TA’s approach to proficiencies at a schoolwide level centers on a set of five transferable skills. The TA Transferable Skills transcend specific academic subjects and can be applied in a variety of contexts, supporting our students’ growth and success during their time at TA and beyond.
Thetford Academy’s 5
Transferable Skills
Each transferable skill includes a set of performance indicators, designed to provide clarity for students about what the skill looks like in real life and ways to work toward and demonstrate mastery.
Effective Communication & Expression
- Consistently utilize organized and purposeful communication.
- Use evidence and logic in communication.
- Integrate information gathered from active speaking and listening.
- Communicate based on the audience, context, and purpose.
- Effectively uses a variety of communication methods to include oral, written, and creative expression, multimedia, and performance.
- Use technology to enhance communication.
- Collaborate effectively and respectfully.
Self-Directed Learning
- Identify, manage, and assess new opportunities related to learning goals.
- Set personal goals and make informed and thoughtful opinions and decisions.
- Apply knowledge in familiar and new contexts.’
- Demonstrate flexibility, including the ability to learn, unlearn, and relearn.
- Advocate for oneself as a learner and persevere in challenging situations.
- Collaborate to advance learning.
Creative & Practical Problem Solving
- Observe and evaluate situations in order to define problems.
- Frame questions, make predictions, and design data collection and analysis strategies using a range of technologies, to approach problems.
- Analyze, evaluate, and synthesize evidence, claims, and beliefs to Identify patterns, trends, and relationships that apply to solutions.
- Use evidence to substantiate your claim, and generate a variety of solutions using innovation and collaboration.
- Critically evaluate the proposed solution, and repeat the process to generate alternatives.
- Persist in solving challenging problems, including learning from positive and negative outcomes.
Caring & Involved Citizenship
- Contribute to the enhancement of community life (on campus and off).
- Take responsibility for personal decisions and actions.
- Demonstrate ethical behavior and moral courage.
- Respect diversity and demonstrate curiosity about differing points of view.
- Demonstrate a commitment to personal and community health and wellness, including self-care.
- Practice responsible digital citizenship.
Informed & Integrated Thinking
- Apply new and old learning to real life situations.
- Analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information from multiple sources.
- Apply systems thinking to understand the interaction of related parts.
- Use evidence and reasoning to justify claims.
- Develop and use models to explain phenomena.
- Use technology to support the critical thinking process.
Demonstrating Proficiency:
Portfolios and Roundtables
During their time at Thetford Academy, students develop a portfolio that demonstrates their journey toward proficiency and mastery of TA’s Transferable Skills. The portfolio requires students to document and reflect on their growth as a learner, gathering and sharing evidence through coursework, photographs, correspondence, and awards. Students’ written reflections then connect their evidence to each of the transferable skills at a detailed level.
Each spring, students are invited to present their portfolios to an audience. Depending on their grade level, this might be their advisory group or a more public audience that can include family members, teachers, and classmates. These roundtable discussions are an opportunity for students to share their growth as a learner over the past year and their goals for the future.
As part of their graduation requirements, seniors are required to make a formal presentation that exhibits proficiency in the TA Transferable Skills. The senior roundtables provide a culminating experience that synthesizes achievements in coursework, civic engagement, and extracurricular activities over the course of their time at Thetford Academy.
Proficiency-Based Grading in the Classroom
Some courses at TA use a proficiency model for grading. A proficiency is a combination of skills, abilities, and knowledge needed to perform a specific task. Proficiency-based courses include content-specific standards by which student work and performance is assessed, descriptions of what students need to do (rubrics, checklists, etc.), formative and summative assessments, multiple opportunities to meet proficiencies, a separation of achievement from the effort, and feedback to students in order to get better or learn more. Progress and grades in classes using proficiency-based grading are categories using proficiency level descriptors (Exceeding, Proficient, Developing, Emerging), instead of the traditional A-F grading scale.
Read more about implementation of proficiency-based grading in a September 2024 news post.
