Progress Monitoring Assessment Dates

The Progress Monitoring Assessment dates for this school year are as follows:

PMA 1: Sept. 4-Oct. 13

PMA 2: Nov. 6-Dec. 1

PMA 3: Jan. 8-Feb. 9

PMA 4: Mar. 5-Apr. 6

You will see a text box in the sidebar that also gives you those dates. That box will remain there throughout the school year for your convenience.

Things to remember:

1. PMA will take a student approximately 30 minutes per subject.
2. When a student logs into Stride, the program automatically takes the student into PMA until PMA is completed. 
3. If a student has completed PMA and you have scheduled a quiz with Quiz Builder or StrideXchange, the student will automatically be given the quiz.
4. If the student has completed PMA and any scheduled quizzes, the student receives the regular Adaptive Engine quizzes.
5. PMA happens only at school. When the student goes home, he or she gets the regular questions from the Stride Adaptive Engine. (That being said, on your Quiz Builder or StrideXchange quizzes, you have the option on any of them to allow the quiz to be taken at home. For example, you might schedule a quiz as a formative assessment prior to a "big test" and let the students take it at home

Don't wait until the last minute

The start date for PMA is something you should put on your calendar. You would want to avoid scheduling a quiz at that. The students would not see your quiz. They would have PMA instead.

Best practice is to schedule your own a narrow date range at the beginning of the PMA period and have everyone complete PMA then. You are then able to let students know how they did and use the data to let you know what to re-teach. You'll also be able to schedule Quiz Builder quizzes.

The ending date for PMA should be irrelevant. If you are using the program the way it's intended, students will be done with PMA far before ending date. 

If you find yourself pushed to have students complete PMA by the end of the PMA period, realize PMA is all they are getting. They are missing out on the most important part of the program, the Stride Adaptive Engine. 

Alabama is Mentioned in the Huffington Post

When you read the title of this post, you're probably thinking: "This could be a good thing...or this could be a bad thing."

We've all seen too many articles where something happening in our state has been publicized in a way that has made us look less than stellar.

Especially if it's in something like the Huffington Post.

Today is different. It's a positive, and what the article is talking about is Stride.

Enjoy this article (scroll about three-quarters of the way down the page):

Public Schools Actually Embrace Innovation - Five Examples of States, Districts Making Tech Work

"Summer Stride" Open to All Alabama Students

Calhoun County Schools benefit from Stride all year long. This summer, all Alabama students, regardless of school, can enjoy Stride.

This article explains more and allows students to sign up for free.

Feel free to spread the news to parents whose children attend schools that are not already using Stride.

Today, a National Public Radio spot highlighted the program. You can download that clip here.