Redefining Success
Standards-Based Report Cards
Highlights: After a pilot during the 2017-2018, LMSD adopted a new report card format for grades K-4. The report card features improved readability, more targeted feedback on grade-specific skills, and an expanded narrative that provides meaningful feedback incorporating the Habits of Mind for students and families on progress toward the District’s transformative goals.
The report card revisions were driven by the District’s Strategic Plan, All Forward. Teachers collaborated with members of the curriculum team to broaden our reporting to include strategic values, including fostering growth mindset, student innovation and other measures of the Habits of Mind.
Pathway Connection: The standards-based report card provides families and students with more in-depth and meaningful feedback on progress and learning than those used in the past.
Student Recognition
Highlights: Many schools have developed recognition programs to celebrate students for qualities beyond academic performance, focusing on personal growth and positive behaviors. For example, at Bala Cynwyd Middle School the "Student of the Quarter" program honors one student per grade level from each team based on the PBIS principles of Being Safe, Being Respectful, and Being Responsible. Students are nominated for a variety of achievements, such as academic success, resilience, or helping peers. They are recognized with a certificate, a teacher-written paragraph, a ceremony with their parents, and a feature in the school newsletter. Similarly, at Lower Merion High School, the "Faces of the Aces" recognition in Health and PE highlights students who demonstrate the ACES values of Accountability, Character, Effort, and Safety. Each Health/PE teacher sends an email to the student, including their parents and guardians describing the qualities and traits the student possesses that align to the expectations. Additionally, Lower Merion High School recognizes four Students of the Month for achievements, leadership, and growth.
Pathway Connection: These programs connect to the "Redefining Success" pathway by emphasizing that success is not solely defined by academic achievement but also by the development of personal growth, resilience, and character.
Executive Function Focus
Highlights: Across our district, schools are shifting assessment practices to emphasize skill development, creativity, and deeper learning. For example in science, changes in state standards have placed a greater focus on three-dimensional learning, leading to a shift from primarily content-based tests to performance and skill-based tasks. Instead of relying on multiple-choice exams, students now demonstrate their understanding through hands-on investigations, scientific reasoning, and application-based assessments.
Similarly, in music, students go beyond rehearsed performances to explore improvisation and composition. By experimenting with musical elements, taking risks, and refining their ideas, they develop divergent thinking skills and embrace mistakes as part of the creative process. This approach encourages students to see experimentation and failure as essential steps toward mastery, fostering both confidence and higher-order thinking.
Pathway Connection: These shifts in assessment redefine success by prioritizing skill development, critical thinking, and creativity over memorization. By encouraging students to connect ideas, experiment, and demonstrate their understanding through application, these approaches foster deeper learning and personal growth across disciplines.
MTSS & Achievement Teams
Highlights: The Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) is a district-wide framework designed to align academic, behavioral, and social-emotional support systems to meet the needs of all students. For the 2024-2025 school year, the district is prioritizing strong Tier 1 instruction through professional learning in PLCs and Universal Design for Learning (UDL), enhancing Tier 2 and 3 interventions, and improving data-driven decision-making to support student growth. Achievement Teams play a critical role in this framework by using system-level data to identify trends before addressing individual student needs, ensuring a proactive approach.
One example of the work toward strengthening Tier 1 instruction is the development and implementation of the Tier 1 Top Three model. Based on staff surveys and administrative input, this universal strategy focuses on three key supports: Clear Directions, Monitoring, and Reinforcement. Designed for school-wide implementation, these strategies provide consistent executive functioning support and can be tracked through administrative walkthroughs.
To further support student needs, Academic and SEL Intervention Menus offer structured, user-friendly guides for Tier 2 and Tier 3 supports. These menus help educators tailor interventions based on individual student needs while maintaining flexibility to ensure the most effective support (example below from WVMS).
While MTSS provides a district-wide framework for student support, schools also implement targeted initiatives within this structure. For example, Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS) has been introduced at pilot schools, following extensive professional learning opportunities through a partnership with the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit.
Pathway Connection: These initiatives align with the "Redefining Success" and "Commitment to Professional Learning" pathways by ensuring all students receive the support they need to succeed holistically and demonstrating the power of collaboration and professional learning in driving effective, research-based educational practices.