In our experience there is no real good measure for what a 6th grader is, or any grader for that matter.  True their transcript may say that they are in a certain grade, but often that is based on age.  The challenge for us is that we expect something different than what seems to be common in many schools - WE EXPECT THEM TO THINK.  When students have to be interested, be able to work independently, use deductive and inductive reasoning, logic and to be able to articulate this, then we discover gaps in their education.  We should not say education but say in stead, in their training up to this point.  We have set up our support systems to assist willing students to acquire the necessary skills.  These gaps could be classified into four areas:

1.  Academic gaps
     We try to capture these gaps in the initial assessment prior to entering TLE Academy.  We and they can choose different venues:  a) stay in the adventure lab and acquire these basic skills say for a quarter;  b) stay on their level but accept additional work and tutoring to catch up, or 3) stay on their level and work harder on the assignments, this often readdress the issues.

2.  Memory and processing gaps
     We have found that students with a non-traditional learning style are often week in comprehending what is said (the most common teaching method) to them, while their strength is in visualizing concepts.  That is why we have changed the way we are teaching and our curriculum. We use more visuals in addition to teaching them to structure problems through mindmaps or causal models, and we teach them to memorize through pictures.  We also offer students auditory processing coaching.

3.  Study skills etc
     One of the reasons why some students are behind is that they have not acquired the basic skills in studying.  In "One to One Meetings " with Mr. John,various skills such as study skills, organization skills, socialization skills and exploring their creativity are covered and discussed.  

4.  Grade level gaps

     The final one are students who for various reasons would like to graduate within a certain time frame but who are lacking certain subjects - their training may be a little bit lopsided.  Our approach maybe a little bit unconventional.  While we test students for a certain grade level according to age, we never discuss grade level at TLE Academy.  Our approach is to challenge each student to go beyond where they are with the promise that we are committed to match their interests and offer support in their area of interest, and the moment they have fulfilled a high school credit in that subject they receive a high school credit.  This means that there are students who have a talent for say math they have in the time it takes to lean Algebra I they also will acquire the knowledge in Algebra because of the way we integrate the subjects.  Knowledge and retention is what counts at TLE Academy.