Intervention Program

Children come to school at different stages of development and do not all learn at the same rate or with the same methods of teaching. When students fall significantly behind the average of their grade level cohorts, there is a concern that learning gaps will lead them further behind. The best practice is to close learning gaps with a tutorial setting, in which the teacher-student ratio is low, and meetings are frequent. Students often make tremendous progress when they are in small groups and have access to materials and activities which are adjusted to their pace and style of learning. AFA offers a program where students receive additional assistance in the core skill areas of Reading and Math. In this program, an Intervention teacher works in collaboration with the regular classroom lead teacher to provide small group instruction based on the needs of each student. With this additional daily practice in skill strategies, AFA makes the effort to increase your child’s skills closer to the average level or more for your child’s grade level.

Students are evaluated regularly by their teachers. Additionally, AFA administers the MAP (Measuring Academic Progress) assessments three times per year to monitor progress in the core skills of Reading, ELA, and Math from grades K-10. If a student’s result indicates below-grade-level performance according to the national grade-level average in Reading or Math, in addition to weak progress in class and with teacher recommendations, the student qualifies for our Intervention Program. In this case, the Arabic class is replaced with a Reading Skills or Math Skills class daily. Intervention placement is not an option; the core global skills of reading and math must be remediated to prevent further gaps as the content depth increases with time. Placement is reviewed in the next MAP test season, and students are Exited from Intervention when their performance reaches close to the grade-level average.

AFA employs two sets of teachers to tutor students in the Intervention program: our AFA teachers, as well as county-based Title 1 teachers. For AFA teachers, the fee is $100 per semester for one subject. This low fee helps defray the cost of remediation resources. This fee is waived if the student qualifies for the Gwinnett or Dekalb Title 1 Program. Title 1 county coordinators determine such qualifications, based on address and other factors.