ACADEMIC OVERVIEW

Holding high expectations and preparing all scholars to be college and career ready is the focus of the Cartwright School District. The state adopted a summative assessment, Arizona's Academic Standards Assessments (AASA), based on standards that increase the academic rigor expected from our scholars. The teachers follow the district Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum. Professional development to support teachers with the implementation of the grade level standards and differentiation is a District priority. Cartwright administrators and teachers are implementing research from John Hattie whose focus is on Visible Learning.

Visible Learning Professional Development emphasizes strategies and practices that ensure at least one year’s growth in one year’s time—a priority at all our campuses! In addition, the District continues to meet the provisions of the Arizona Department of Education Consolidated State Plan under the Every student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which is due each year.

Response to Intervention/Multi-Tiered Systems Approach

Cartwright School District’s primary focus is improving scholar achievement. The District understands that First Best Instruction/Tier I is essential to scholar academic success. Every school has instructional coaches, and our district has district mentors for new teachers which have positively impacted teacher retention and job satisfaction.  Some schools have teacher interventionists in reading while all schools employ highly qualified instructional assistants to provide intervention for scholars needing additional academic support. Computer-based software is also utilized to further differentiate instructional support for our scholars.

Professional Learning Communities

The Professional Learning Communities’ model has taken several years to implement and is now systematically operational throughout the District. The result of the district wide collaboration is apparent in the continuous academic improvement over the course of several years.

Cartwright School District is proud to be a Professional Learning Community (PLC). This year, in order to enhance our PLC, the District is working on enhancing collective efficacy through Visible Learning professional development and using effect size to ensure maximum scholar achievement. We also want to ensure our scholars attain high levels of academic achievement by focusing on learning and individual needs so that all scholars are prepared to meet future challenges with confidence.