Curriculum & Instruction
Brighten Academy works hard to surpass the academic guidelines established by the Georgia Department of Education by providing a challenging and engaging curriculum for our students.
Brighten Academy Curriculum
Brighten Academy follows Georgia State and Douglas County District guidelines. The school district has adopted content standards and assessments. These assessments allow teachers, students and parents to see where individuals are in reaching and/or exceeding District Standards. The measures will determine whether the student has successfully learned grade level standards. The results of these measures will enable teachers to teach to your child's individual needs and strengths. Copies of the State content Standards can be accessed at the links provided below.
Academic Standards and Career, Technical and Agricultural Education work together to provide rigorous standards, quality instructional resources and online professional learning materials that will help teachers prepare students for graduation and post-secondary college and career opportunities. Georgia Performance Standards, resources and training information can be accessed at http://www.georgiastandards.org/.
Division of Innovative Instruction provides challenging educational programs designed to meet the unique needs of students in a wide variety of settings that result in increased student achievement.The state of Georgia has instituted standardized tests to ensure compliance with these guidelines and assess whether schools are meeting these goals. To learn more and view Brighten Academy School's recent test scores.
Academic Standards and Career, Technical and Agricultural Education work together to provide rigorous standards, quality instructional resources and online professional learning materials that will help teachers prepare students for graduation and post-secondary college and career opportunities. Georgia Performance Standards, resources and training information can be accessed at http://www.georgiastandards.org/.
Division of Innovative Instruction provides challenging educational programs designed to meet the unique needs of students in a wide variety of settings that result in increased student achievement.The state of Georgia has instituted standardized tests to ensure compliance with these guidelines and assess whether schools are meeting these goals. To learn more and view Brighten Academy School's recent test scores.
Accountability - No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
The Georgia Department of Education has published AYP Determinations for all schools.
School Report Card (SRC)
The SRC provides a small subset of the information available in the Accountability reports. Schools are required to provide a copy of their School Report Card to the parent or guardian of each student.
Georgia Milestones Achievement Levels
The Georgia Milestones Assessment System utilizes four achievement levels to describe student mastery and command of the knowledge and skills outlined in Georgia’s content standards. Most students have at least some knowledge of the content described in the content standards; however, achievement levels succinctly describe how much mastery a student has. Achievement levels give meaning and context to scale scores by describing the knowledge and skills students must demonstrate to achieve each level.
The four achievement levels on Georgia Milestones are Beginning Learner, Developing Learner, Proficient Learner, and Distinguished Learner. The general meaning of each of the four levels is provided below:
Beginning Learners do not yet demonstrate proficiency in the knowledge and skills necessary at this grade level/course of learning, as specified in Georgia’s content standards. The students need substantial academic support to be prepared for the next grade level or course and to be on track for college and career readiness.
Developing Learners demonstrate partial proficiency in the knowledge and skills necessary at this grade level/course of learning, as specified in Georgia’s content standards. The students need additional academic support to ensure success in the next grade level or course and to be on track for college and career readiness.
Proficient Learners demonstrate proficiency in the knowledge and skills necessary at this grade level/course of learning, as specified in Georgia’s content standards. The students are prepared for the next grade level or course and are on track for college and career readiness.
Distinguished Learners demonstrate advanced proficiency in the knowledge and skills necessary at this grade level/course of learning, as specified in Georgia’s content standards. The students are well prepared for the next grade level or course and are well prepared for college and career readiness.
More detailed and content-specific concepts and skills are provided for each grade, content area, and course in the Achievement Level Descriptors (ALDs). ALDs are narrative descriptions of the knowledge and skills expected at each of the four achievement levels and were developed for each grade level, content area, and course by committees of Georgia educators in March 2015 and July 2015. The ALDs are based on the state-adopted content standards.
ALDs show a progression of knowledge and skills for which students must demonstrate competency across the achievement levels. It is important to understand that a student should demonstrate mastery of the knowledge and skills within his/her achievement level as well as all content and skills in any achievement levels that precede his/her own, if any. For example, a Proficient Learner should also possess the knowledge and skills of a Developing Learner and a Beginning Learner.
ALDs for Parents are available below and are intended to summarize the concepts and skills for each grade, content area, and course to support parents’ understanding of their child’s performance. The full versions of the ALDs are also available.
