Student Achievement Partners: Empowering Educators for Student Success

Student Achievement Partners (SAP) stands as a pivotal force in the educational landscape, dedicated to elevating student achievement through evidence-based practices and resources. Founded by prominent figures involved in the creation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), this nonprofit organization unites educators and researchers to drive meaningful improvements in student outcomes. SAP's commitment lies in fostering effective and innovative implementation of the Common Core, ensuring that all students are equipped to thrive academically and lead fulfilling lives.

The Foundation: Common Core State Standards

Student Achievement Partners played a crucial role in developing the Common Core State Standards, a collaborative effort that incorporated insights from educators, business leaders, researchers, and policymakers. As key authors of the CCSS, Student Achievement Partners ensured that the standards were rooted in rigorous evidence of the knowledge and skills necessary for college and career readiness. Today, SAP remains dedicated to supporting the successful implementation of these standards, providing educators with the tools and resources they need to empower their students.

Resources for Educators

SAP offers a comprehensive suite of resources designed to support educators in implementing College and Career Ready (CCR) standards-based instruction. These resources, grounded in research and practical experience, address various aspects of teaching and learning, including:

Toolkit for Evaluating Instructional and Assessment Materials

A new Toolkit of free resources for evaluating instructional and assessment materials -- including textbooks, lessons, units, benchmark and classroom assessments -- for alignment to the Common Core State Standards. Developed for educators in joint partnership by Achieve, The Council of Chief State School Officers, and Student Achievement Partners.

Instructional Practice Guides for ELA/Literacy and Math

These guides offer specific guidance for what CCSS instruction looks like in planning and practice, providing educators with concrete examples and strategies for implementing the standards in their classrooms.

In Common: Annotated Student Writing Samples

This collection features hundreds of fully annotated student writing samples aligned to the Common Core, spanning grades K-12 and encompassing all three types of Common Core writing: argument/opinion, informative/explanatory, and narrative.

Annotated Mathematics Tasks

A growing collection of finely crafted mathematics tasks, for use in the classroom or in teacher professional development.

Text Complexity Collection

The text complexity collection focuses on measuring and describing the complexity of instructional texts, and meeting the demands of Key Advance One. It provides all of the tools and resources available to understand and successfully address text complexity. The text complexity collection presents resources that provide the background information on why text complexity is important, how to measure and assess complex texts, and how to use them in the classroom. The quantitative and qualitative tools for text complexity as well as the research on text complexity are all helpful features of the resource. The quick reference chart and guide to online complexity tools along with the qualitative scales are all extremely useful. This collection provides resources that offer background information on the importance of text complexity, methods for measuring and assessing complex texts, and strategies for effectively using them in the classroom. The collection includes quantitative and qualitative tools for assessing text complexity, along with research on the topic. The quick reference chart, guide to online complexity tools, and qualitative scales are particularly useful components of this resource.

Academic Word Finder

The Academic Word Finder is designed to build the capacity of teachers and students alike to identify, understand, and effectively use academic vocabulary (tier two vocabulary) in complex text. After opening a free account, users can upload texts to the AWF which then highlights the most useful academic vocabulary words from a given text. The tool identifies below, at, and above learning level tier two words and includes definitions for various contextual meanings and parts of speech. The Academic Word Finder (AWF) itself is a very useful instructional tool. The Academic Word Finder supports the tools available in the text complexity collection. It is not intended to “replace teacher judgment; rather it helps to support the teacher and identify the most useful academic words” in texts they are teaching. The primary target audience is practicing classroom teachers and those who support classroom instruction in adult education programs. This tool helps teachers and students identify, understand, and use academic vocabulary in complex texts. Users can upload texts to the AWF, which highlights the most useful academic vocabulary words and provides definitions.

