About EASE

EASE software was initially developed to support the approach to teaching and learning at the Young Women's Leadership Charter School of Chicago. The approach is based on these principles:

• Assessment should encourage learning
• Grading should be transparent and supported by data
• Learning is not a time-limited proposition
• Failure is not expected or supported

In response to this challenge, we developed an outcomes-based, data-driven assessment tool. Teachers develop outcomes for each course, and students demonstrate whether they are proficient, high performing, or not yet proficient in their understanding of each outcome. Students are expected to achieve higher levels of proficiency as they mature, and to revisit areas to become proficient over time rather than walking away from them at the end of a school term