DLA ACADEMICS
To prepare our students for selective high schools, competitive colleges, and future careers, DLA implements curriculum based on Common Core and Ohio’s Learning Standards. Ohio’s Learning Standards emphasize skills such as critical thinking and problem solving — qualities most sought by today’s employers. By teaching our students to apply these skills to what they are learning in school, we can make sure they are on track for future success.
Curriculum
Our curriculum is aligned to Common Core and Ohio’s Learning Standards, emphasizing critical thinking, problem-solving, and real-world application. Each subject area builds the foundational skills students need for lifelong success.
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At DLA, we build strong, confident readers through a comprehensive literacy approach. From phonemic awareness in the early grades to rich literature studies in middle school, students develop the skills to think critically, communicate effectively, and foster a lifelong love of reading.
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Our math program emphasizes both conceptual understanding and practical application. Through problem solving, reasoning, and exploration, students gain confidence in mathematics and develop the skills needed for success in advanced study and real-world challenges.
K–8: Eureka Math Squared
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Science at DLA is hands-on and inquiry-driven. Students explore how the world works through investigation, experimentation, and discovery, strengthening their ability to question, analyze, and innovate.
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Our social studies program helps students connect past and present to understand the world around them. Through the study of history, culture, geography, and civics, students develop critical thinking skills and an appreciation for community and citizenship.
Assessment
At Dayton Leadership Academies, assessment is not just about grades — it’s about growth. We use data-driven instruction to understand what each student knows, identify areas for improvement, and guide teachers in delivering the most effective support. Assessments help us ensure every student is learning, progressing, and prepared for the future.
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DLA uses the data cycle to provide data-driven instruction (as described in Driven by Data: A Practical Guide to Improve Instruction by Paul Bambrick-Santoyo).
We believe that student learning is the ultimate measure of teaching, and that as a result, teaching improves to produce better learning.
The data cycle includes:
Assessment – Using rigorous assessments that provide meaningful student data
Analysis – Examining the results of assessments to determine strengths and weaknesses
Action – Teach and reteach what students most need to learn
Culture – Establishing a school and classroom environment where data-driven instruction is valued and implemented
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Formative assessments are used to gauge a student’s mastery or progress towards mastery of a given topic or skill in order to adjust instruction to meet students’ needs. Students may be given the opportunity to retake a formative assessment in order to demonstrate improvement or determine if further intervention is needed. Performance on formative assessments will be factored in a student’s progress report/report card grade.
Exit Tickets (K–2 Reading and Math; 3–8 All Subjects): Teachers use daily exit tickets at the end of a lesson to check for understanding and to inform their instruction.
Weekly/Bi-Weekly Assessments (K–2 Reading and Math; 3–8 All Subjects): Used to measure understanding and guide next steps.
i-Ready Diagnostic (K–8 Reading and Math): Adaptive tests administered three times a year to track growth and inform instruction.
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Summative assessments are used to assess students’ overall progress toward grade level material and will be factored in their progress report/report card grade.
Unit Assessments: (Grades K–2: Reading, Math; Grades 3–8: All Subjects)
Quarterly Exams: Comprehensive assessments in Math, Reading, Science, and Social Studies.
Fontas & Pinnell Benchmark Reading Assessment (F&P): Measures reading fluency, comprehension, and independence.
Ohio State Tests: Statewide assessments in Reading, Math, Science, and Social Studies to measure mastery and inform future support.
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In addition to formative and summative assessments, we use culminating projects as authentic assessments of student learning. Project-based learning allows students to be the leaders of their own learning and to solve real-world problems. Students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an authentic, engaging, and complex question, problem, or challenge. The DLA expectation is for students to complete at least two project-based culminating projects in any subject area over the course of the year. The project should be based on a realistic problem, provide structured group work time, and include multiple assessment points.
Intervention
At Dayton Leadership Academies, every student is capable of growth. Our intervention systems ensure that students at all levels receive the support and challenge they need to succeed. Through the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) and specialized programs like Lightning Power Hour, we personalize learning to help every child reach their full potential.
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DLA’s academic intervention program ensures that every student is being taught at the appropriate level, including those who may enter school significantly below grade level or those performing at or above grade level.
Our model is based on multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS), which is defined as “the practice of providing high-quality instruction and interventions matched to student need, monitoring progress frequently to make decisions about changes in instruction or goals, and applying child response data to important educational decisions.“ (Batsche et al., 2005).
Based on a problem-solving model, the MTSS approach considers environmental factors as they might apply to an individual student’s difficulty, and provides services/intervention as soon as the student demonstrates a need. Focused primarily on addressing academic problems, MTSS has emerged as the new way to think about both disability identification and early intervention assistance for the “most vulnerable, academically unresponsive children” in schools and school districts (Fuchs & Deshler, 2007, p. 131).
MTSS is grounded in differentiated instruction and begins with high-quality instruction and universal screening of all students in the general education classroom.
Struggling learners are provided with interventions at increasing levels of intensity to accelerate their rate of learning using a multi-tier model:
Tier 1: High-Quality Classroom Instruction, Screening, and Group Interventions
Tier 2: Targeted Interventions
Tier 3: Intensive Interventions and Comprehensive Evaluation
At DLA, intervention and services are provided by a variety of personnel, including general education teachers, special educators, and related service care providers. Progress is closely monitored to assess both the learning rate and level of performance of individual students. Educational decisions about the intensity and duration of interventions are based on individual student response to instruction. Additionally, our model allows for the inclusion of students with special needs in regular classrooms and provides intensive academic supports for students who enter school significantly below grade level.
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WING Time = What I Need to Achieve My Goals is a designated time during the school day in which students are grouped based on formative assessment data to receive targeted academic intervention in reading and math. During this time, the intervention team and general education teachers will push in or pull students out for small group reading and math intervention. Both general education and intervention teachers provide students with academic intervention based on individualized learning needs.
Core Components:
Students are flexibly grouped every 6–8 weeks based on formative assessment data.
Students receive daily small-group reading and math instruction.
Multiple teachers are assigned to one grade level to reduce class sizes and provide targeted support.
Students with special needs receive targeted intervention from an intervention specialist aligned to their IEP.
Together, DLA’s academic systems — Curriculum, Assessment, and Intervention — form a cohesive model of continuous improvement. We meet students where they are, challenge them to grow, and celebrate their progress at every step.