Mini-Assessments

The mini-assessments showcase sample assessments that illustrate the instructional shifts required by CCR standards for English language arts/literacy. The mini-assessments are designed for teachers to use in the classroom, for self-learning, or in professional development settings. The assessments can be used immediately by adult educators and serve as models for the selection and analysis of complex texts and the development of related assessments. The assessments offer an opportunity for students to do a close reading in a way that simulates a standardized testing experience. They are also useful for instructors to be able to see how well their students do with CCR standards aligned texts and tasks that are designed as a test simulation. No adaptation of these materials is needed. Some texts, however, may not be appropriate for adult education students. These assessments provide sample questions that demonstrate the instructional shifts required by the CCR standards for English language arts/literacy. They are designed for teachers to use in the classroom, for self-learning, or in professional development settings.

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Text Set Project

The text set project is designed to build students’ knowledge through reading a variety of literary and information texts at varying Lexile levels. Text sets are designed for teachers who are responsible for providing instruction aligned to CCR standards. This project aims to enhance students' knowledge by having them read a variety of literary and informational texts at different Lexile levels.

Fluency Packets

In the 9-10th grade fluency packet, students are tasked with repetitiously reading passages of a similar genre. Students exercise their ability to understand spoken word, decode and employ phonics, and read with accuracy. The fluency packets work to increase student fluency. The fluency packets can be used as supplemental materials, intervention work, homework assignments, or direct instruction. These packets are designed to improve student fluency through repetitive reading of passages in a similar genre. They can be used as supplemental materials, intervention work, homework assignments, or direct instruction.

Text Selection Toolkit

This toolkit aims to support educators in the process of selecting and analyzing texts based on complexity and cultural relevance. The resources focus on tools for reflecting on the identities of educators and the students they serve, analyzing texts with multiple lenses, and considering implications for use in their specific context. The resources here may support your process of text selection, or they may be embedded into your lesson preparation process for pre-selected texts (with or without instructional materials).

The toolkit includes:

A stand-alone reflection resource meant to support educators in thinking about their own identities and those of their students. Use at strategic points over time (for example the beginning of the school year and after each semester) to continually reflect.

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A resource to use after a first read of a text to determine whether it’s usable for the classroom and to begin thinking about complexity and relevance.
A tool to analyze features of complexity and cultural relevance more deeply in order to prepare for instruction. The rubric portion of the tool comes from the qualitative complexity rubrics that were published alongside the college- and career-ready standards, and the wording has not been changed. The additions around challenges, opportunities, and questions to ask yourself are all new for this resource.

Professional Development and Collaboration

Recognizing the importance of ongoing learning and collaboration, Student Achievement Partners offers related PD resources designed for sharing with colleagues are also available for the ELA and Math standards. These resources provide educators with opportunities to deepen their understanding of the CCSS and effective instructional practices.

SAP actively seeks collaboration with professional learning organizations, state or district, or curriculum developer, offering support to ensure that products and services align with academically rigorous, joyful, and equitable teaching and learning.

Core Beliefs and Principles

At Student Achievement Partners, the guiding principle is that joyful, asset-based, high-quality instruction is the key to preparing all students to thrive academically and lead choice-filled lives. Their tools and recommendations are grounded in research-backed strategies for student learning and effective educator support.

SAP embraces a philosophy of continuous improvement, encouraging educators to view learning as a lifelong journey with endless opportunities for growth. They actively solicit feedback and insights from educators, believing that improving education requires a collaborative effort.

Empowering Students Through Literacy

SAP recognizes the critical role of literacy in student success. They advocate for fostering reading efficacy and joy by creating opportunities for small wins, promoting cross-content literacy, and implementing classroom practices that help students view reading as a skill developed through effort and practice. They offer resources and guidance for improving literacy outcomes for older students who are reading below grade level, empowering teachers with concrete tools and strategies for joyful, asset-based instruction.

Connecting Content and Language

Student Achievement Partners emphasizes the importance of integrating strong content instruction with academic language instruction, recognizing that language proficiency is essential for students to access and master academic content.

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