Just What Is It That We Do To Fix Schools?

     It's hard to know where to begin.  My eighteen years in the field of education has convinced me that an important determinant of student learning is whether he or she is "engaged" in the lesson.  If the content of a lesson isn't relevant to a student (in terms of needs or wants), he or she will lack the foundation with which to connect the new learning.  The result could include any of the following: boredom, lack of assimilation of new material, causing problems in the classroom while seeking to be "entertained," and other off-task behaviors.  In addition to student engagement as a determinant of learning,I find that the relationship between teacher and student must be positive in order to effect constructive learning.  Our services are designed to promote expertise in these two areas: student engagement and the student-teacher relationship.  The fact is, I've been wildly successful in increasing student achievement based on this premise.  In one school, we even won the Governor's Golden Apple Award for Academic Achievement.

     The services below are representative of what we do to fix schools across the country.  We encourage you to share these ideas with others and use what works for you in your unique situation:

• We provide instructional coaching for teachers using onsite, job-embedded strategies to support teachers as they transition to a new skill set;
• We train the trainer-i.e., if you already have instructional coaches but aren't getting the results you want, we train your coaches to facilitate the desired change. Just having instructional coaches is not enough;
• We coach school administrators.  It's lonely at the top.  Having the opportunity to be coached can significantly alter how the leadership role is envisioned and carried out;
• We provide group professional development on the topics of your choosing.  Give us a day, a time, and a topic and leave the rest to us.
• We provide online courses for teachers in order to maintain licensure.  The neat thing about our courses is that they are customized to any topic of interest.
• We provide access to our Inquiry Based Learning system which is complete including the curriculum mapping process, teaching to new core standards, conducting formative and summative assessments, etc.
• We conduct program evaluations to determine specifically why you are not getting the results you need in core curriculum subjects---and we give you specific recommendations for rectifying the situation.
• Finally, we also offer special programs for students at risk of dropping out of school and for those with behavioral issues.  These programs involve a combination of mentoring and a self-paced, online course to guide students in goal setting and making choices that get them closer to achieving their dreams.

That's about it, although we're always open to customizing a program for you if that is what you need.  You can email us at:

OurSuccessCoach@gmail.com

Enjoy your day!

Kit