PMA 4 Ends April 7

The final Progress Monitoring Assessment ends April 7.

As with previous PMA periods, you can run reports both at the school and the classroom level.

Running the PMA Report at the School Level:

1. Use the school administrative login to access Stride Academy.
2. Click the "Reports" tab.
3. Click the blue "Generate Real-Time Reports" button.
4. Click "View Reports."
5. From the list of reports which appears, click "School PMA Report."
6. The defaults on the next screen should be OK as is.
7. Click the red "Apply" button.

Running the PMA Report at the Classroom Level:

1. Use your KCC code and password to access Stride Academy.
2. Click the "Reports" tab.
3. Click the blue "Generate Real-Time Reports" button.
4. Click "View Reports."
5. From the list of reports which appears, click "Class PMA Report."
6. The defaults on the next screen should be OK as is.
7. Click the red "Apply" button.

The resulting graph will look much the same as the school graph displayed above. Clicking through the remaining pages will reveal data on each student.

Stride Newsletter for March

Laissez les bons temps rouler!  South Alabama schools know how to make the good times roll—even while they're learning! Many schools in the southern part of the state enjoy a Mardi Gras holiday, and we were honored to see our Stride super-users participating in Mardi Gras themed contests during this time. Without further adieu, allow me to introduce this year's Mardi Gras Royalty and Krewe!

Elizabeth Fonde Elementary, Mobile The top three students at Fonde Elementary, earning the most skill badges during the school-wide Stride Mardi Gras Contest, are pictured above: ♦  Megan Nguyen, 62 skill badges ♦  Melody Johnson, 41 skill badges ♦  Daniel Lopez, 34 skill badges These fourth graders were appointed as Stride Mardi Gras Royalty, awarded 500 coins to their Stride accounts, treated to a lunch of their choice, and given a Stickbot Studio Pro Set! Congratulations!

Collins-Rhodes Elementary, Eight Mile Collins-Rhodes Elementary has crowned their Stride Mardi Gras Queen, Ki'Nish Steele!  Ki'Nish, a second grader, earned the most skill badges (42 total) during the school-wide Mardi Gras Madness Contest. Well done, Ki'Nish!

McIntosh Elementary School, McIntosh McIntosh Elementary honored their Mardi Gras King, Queen and Court from the Krewe of the Timberwolves! We are so proud of these McIntosh students for demonstrating outstanding work in Stride during the carnival season!

Ella Grant Elementary, Prichard Ella Grant Elementary awarded new bicycles to their top students who competed in the school-wide Mardi Gras Break Contest, Feb. 24-Mar.5. Pictured from left to right are: ♦  King Jamar Campbell♦  Queen Miracle King♦  Princess/Runner Up Ramona Jones Nice job! We know you worked hard to earn these awesome prizes!

George Hall Elementary, Mobile Pictured above are exemplary Stride students from George Hall Elementary, who soared to the top of the rankings in their school-wide Stride Mardi Gras contest. Congratulations on a job well done!

Dr. Robert W. Gilliard Elementary, Mobile Pictured above are Mardi Gras royalty representing Gilliard Elementary with the top Star Points earned in Stride during the contest period: ♦  Derrick Payne, Ms. Morrison's Fourth Grade: 116,958 Star Points  ♦  Laterrance Milton, Ms. Finch's Fifth Grade: 47,350 Star Points  ♦  Coreion Williams, Ms. Stacy's Third Grade: 13,723 Star Points

O'Rourke Elementary, Mobile Check out O'Rourke Elementary's top Stride users in their Mardi Gras attire! From left to right, the winners are: ♦ Madison Eagleson-Hardin, Third Grade ♦ Zee Abdulla, Fourth Grade Congratulations, and way to get into the spirit of Mardi Gras!

Thank you to all Alabama educators for continuing to support your students in using Stride! We love to hear your success stories, contest highlights, and feedback on our program. Share your thoughts with me at the contact info below: Amy Frith, editor Stride Alabama e-News Email: afrith@LTSed.com Phone: 866.552.9192, ext. 1011

Enter to Win Our "College and Career Ready" Dream Board Contest!

