Priority Standards are learning standards that Genesee Valley Central School teachers identify based upon student performance compared to their peers across Western New York.  The Genesee Valley CSD has identified Priority Standards and Skills to drive instruction and impact student achievement.  Teachers meet annually during the summer for professional development, to review data reports from the current year and trend data spanning 3-5 years.  Teachers identify standards and skills requiring additional instruction and focus in order for students to reach mastery.  We also identify strategies that can be implemented to support students, such as the RAC(C)E strategy for Reading and the CUBES strategy for Math; students are asked to Respond/Restate, Answer, Cite, Cite and Explain when answering oral and written questions about text.  This simple strategy has yielded positive results in our assessments for students who performed equally as well, if not better, than their WNY peers!