Academic Achievement Framework

Adopted by BPS in the 2010/11 academic year, the Academic Achievement Framework is a research-based approach to teaching and learning that is already being used in some of the most successful schools across the country. It is a system of instruction that takes a lot of the work already happening in our schools and focuses it on helping students get exactly what they need to succeed.

To do this, teachers and school leaders across the district meet regularly to discuss students’ strengths, success and learning needs, and plan and deliver instruction and services as needed.

AAF supports BPS’s five-year Acceleration Agenda, our ambitious plan to improve student achievement and get all our students ready for college and career success.

What Is AAF?

The Academic Achievement Framework is a multi-tier system of support to address the academic, behavioral, and English language development of all BPS students. AAF involves continuous monitoring of students’ academic progress, identifying areas where students are struggling, and applying appropriately intensive interventions until the barriers to learning are addressed.

What Are the Goals of AAF?

Improve academic and social competence
Increase academic performance on statewide assessments
Increase graduation rates
Decrease problem behavior
Reduce dropout rates

What Are the Benefits of AAF?

Improved instructional assessment & record keeping
Earlier and more effective interventions and services
Shared understanding of student needs
Enhanced teacher collaboration to monitor student progress

How Does AAF work?

AAF is a team-based approach to instruction and services that brings together all the resources of BPS. The model is a series of student supports that focus on students not making adequate progress, surrounded by various school and district-level teams of educators. The Service Team is a group of teachers and school staff working as the first line of support for a child. The team meets regularly to discuss individual student progress, identify areas of concern, and develop specific action plans to improve student growth both academically and emotionally. The School Management Group, Cross-Functional Rapid Support Team, and District Design Team all support the Service Team by removing educational obstacles to student success and providing additional coordinated expertise to solve problems.

DOWNLOAD the latest AAF Parent Flyer

Last fall, BPS rolled out the Academic Achievement Framework. AAF is a research-based approach to support teaching and learning that is being used in some of the most successful schools across the country. It supports our five-year Acceleration Agenda, our ambitious plan to improve student achievement and get all our students ready for college and career success. AAF is a framework that takes a lot of the work already happening in our schools and focuses it on enhancing the way we provide support all students to succeed. The framework is a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) that involves collaborative problem-solving, continuous monitoring of students’ academic progress, identifying areas where students are struggling, and applying increasingly strategic and intensive interventions. AAF currently is being implemented in 60 schools in the district at various levels. By the end of next year, it will be in all BPS schools. As part of this current effort, the district is providing professional development on AAF at the district and school level with a series of seminars

The first year of the Academic Achievement Framework (AAF) comes to a successful conclusion with nearly 60 schools in current participation and cohort 3 beginning this fall. As part of the implementation in cohort schools, the district has arranged two levels of support. Level one is support for implementation of AAF at the teacher level by providing bi-weekly support from personnel from a variety of central offices to help guide the data-driven problem solving process. Level two is monthly support at the school management level from external experts in MTSS to address effective implementation.

Here is what one teacher said about what AAF has supported in her school. "Mariah is one of many early success stories of our school’s first effort to enact a belief that if we want all our students to meet a common, high standard, we must hold the standard constant for all students and vary the nature, content, and amount of instruction needed to help students meet it. It’s easy to imagine what would happen to a student like Mariah in the absence of the intense intervention this teaching team provided!"