"College and Career Ready"—how often do you use or hear these words as an educator? Have you ever paused to ask what "College and Career Ready" means to your students? For students, those words should incite visions of their future: the college or university they hope to attend, the Fortune 500 company they want to work for, or perhaps the military branch in which they'd like to serve.

Let's Get Creative! Stride™ is launching a nationwide contest that asks students to put their college and career dreams into pictures. Students will create their own "dream boards" on poster board to illustrate their future goals. Click here for details on designing a dream board! Testing season is upon us, and we know this is a challenging time for students and teachers. Let's help students find perspective for why they continue to work hard in school and prepare for their tests—with the end goal of becoming College and Career Ready!

Contest Deadline is April 7, 2017!

How Can Your School Win? Share contest details with teachers and parents. Use this handy, printable take-home sheet. The national deadline for the contest is one month away: April 7, 2017. Set a deadline for your students to submit their dream board posters to you prior to this date. When all dream boards have been completed, find a central location in your school to take a picture(s) of your boards. You could choose to display them in a hallway, foyer or cafeteria; or have students hold them up in a group picture.  Submit pictures of your dream boards, along with a list of participating students, to afrith@LTSed.com no later than 5 p.m. CST on Friday, April 7, 2017. The winner will be announced the following week. The school with the best participation and most creativity will win national recognition, a beautiful plaque to display on your campus, student certificates for every participant, and other goodies from Stride and LTS Education Systems! If you plan to participate, please RSVP at the link below so we can stay in touch as your school's dream board campaign begins to take shape!

Count me in! I plan to participate.

Share Your Dreams! Don't forget to share your school's dream boards on social media! Use hashtags: #CollegeAndCareerReady #WeAreTheFuture #DreamBoard #Stride

Check Out Stride's New Games!

Check Out Stride's New Games! Three exciting new titles to play over Spring Break!

From coast to coast, students are itching for Spring Break. Whether they're traveling or relaxing at home, your students can enjoy three new Stride games during their time off. These games are live in your Stride account today! Add, Subtract, React! Our Chemist has gone a little "mad scientist" and forgotten the formulas for his solutions. He needs assistance in Basic or Advanced mathematics. Once you've mastered making mixtures, you can move on to the Multiplied level of play. Genre: Math (Basic and Advanced) Hero: The Chemist's assistant (you!) Objectives: The Chemist is looking for a chemical with a certain number. Use the funnel to add chemicals from the passing vials to your own vial. You have three tries to successfully complete the equation. Rocket Kitty Following in the footsteps of his famous ancestor Félicette, the first cat in space, Rocket Kitty is ready to launch an expedition to the moon, Mars and beyond!  Genre: Arcade Hero: Rocket Kitty Objectives: Answer questions correctly in Stride to launch. Collect the stars to boost your journey. Avoid the enemies as you loop and dive through the obstacles!

PMA4 Starts March 6

The 4th and final Progress Monitoring Assessment begins Monday, March 6. The window ends on April 7.

You will probably want for your students to complete the Progress Monitoring Assessment as soon as possible. The sooner the assessment is complete, the sooner you have your reports.

What to do in preparation for PMA

1. When students know that the data is important to you, it will be more important to them. Run the Class PMA report and talk briefly with each student about the percentage of correct answers on each subject during PMA1, PMA2, and PMA3. Asking them to predict a score for PMA4 is a possible motivator.
2. Review test-taking strategies. Students should use scratch paper on the math problems. Trying to do calculations in one's head is a recipe for disaster. 

What to do after PMA

1. Run the Class PMA Report. You will see a list of every standard with the percentage of correct answers. Which standards were low? How will you remediate these standards before the high-stakes test?
2. Do you want to do small-group instruction based on a particularly important standard. Run the Class Grouping Report. For each standard, you will see who scored 70% or above, who scored below 50%, and who scored between 50% and 70%.