Academics

To be responsive to academic needs STEP provides us with the necessary data to provide individualized support for each scholar. Scholars will take STEP tests 5 times per year to accelerate academic growth. This data will support teachers in their instruction and provide families with the information they need to further support their scholars. Below you will find information from the STEP website to understand why we have chosen this assessment for Harbins Prep scholars.

STEP™ (Strategic Teaching and Evaluation of Progress) is a research-based formative assessment, data management, and professional learning system designed to build teacher capacity for literacy instruction and provide educators with the data necessary to improve student achievement in literacy across grades K-5. Early reading proficiency is a key milestone for all students, but too often students miss that critical marker. When children fall behind in literacy development, it becomes difficult for them to catch up to their grade-level peers. Further, teachers working with students who have missed developmental milestones often have insufficient data to both identify where the student is struggling and how best to intervene. STEP was originally developed by a team of researchers and practitioners and led by Tony Bryk and David Kerbow at UChicago’s Urban Education Institute to help provide teachers with access to the data and skills needed to improve student outcomes.