Athena Tracker
DCS has introduced The Athena Tracker as a tool to help our students achieve their potential in their chosen subjects. Potential is different for each student. Each student’s path through school is different. The goal is to help students to understand and achieve their own unique potential.
How does it work?
It is an academic tracking tool which tracks a student’s baseline potential in each subject in each exam.
The tracker uses all available past results and external aptitude scores to create a student’s baseline in each subject.
This allows the school to constantly track where a student is in relation to this baseline to highlight if a student is drifting below their own unique potential and may need additional support. This helps to ensure that no student gets missed in a very busy school system.
In addition, the tracker is also very useful as a motivating technique and in setting targets for students.
How do we implement the tracker in DCS?
DCS has a tracker team.
Each year group is assigned one mentor from this team who then works with the year head to decide how best to implement the tracker system in each year group. For instance, there would be a slightly different focus when working with 1st years who are beginning their journey here with us, 4th years who are choosing Leaving Certificate subjects and 6th years preparing for exams and choosing 3rd level courses.
Every teacher in DCS has received training in using the tracker to enable them to filter who is below, in line and above expectation in their particular subject. This helps teachers to guide, motivate and encourage students to be the very best they can be.