No PMA for Science

PMA consists of tests in reading and math. There will be no science assessment this year.

Stride is in the process of examining the alignment between its Science curriculum and Alabama standards. During this process, there will be no Science PMA.

If you are an administrator, here is what you will see on the "Assessments" tab.

Notice that all of the selections are "grayed-out." You are not able to make any changes from the school level. You cannot turn off PMA. Furthermore, you cannot turn on PMA for Science even if you want to.

While we are talking about subjects...

Now is a good time for every teacher to look at the Curriculum tab to be sure everything is set correctly.

• Which subjects should students work on in your class? Be sure those subjects are checked. Are your students finding they are missing a coin for a subject when they log into Stride?  The culprit will be what is checked on the Curriculum tab.
• Do you have the "F.A.S.T. 360 Adaptive Engine" checked? That's going to be the place you generally want your students to be.
• Do you have a student with some special needs? In the "I want to change the curriculum for" section, bullet "This individual student" and choose the student from the drop-down list. Now, you can check the appropriate subjects for that student. If you only want the student to work on certain standards, bullet "Include only the specific skill areas that I choose." Click "Choose Skills" and start to drill down to the skills you want that student to have. Don't forget to return to this spot and change those skills at the appropriate time.

Correction on PMA

The post from earlier today talked about the Progress Monitoring Assessment being for "Math, Reading, and Science." It should have said "Math and Reading." There will be no Science PMA again this year.

Reminder of Start Date for PMA

On September 4, all Alabama schools using Stride began the window for the Progress Monitoring Assessments. PMA assesses students in Math and Reading with approximately 30 questions per subject. When students are in PMA, the student interface says "Assessment Mode."

PMA will diagnose students' skill gaps, provide differentiated intervention and continuously monitor student growth over the school year. PMA data reports will be available via the "Reports" tab once your students have completed the assessments.

Off to a Great Start

Stride is a program students can start using immediately. Three years ago, Ohatchee Elementary 2nd graders started working on Stride the same day their teachers first learned about the program.


Here, you see them in the library answering questions and enjoying the games.

As they left the library, students asked:
"Can I use this on a laptop?"
"Can I use this on my tablet?"
"Can I use this on my smartphone?"

In each case, the answer is yes. If the device will access the Internet, you can use Stride with it!

Progress Monitoring Assessment Dates Reminder

In the sidebar of this blog, you will see the dates for this year's Progress Monitoring Assessment. Neither you nor your students need to do anything special to take the PMA. When students log in on September 4th, they will automatically be taken to PMA.

The students do not have the finish PMA in one session. The next time they log into Stride, they will pick up where they left off. When a student finishes PMA, he or she resumes the normal questions provided by the Stride Adaptive Engine.

You may want to put the beginning dates for each PMA date on your calendar. Ideally, you should never worry about the ending date for a PMA. If your students are using the program, they will finish PMA far before the ending date.

Welcome to a New School Year With Stride

I am looking forward to working with the schools in Calhoun County again this year. The past two years.

Throughout the year, this blog will serve as my vehicle for sharing with you information about Stride and celebrating the ways you and teachers like you are embracing this tool as a way to help students learn.

I'll pull some posts from the past and re-post them at well-chosen points in the year. All of us need review from time to time.

Get the new stuff in your email

Are you reading this post in your email? If so, that's perfect. Reading your email is something you do anyway. When these come to your email, it keeps them from being "one more thing to do."

Are you reading this post on the blog because someone told you about it? If so, let me make this suggestion:

See the little box that says "Get New Posts in Your Email"? Enter your email address. You will receive a verification email. If you don't receive one, check to see if it went into spam Once you verify that it was indeed you who signed up, every time I post something new here, it will be sent straight to your email. You never have to remember to come directly to the blog again. One less thing to have to remember to do!

If you signed up for the updates last year or the year before, you are most likely reading this post as a result of an email you received. If you signed up before and your email address has not changed, you do not have to sign up again.

I look forward to working with you during this school year!

Stride Will Be Down August 4-7

Each year, Stride archives the student data from the previous school year. That process will happen between August 4 and August 7. During that time, the program will be unavailable.

As soon as the archive is complete Corey Murray will begin the process of setting up your classes. Check back here on progress.

If you have a question about the information in any blog post, you can always ask it in a comment at the bottom of the post. Chances are if you have a question, others will have that question as well.