The A.C.E. Resource is designed in such a way to encourage mastery learning so that it is difficult for a student to fail a PACE Test. If the A.C.E. procedures are put in place, and followed then it is rare for a student to receive less than 80%. However, A.C.E. suggest that these following points can also mitigate against failure.
- Ensure that the student is prescribed at a level that he can understand concepts and vocabulary.
If you feel that your student has not been prescribed at a level that they can succeed, please contact us. While the diagnostic tests and our team endeavour to place a child in the correct position, we are open to a reassessment and discussion with you at any time.
- Encourage the student to complete every PACE within a reasonable period of time (three weeks). Most students work in four to five subjects at a time; bright students may work in up to seven subjects at a time. A student who is below average in academic ability or who lacks comprehension skill should work in only two or three subjects at a time rather than five.It is important that PACEs are not completed in less than 2 weeks, or more than3. Some of our students have worked on one PACE at a time – completing them in only a day or two. Please know that this is not academically advisable as returning to a PACE day after day reinforces the knowledge learned.
Taking too long to complete a PACE also is not advisable as the student has trouble remembering what they learned at the beginning of the PACE.
- Avoid Monday morning testing.
Once the Self Test has been sat and marked, the PACE test should be completed the next day. If sitting a PACE Test on a Monday after a Self Test on the Friday, this means that too much time has passed. It is better not to sit Self Tests on a Friday.
- Regularly spot check scoring for carelessness. After the school time, parents can quickly scan a few days’ work of students who may be careless and then take measures for correction.There are some students who will try to find short cuts to learning. Whereas there are others who rush through their school work in order to be finished or do the next activity. In these cases it is beneficial to know the progression of your child in the PACE. Are they moving through the PACEs too quickly? Are they skipping through (or cheating) the scoring procedure? Are there gaps in the PACE, which indicates areas missed or skipped.
Each family can determine how they will correct their child. This may be different depending on if the action was intentional or not.
- Survey completed PACEs to identify areas where students had difficulty understanding the material. Look for frequent erasures and scoring “Xs”. Ask questions to determine the student’s understanding of concepts.If there are a number of erasures, and/or X’s marked in red, then this can be an indication that the student hasn’t comprehended the work. If you ask the student a few questions from the PACE, you can determine the area that they are struggling with. Sometimes this can also indicate that they don’t understand a foundational concept. Once an area has been identified you can use a number of techniques to help the student learn the concept. Some of these include: redoing that section of the PACE with the student; if in math or science, try to show the concept in a practical way (using blocks or conducting a science experiment); find other supporting resources to explain the concept (ensure that the supporting resource doesn’t contradict the PACEs).Ask questions to determine the student’s understanding of concepts.
- Quiz the student on missed Checkups and Self Test questions. Also quiz him on questions he didn’t miss to check for comprehension of concepts.
Parents should be “quizzing” students throughout the PACE. Before each Checkup, Self Test and PACE Test, the parent should verbally ask the student questions about the previous section of the PACE. This ensures that they are ready to proceed to the test. You could also quiz them on any areas that the student struggled with or didn’t pass in the test.
- Avoid allowing students to take more than two Tests in one day. Limit struggling students to two Tests or two Self Tests, or one Self Test and one Test in a day if necessary.
- For Social Studies and Science PACEs, average and above average students may read the entire PACE text (excluding activities, Checkups, and Self Tests) to get an overall view of the content. This procedure should take no more than two days. The student must then read the PACE the second time while completing the activities and tests.
- Require every student to know the pronunciation and definition of vocabulary words before taking the Self Test. You can quiz the student on these words outside of school hours, possibly by the non-supervising parent.
