurel Springs staff to determine their own schedules for learning. The teachers will communicate with the student to support his or her work towards and accomplishment of goals.
SPECIALIZED TEACHERS: Teachers with specific credentials and experience support students in the areas of customization, gifted and talented curriculum, school counseling, and those students who are English language learners.
STANDARDS-BASED: Educational content designed to teach skills and knowledge relating to state or national educational content standards and benchmarks.
STANDARDS-BASED REPORT CARD: Used with Laurel Springs students in grades 1-7. Assessment of student mastery of the grade level content standards for the state of California used as the basis of the report card. (Note: Pre-K and Kindergarten students receive a narrative evaluation.)
STUDENT AND COMMUNITY PROFILE: Provides an overview of student and achievement demographic data, as well as other school performance indicators. Laurel Springs used criteria from the WASC Focus on Learning Accreditation Process Guide to develop its student and community profile.
STUDENT EVALUATION FORM: Annual grade report included in a student’s cumulative file and transcript. The Student Evaluation form includes a letter grade, a narrative evaluation, and a report of skills mastery.
