The Barbour County School District Department of Instructional Services maintains high expectations for students, teachers and administrators. Goals and objectives are established through alignment with the state and national standards. Curriculum programs and resources are selected from scientifically-based researched information and instructional methods that have been proven effective.

The Department of Instructional Services emphasizes sound, researched-based practices to ensure learning is relevant and to ensure our students are prepared for 21st century challenges.

Assessment is an integral part of the instructional program and is used to determine students' proficiency levels and to analyze the quality of program content. All schools in the Barbour County School District participate in the state assessments and the data analysis of the state assessments are used to guide instructional decisions.

Students in grades 2-8 take the Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program (ACAP). This assessment measures grade level academic achievement and academic growth. This assessment is used to evaluate the effectiveness of school programs and instruction and to identify areas students may need additional help to master.

Students in 10th grade take the Pre-ACT. The PreACT score provides a prediction of student scores on the ACT. A student's performance on the PreACT lays the groundwork for developing a plan for reaching student goals for ACT scores.

Students in 11th grade take the ACT. The state of Alabama pays for one administration of this college entrance examination (taken in the spring of the 11th-grade year) so all students have an opportunity to consider all available post-high school options. Students who earn the college-ready benchmark score on any of the subject tests are considered "college ready" in that area.

Students in 12th grade take the ACT WorkKeys. This assessment measures key skills employers want their workers to have. Students who score at the silver level or above on the WorkKeys are considered "career ready" by the state of Alabama.

• ACAP Online Tools Training (OTT)

• ACAP Student Tutorial Videos 

• ACT Online Prep 

• ACT WorkKeys

• ACT WorkKeys Curriculum 

https://www.alabamaachieves.org/academic-standards/

This link provides users direct access to all grade level and content area courses of study (COS) for students in Alabama K-12 Public Education. Also, this link gives teachers log in access to The Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX) which includes multimedia, learning activities, lessons, and unit plans all “connected” by the Alabama Standards to promote deeper-learning competencies essential for success in college, careers, and our global society.

ALSDE RtI (Response to Instruction) Guide  

Sometimes students fall significantly behind in their learning.  When this happens in the fundamental areas of reading and mathematics, the consequences can extend across the entire spectrum of learning.  To support students during these times, our district employs a progressive tiered approach called Responseto Instruction (RTI).  The basic idea is that different strategies are used in an intentional sequence that begins with the simplest solutions and elevates, if necessary, to intensive research-based intervention programs.  The goal is to help students get back to grade-level expectations in the area of reading and math as quickly as possible.  Struggling students are monitored by a team of caring educators at the school level and they make up the school’s Problem Solving Team (PST). 

 The school will communicate with parents if they are concerned about a student, but parents can also reach out to their student's counselor if they would like to seek assistance from the school's Problem-Solving Team (PST).  

PowerSchool Professional Learning (PSPL) 
Welcome to the Alabama State Department of Education’s (ALSDE) Office of Professional Development and Professional Learning. Alabama offers many PD opportunities for educators K-12 and is committed to ensuring educators have multiple opportunities to prosper professionally.

The Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX) 
The Alabama Learning Exchange includes multimedia, learning activities, lessons, and unit plans all “connected” by the Alabama Standards to promote deeper-learning competencies essential for success in college, careers, and our global society.

eLearning Alabama 
eLearning Alabama uses a Web-based model to provide effective professional development that leads to gains in teacher's content knowledge, improvements in their teaching practices and increases in the achievement of their students.

Alabama Reading Initiative  
The Alabama Reading Initiative (ARI) is a statewide K-12 initiative committed to supporting the development of high-quality instruction that will prepare all students wi​th the literacy skills needed to meet or exceed grad​e-level standards. The goal of the ARI is to significantly improve reading instruction and ultimately achieve 100% literacy among public school students.

AMSTI
The Alabama Math Science and Technology Initiative (AMSTI) Section of the Alabama State Department of Education seeks to improve math and science teaching statewide. Its mission is to provide all students in Grades K-12 with the knowledge and skills needed for success in the workforce and/or postsecondary studies (college and career ready).