One District’s Criteria for Diagnostic and Instruction Solutions

Georgia’s Toombs County Schools had a very specific goal: to provide tools to promote access, equity, success, and excellence for all.

With that goal in mind, both curriculum director, Tonawanda Irie, and Brandon Hartley, the district’s improvement specialist, knew what they were looking for. However, to ensure the implementation’s success, they made finding teacher-friendly solutions a top priority.

When selecting a diagnostic and instruction solution, Irie and Hartley focused on tools that would:

• Provide actionable steps for personalized learning. In addition to selecting a tool that aligns with the Georgia Standards of Excellence and the district’s mission, the Toombs County team wanted a tool that gave their educators a “true projection of end-of-year Milestones scores with the Diagnostics,” explains Hartley. “We didn’t want a false reading,” he said.
  With i-Ready, educators have personalized learning pathways for students, can easily identify groups of students with similar needs, and have access to detailed lessons for those groups. “With access to lessons and resources,” shares Hartley, “it makes life easier for teachers” while providing opportunities for small group differentiation.
  
  
• Empower educators with supportive professional development. To ensure a successful adoption, the team searched for solutions that offered robust professional development opportunities like those with i-Ready. “Our new and veteran teachers were relieved that they didn’t have to figure everything out on their own,” shares Irie. Instead, with the right resources and training, the educators had the knowledge and confidence to do their best work.
  
  
• Provide continuity across grade levels and from educator to educator. By implementing i-Ready across Grades K–8, Irie found that learners grew comfortable with the assessment process and that continuity boosted learners’ confidence, so they could focus on demonstrating their knowledge.
  i-Ready also provides a seamless transition between educators. At Toombs, turnover is a significant issue, so i-Ready helps bridge the knowledge gaps from teacher to teacher and from grade to grade.

Since implementing i-Ready, the students have had great success, which has become a source of pride for the county leaders and teachers. Download the complete case study to learn about these successes.

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About Brooklin Trover

Brooklin Trover is a national director of content and implementation for Curriculum Associates. Her career began with 13 years as an elementary and middle school teacher. Along the way she earned an MA in Policy Studies of Language, Literacy, and Culture from San Diego State University as well as an MS in Reading from California State University, Fullerton. Her passion for working with fellow educators led to a five-year school district leadership position coaching and providing professional development where her work in humanizing data-driven instruction took off. She utilizes her big-picture mindset to find creative ways to leverage assessment data in a manner that improves the educational experience of all students.