About Dimensions of Learning Academy

The front doors at Dimensions of Learning schoolSchool Highlights

  • The only High Reliability School Certified in Wisconsin.
  • Caring, certified staff work collaboratively in this consistently highly ranked school to create positive attitudes that are the foundation for learning. Learning targets focus teachers who know the importance of using student goal setting, feedback, and assessment data to inform instruction.
  • Complex reasoning and lifelong learning skills are taught and assessed, such as decision-making, problem-solving, investigation, invention, system analysis and error analysis.
  • State-of-the-art technology and personalized blended learning live in every classroom and are used daily to enhance learning and prepare responsible digital citizens.
  • Field trips support grade-level curriculum and connect students with the community and world around us.

School Mission

Based on Robert Marzano’s research, the mission of Dimensions of Learning Academy is to create an educational community that guarantees the success of each student by building our students’ capacity to become independent thinkers and learners for a lifetime of achievement.

School Organization and Philosophy

The Dimensions of Learning framework is an extension of a comprehensive research framework on cognition and learning developed by Robert Marzano of the McREL Institute. The model is designed to translate research into a practical classroom application to improve teaching in any content area.

This school is dedicated to communicating through this model. Its premise is that five types of thinking, which are referred to as the five dimensions of learning, are essential to student learning and academic performance. These dimensions are:

  • Positive attitudes and perceptions about learning
  • Acquiring and integrating knowledge
  • Extending and refining knowledge
  • Using knowledge meaningfully
  • Productive habits of mind

The Dimensions of Learning framework helps educators plan instruction that takes into account all five of these critical aspects of learning.

The foundation for learning is also based upon a defined set of knowledge. This knowledge is organized in two categories of standards which will be integrated in a holistic approach to instruction. The two categories are Academic Content Standards and Lifelong Learning Standards, skills which are used with the academic standards across all content areas.

This big picture vision for comprehensive school reform using the Dimensions of Learning model and standards-based learning/assessment focuses on reorganization and revitalization of the entire school rather than on isolated, piecemeal reforms.

School History

The Dimensions of Learning Academy is a Charter School of the Kenosha Unified School District.  The charter was approved by the Kenosha Unified School Board on April 24, 2000 and began operation in the fall of 2000.

High Reliability Schools

The high reliability school (HRS) program was created by Marzano Resources to help transform schools into organizations that take proactive steps to ensure student success. Using a research-based five-level hierarchy, along with leading and lagging indicators, educators learn to assess, monitor, and confirm the effectiveness of their schools.

This framework, based on 50 years of educational research, defines five progressive levels of performance that a school must master to become an HRS—where all students learn the content and skills they need for success in college, careers, and beyond.

Schools must collect data and validate their performance to climb each level of the hierarchy. Certification is determined by Marzano Resources analysts in cooperation with school data teams. Using the HRS framework and indicators, schools can drive sustained, positive, and significant impacts on student achievement by synthesizing multiple complex initiatives into one harmonious system.