As a progressive lab school, Falk’s educational approach is unique in that it prioritizes not only holistic, child-centered teaching but also data-informed, research-driven curriculum development.

Our teachers are dedicated to forming deep relationships with their students, and this personal familiarity, paired with intentional data collection, makes for an impactful and adaptive learning process. 

Quantitative 

One way Falk collects quantitative data on its students is through annual Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) Growth testing for grades 3–8. First introduced to Falk students in spring 2024, the computer-adaptive assessment is taken three times throughout the school year and creates student profile reports that measure math and reading proficiency, individual growth over time, and individual achievement and growth in relation to nationwide averages. 

“We use it as one point of reference to gain insight into how our students are performing,” says Intermediate teacher Laura Greif, adding that the customized profiles and recommendations are an effective tool for creating small groups, building Universal Design for Learning (UDL) into her lesson plans, and creating classroom environments that meet student needs. “Collectively,” she adds, “it gives us a really detailed picture [of] where instruction might begin, in combination with other data collection tools we use on a day-to-day basis.” 

Other quantitative tools include formative and summative assignments, checkpoints and post-assessments from the Bridges in Mathematics curriculum, and the IXL Diagnostic, which integrates with the MAP system to suggest individualized, skill-specific growth plans in math and literacy. 

“If you input the data from MAP testing, [IXL] gives the kids targeted approaches,” says research coordinator Katrina Bartow Jacobs. “They're both adaptive, so they're really designed to support individuals where they are, at their growth edge.” The IXL Diagnostic also breaks skills into specific categories, like geometry and problem-solving, which helps teachers identify the concepts within a broader content area that may need extra scaffolding. 

Qualitative 

In addition to quantitative measures of growth and learning needs, teachers are constantly collecting informal, but equally important, qualitative data points from sources like classroom observation, small-group interaction, student discourse and disposition, and student-teacher relationships. 

“I think the important part is making sure we as teachers are not just using one point of data,” says Intermediate learning specialist Danya Lang. “There are so many different entry points we're looking at because kids show up differently in all areas.” 

“Sometimes what you're learning isn't even what they need [academically], but more what they need in terms of handling a problem,” Bartow Jacobs says. "[Maybe that’s] pacing themselves or social-emotional, executive function skills.” 

Often, she adds, focusing exclusively on quantitative data can be frustrating for educators. Numbers rarely capture the nuances in how students think, act, and approach learning on a day-to-day basis, which is why it’s important to consider relationship- and observation-based feedback, too. “Looking at those two things together is really a way to honor teacher perspectives [and expertise],” forming a more holistic picture for students and families. 

Research 

At the Intermediate level, several teachers have taken their data collection one step further through the Falk Research Fellows program. Danya Lang and fourth- and fifth-grade teacher Jackie Metcalf have spent the last two school years designing student groupings that support classroom learning and peer-to-peer collaboration in math. 

To build the student learning profiles that inform their groupings, "we’re not only looking at the assessment data, which is the skill-based information, but also looking into the mathematical dispositions,” says Lang, like verbally explaining your mathematical thinking. “It gives us a bigger, more rounded picture of who they are as mathematicians and where [to offer] support for kids within the classroom.”

Based on these profiles, Metcalf and Lang place students in groups that intentionally foster student interaction and co-learning. For example, Lang explains, “we might have two or three students who are strong in verbally explaining their thinking, grouped with some students who are right in the middle ground, and then they can learn from each other how to talk about their thinking." 

“We’re really thoughtful about how students can learn from one another,” Metcalf adds. “When we build groups with a range of strengths, it creates more opportunities for students to explain their thinking, take risks, and grow together.” 

Identifying strengths and weaknesses in disposition also creates productive conversation starters for in-class work time, Lang adds. “If we've identified that students struggle with using tools effectively, then that can become a talking point. You could say, ‘Oh, Jackie, I saw you use some of the tools we have in the classroom to support this. Could you tell Danya how you chose those tools?’” 

Over the course of their research, Metcalf and Lang have noticed several students step into leadership roles, helping their groupmates understand concepts and dispositions they’ve already mastered. After each unit—or sooner when necessary—they reflect on the interactions they’ve observed and, in conjunction with the data, adjust the groupings. “They're constantly changing as we reevaluate our informal assessments, our formal assessments, skills, and where they are emotionally and behaviorally,” says Lang. 

Also over the past two years, classroom teachers Kate Petrack and Jenny Brent have been exploring progressive approaches to Response to Intervention (RTI) models, including incorporating social-emotional tools like goal setting and self-reflection into intervention. 

During the 2025–26 school year, Brent’s third graders had daily 30-minute intervention blocks, where students could choose to work independently on assignments or participate in guided small-group support sessions. Each trimester, Brent and Petrack analyzed assessment data and student check-ins to identify class needs and choose a new focus for the afternoon block. 

For the first trimester, they targeted reading fluency, which was measured quantitatively in words per minute and qualitatively through student self-reflections. During the second trimester, the focus shifted to math skills. In addition to monitoring MAP scores and Bridges in Mathematics intervention data—both of which improved throughout the trimester—Brent and Petrack included student voices in the process by having them complete check-in sheets to assess each day’s effort, successes, and challenges in math class. 

During the final trimester, Brent and Petrack targeted writing and nonfiction literacy skills. Building on the reading fluency they developed earlier in the year, students spent class time reading and responding to informational texts, as well as journaling to reflect on their progress.  

In all cases, Bartow Jacobs says, “the important thing [about research] is not figuring out the best way—there is no one best way—but documenting the different ways we approach [something] so we can learn from each other.” She goes on to call data collection a critical practice in progressive education, "to check our own biases and assumptions and make sure we're giving kids what they need.” In doing so, we create an environment that is both data-aware and child-centered, a living embodiment of Falk’s founding mission as a progressive, experimental, and demonstration school.