Our ELA curriculum is adapted from EL Education’s learning modules, which can be previewed on their website here. Students embark on rigorous, authentic, standards based learning experiences based around high interest science and social studies topics, while building the necessary reading and writing skills.

We teach reading both through the use of authentic, high interest pieces of literature and informational text and through direct instruction in fluency and decoding skills. We believe in a balanced literacy approach, where we teach reading comprehension, phonics, fluency, and writing through the workshop model. We are also working to integrate the Writing Revolution to integrate writing more authentically across disciplines.

Teachers at DAA read aloud to their students daily to develop their reading comprehension and a love of reading. Students meet in small guided reading groups, work in centers, and have time each day to read and write independently.

By using the Illustrative Mathematics Curriculum (K-5, 6-8), we offer a constructivist approach to math with computational fluency and problem-based learning strategies. Our students explore math concepts in hands-on, real world ways, and our teachers guide them to construct meaning and think mathematically. We also ensure our students can perform procedural skills quickly and accurately so their minds can focus on deeper thinking and problem solving. Students at DAA not only know how to solve an algorithm, but they understand why it works.

Our science and social studies is embedded into our learning expeditions. Students dive deep into a wide array of topics such as pollinators, paleontology, voting rights, Greek mythology, and outer space.

Our innovative learning modules allow us to teach all subjects through the lens of a broader topic, so students learn in the context of the community and the world in which they live. Students engage in field study, community service, and work with experts to complete in-depth studies in one or more subject areas. Expeditions culminate with projects and exhibitions (called Celebrations of Learning!) that demonstrate mastery of standards.

Additionally, our middle school students engage in science labs to support their learning and readiness for high school

Our school-developed social-emotional and mindfulness curriculum is the foundation of our curriculum, which is grounded in our seven Habits of Character: responsibility, cooperation, compassion, perseverance, integrity, curiosity & creativity, and courage. Students learn about and are given regular opportunities to practice these character traits in our daily Morning and Closing Crew, which is central to everything that we do at DAA.

Additionally, we follow the Responsive Classroom Approach. This consists of the following principles:

• The social curriculum is as important as the academic curriculum.

• How children learn is as important as what they learn.

• The greatest cognitive growth occurs through social interaction.

• There is a set of social skills that children need in order to be successful academically and socially.

• Knowing the children we teach – individually, culturally, and developmentally – is as important as knowing the content we teach.

• Knowing the families of the children we teach and encouraging their participation is essential to children’s education

• How the adults at school work together to accomplish their shared mission is as important as individual competencies; lasting change begins with the adult community.

We work hard to ensure we are living out our mission of developing our students holistically. Our students participate in the visual arts, the performing arts, and fitness & wellness classes. As our school grows, we hope to offer even more daily enrichment options.

At DAA, we believe the arts are important academic subjects to be taught on their own, as well as integrated into all the subject areas. Our students receive Visual Arts instruction at least two times per week, and our art teacher collaborates with the classroom teachers to support art integration in the classroom.

Our students also engage in Music class, Dance, and Fitness class to develop our students’ abilities as artists, musicians, athletes and performers

All students have access to high-quality, grade level curriculum throughout the day and receive rigorous, direct instruction at grade level. Students spend the majority of the day in small groups geared toward their present levels for maximum growth and student ownership of their learning. Groups are flexible and shift based on formative and summative data at least every 6-8 weeks.

Each local education agency and public school academy in Michigan is required to publicly post the process used to determine the existence of a Specific Learning Disability.

Consistent with this requirement, Detroit Achievement Academy District reports the following:

Child Find

Child Find is the federal requirement, established by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), to identify, locate and evaluate all children with disabilities, from birth through 21 years of age, who are in need, or may be in need, of special education and related services.

If you suspect that your child may be in need of special education and/or related services, please contact your child's administrator or teacher.

What is a Specific Learning Disability?

Each local educational agency and public school academy in Michigan must publicly post the process used to determine the existence of a Specific Learning Disability (SLD). Regardless of the process used, all schools must follow all of the regulatory requirements in the IDEA, the MARSE, and Michigan laws, policies and procedures for special education.

A Specific Learning Disability is “a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and development aphasia that adversely affects a student’s educational performance. A SLD does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities; mental retardation; emotional disturbance; or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.” (34 CFR 300.8(c)(10)).

Detroit Achievement Academy uses the patterns of strengths and weaknesses when determining the existence of a Specific Learning Disability (SLD) for students in grades kindergarten through 12 across all areas including: oral expression, listening comprehension, written expression, basic reading, reading fluency, reading comprehension, math calculation, and math problem solving. This process involves the collection of data to determine the following:

- The student does not achieve adequately for the student’s age or to meet state-approved grade-level standards in one or more of the areas identified at 34 CFR 300.309(a)(l)(i) when provided with learning experiences and instruction appropriate for the student’s age or state-approved grade-level standards.

- The student exhibits a pattern of strengths and weaknesses in performance, achievement, or both, relative to age, state-approved grade-level standards, or intellectual development, that is determined by the Student Support Team (SST) to be relevant to the identification of a SLD, using appropriate assessments, consistent with the IDEA Evaluation Procedures and Additional Requirements for Evaluations and Reevaluations.

Sources: Michigan Department of Education Office of Special Education and Early Intervention Services (2010), Michigan Criteria for Determining the Existence of a Specific Learning Disability (2017) & Michigan Administrative Rules for Special Education (MARSE) With Related IDEA Federal Regulations (2022)