THE ACADEMY
How it works
Six connected stages. A topic is proven when the learner can explain it independently and pass a check on new questions at least seven days later.
The CAQA Mastery Cycle
Every stage produces a recorded artefact. Nothing rests on a tutor's impression.
Diagnose
We find the gap underneath the gap. A Year 8 who cannot do linear equations is tested on inverse operations, then integers, then multiplicative reasoning, until we hit solid ground.
Explain
Explicit teaching in small steps, with understanding checked after every step. New material comes in limited chunks, because working memory is the bottleneck.
Model
A fully worked example with the reasoning narrated, then faded, then a completion problem, then one the learner does entirely alone.
Practise
Spaced and interleaved rather than blocked. Every session opens with retrieval of earlier material, scored, with no notes.
Prove
The gate. Teach it back unaided, then pass a check on new questions seven or more days later at 85% or above. Both, not either.
Transfer
Apply it in an unfamiliar context and in the format the school uses, on tasks we write rather than on live assessment.
One descriptor, start to green
This is a composite illustration of the process, not a real learner's record.
Week 1, diagnosis
Maya, Year 8, is failing linear equations. The diagnostic does not test linear equations. It tests the prerequisites underneath, and finds she is solid on integers but cannot reliably apply inverse operations. The learning goal goes red.
Week 1, teaching
We teach inverse operations explicitly, in small steps. One worked example fully narrated, then faded, then a completion problem, then one alone. She gets four of five right in the session.
Week 2, practice
Session opens with retrieval of inverse operations, no notes, scored. She gets 3 of 5. That is normal and it is information: performance in the lesson was partly the scaffolding.
Week 3, teach-back
She explains inverse operations to the tutor with no notes, constructs her own example, and answers the "what if" variation. The teach-back passes. The descriptor moves to amber, not green.
Week 4, delayed check
Eight days after the teach-back, five questions she has never seen. She scores 5 of 5. The learning goal turns green. Only now do we move up to linear equations themselves.
Week 12, decay check
The Ledger re-tests it. Still passing. If it had not been, the descriptor would have dropped back to amber and re-entered the retrieval schedule.
What we will not do
Published in full at Academic integrity.
YOUR NEXT CHAPTER
A little clarity.
A world of possibility.
Start with a free 60-minute learning diagnostic.
Keep the written report, whatever you decide next.