SDA Glossary¶
Terms you'll hear in the Self-Directed Academy, defined plainly.
Angle Your specific version of the studio's essential question. The studio sets the question — you decide what part of it you're actually investigating. An angle makes the question yours.
Commons This wiki. The shared knowledge infrastructure for SDA: studio packets, reading library, skinnies, standards, and guides.
Competency Demonstrated ability to do something that matters. SDA is competency-based — you earn credit by showing you can do the work, not by showing up for the right number of days.
Contract (Studio Contract) A 9-part document you write before your studio begins. It locks in your angle, your sources, your proficiency targets, and your timeline. Reese reviews and approves it before you start.
Demo of Learning (DOL) The product or performance you create in Week 5–6 that serves as your evidence for the standard. Not the same as the grade — the DOL is what you make; the grade is what the evidence shows about the standard.
Essential Question The big question that anchors a studio. It's historical and genuinely arguable — there's no single correct answer. Everyone in the studio works on the same essential question from their own angle.
Exhibition The Week 6 event where you present your Demo of Learning to a real audience (not just your teacher). Exhibition is when the studio is considered complete.
Headrush The platform where your standard scores are recorded and tracked across studios.
IC (Infinite Campus) The district gradebook. At the end of each studio, your Headrush scores translate to a grade in IC.
Maverick Ownership Level 2. You've demonstrated you can manage your own work. You propose your own angles, collaborate more freely, and make more of your own calls. See How SDA Works for what it takes to reach Maverick.
Ownership Level Where you are in SDA's independence progression: Trailblazer (Level 1) → Maverick (Level 2) → Phoenix (Level 3). Your level determines how much structure you get and how much agency you have.
PBC (Project-Based Competency) The concrete task that lets you demonstrate a standard. Every standard in SDA has a PBC — a thing you can actually do, not just a concept to understand.
Phoenix Ownership Level 3. Full agency. You can propose entirely self-designed studios and access flex scheduling.
Proficiency Scale The 1.0–4.0 scoring system used in SDA. 2.0 = foundation knowledge. 3.0 = meeting the standard (this is the target). 4.0 = going beyond the standard. See ELA Proficiency Scales for full breakdowns.
Skinny A one-page reference card for a single standard — what 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0 look like, with examples. Find them in the Skinny Library.
Source Log A tracking document you fill out for each source you use in a studio. Includes a summary, a connection to your angle, a reliability assessment, and at least one direct quote.
Standard An official description of a skill or concept students are expected to demonstrate. SDA uses North Dakota SBL (standards-based learning) descriptors. Each studio has 4–5 active standards.
Studio A six-week learning cycle. You start with an essential question, develop your angle, build a Demo of Learning, and present at a public exhibition. Studios are the core unit of SDA.
Trailblazer Ownership Level 1. Structured support. Reese helps narrow your angle. Proposals require approval before you begin. This is where everyone starts.
USH US History. In SDA, USH and ELA are combined — a single studio produces evidence for both.
WH World History. In SDA, WH and ELA are combined — a single studio produces evidence for both.