The past year has brought unprecedented challenges to educators, schools, and districts. In response to
changing needs, UT Austin GEAR UP and Agile Mind have expanded the range and scope of available
offerings to support students and educators during the 2021-2022 school year.
Precalculus Success Initiative
Designed for UT GEAR UP, the Precalculus Success Initiative combines customized readiness assessments and aligned resources to ensure all students can be prepared to succeed in their Precalculus coursework. The program will be paired with synchronous and asynchronous just-in-time professional development for teachers to strengthen their content and pedagogical knowledge. Finally, the platform includes Agile Mind’s full state-approved Precalculus curriculum to be used as a supplemental or a core resource during the school year.
| The Problem | The Solution |
|---|
| Precalculus Success Initiative |
|---|
| Assess Prior Knowledge | Understanding where students have gaps in learning | Customized assessments |
|---|
| Precalculus Success Initiative |
|---|
| Fill the Gaps | Preparing students to succeed in Precalculus and beyond | Instructional support for key prerequisite knowledge and skills |
|---|
| Precalculus Success Initiative |
|---|
| Increase Proficiency | Ensuring student success in Precalculus | Comprehensive support for teacher PL and student engagement |
|---|
TSI 2.0 Success Toolkit
In preparation for the Texas Success Initiative Assessment 2.0, the Dana Center and Agile Mind have developed customized assessments for the four TSI content areas. These assessments are joined by aligned support content and professional development to greatly increase the success rate of students on the TSI 2.0 Assessment.
- Professional learning—face to face or virtual—equips educators with specific knowledge of TSIA and of TSI Success Toolkit
- Assessment and reporting resources in Toolkit
- 10 tests, designed by Dana Center experts and available online, assess the 4 TSIA content areas
- Real-time reports show gaps and areas of strength
- Learning resources linked to tests
- Engaging, relevant online instructional materials
- Online and offline practice items
Intensified Algebra I
Intensified Algebra I is a comprehensive intervention program to help students who are significantly behind become successful in algebra within one academic year. Central to the Intensified Algebra I program is the idea that struggling students need a powerful combination of additional time in class, a challenging curriculum, cohesive and targeted supports for developing their capabilities as learners, and
just-in-time interventions to address their misconceptions. Educators who serve these learners also need richer supports for their instructional practice. With these supports in place, students can get back on track, progress with their peers to graduate on time, and restore their confidence in their ability to succeed in advanced learning.
This groundbreaking program melds best practices in algebra instruction with advances in developmental and social psychology and research on struggling learners to shape students’ engagement, confidence, and commitment to challenging academic programs. Design principles of the curriculum include:
- Rigorous algebra curriculum targeting students’ conceptual understanding,
associated skills, and related problem-solving and reasoning capabilities - Efficient and effective review/repair strategies
- Ongoing, distributed practice
- Social, psychological interventions that promote students’ positive beliefs about
their academic abilities - Supports for teachers, including classroom routines to help new teachers
establish positive learning environments - Tools that help students organize information and support metacognitive
awareness - Enhanced formative assessment strategies
- Supports for literacy and language development
Struggling students need a powerful combination of additional time, a challenging curriculum, and cohesive, targeted supports and interventions. Agile Mind provides tools and teaching supports to help students stay on track, graduate on time, and gain passage to advanced learning.
Agile Mind’s Intensified Algebra I program is a blended program that integrates a comprehensive, engaging mathematics curriculum with interventions for struggling learners to motivate and develop students’ positive beliefs about their academic abilities. To learn more, visit the Intensified Algebra I program page.
Transform beliefs and behaviors
Social and emotional learning constructs are integrated within our Intensified curriculum. This groundbreaking program melds best practices in math instruction with advances in psychology and in research on struggling learners to shape students’ engagement, confidence, and commitment to challenging academic programs. Students are motivated. Teachers are energized. And parents see for their children a future where success is achievable.
Learn more about the social, emotional, and academic development principles behind our Intensified programs.
Intensified Algebra Videos
We encourage you to review the resources below, which provide a brief overview of our approach to teaching and learning and examples of classroom lessons.
Intensified Algebra Research Briefs
Intensified Algebra I Data Snapshots
Inverness Research Brief
Journal about Hillsborough
Providence Assessment Brief
Intensified Algebra Resources
Intensified Algebra I Alignment
Intensified Algebra I Scope & Sequence
Sample Student Activity Book
Sample Advice for Instruction
Academic Youth Development
Academic Youth Development—a suite of programs created by Agile Mind in collaboration with the Charles A. Dana Center at The University of Texas at Austin and leading psychologists—translates the latest research on student mindset, motivation, learning, and persistence into practical classroom strategies and tools that can be enacted every day, in every classroom to produce a lasting impact on every student.
About AYD
AYD connects students’ social and emotional learning (SEL) to challenges in school. More students succeed in school, career, and life when they learn skills that support their social and emotional development and then explicitly connect those skills to their academic learning.
This suite of programs translates the latest research on student mindset, motivation, learning, and persistence into practical classroom strategies and tools that can be enacted every day, in every classroom, to produce a lasting impact on every student.
Academic Youth Development programs help students develop the habits of mind
and actions associated with success in school and the workplace, and
have daily opportunities to apply new learning to challenging problems
in mathematics.
Integrating SEL with challenging mathematics
Academic Youth Development connects students’ learning with foundational mathematics content. Students apply new skills to real-world problem-solving in areas of mathematics that are essential to their grade-level achievement. They learn and refine proven strategies for mathematics success, and collaborate with peers to analyze and understand problem situations, develop conjectures, and describe their thinking.
AYD Outcomes
This document highlights outcomes for students and educators who participate in AYD, in terms of what they know and do related to key ideas and strategies in the program.
Frequently Asked Questions
This one-page document shares common questions students have about Academic Youth Development.
AYD Fact Sheet
This document describes the Academic Youth Development family of programs and the benefits for educators, students, and school systems.
Transforming the Culture of Learning
In this video created by Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD (TX), students and teachers describe the impact of Academic Youth Development on their mindsets and their classroom learning culture.
Changing Attitudes & Mindsets
In this brief video, a teacher and her students describe the impact of Academic Youth Development on students’ mindsets for learning.
Academic Youth Development Introduction and Walkthrough
This video shares an overview and demonstration of the program, including key ideas and strategies that support students’ learning.
Productive Struggle
In this brief video, a teacher and her students describe how AYD helps them apply strategies to persist through academic challenges.
Changing the Culture of Learning Mathematics
In this brief video, a teacher and her students share how AYD helps students change how they feel, think about, and respond to mathematics.
About UT Austin GEAR UP
With questions about UT Austin GEAR UP please contact:
Brett Felten
Regional Vice President of Educational Partnerships
847.644.4712
bfelten@agilemind.com
