Ed Directions coaches and leadership team encounter lots of educational challenges in the schools we partner with. Read more about how to overcome some of the more common challenges that we have helped schools overcome.
Understanding Proficiency Beyond Textbooks The education landscape has undergone a paradigm shift with the advent of the “standards movement.” With its focus on expectations for all students, measured by high-stakes accountability assessments of student performance, education is no longer just about adhering to a daily schedule, following traditional lesson routines,
A Teacher Spotlight on Molly Revlett Being back in the classroom after 13 years, was a scary leap for me. I hadn’t planned to go back to teaching, but life circumstances demanded that I did. I knew one thing, if I was going to do this I did not want
In an educational environment, maintaining student discipline is a crucial aspect that often determines the success of the students and the institution. Effective discipline helps create a safe and conducive learning atmosphere, improving outcomes for teachers and students alike. However, traditional authoritarian approaches are proving less effective as we better
At this point in the year, many teachers wonder if there is anything they can do to improve student scores. The answer is simple but takes some explaining – solve the right problem and quit wasting time solving the wrong ones. So, how do we figure out what the “right
As a public-school educator for 30 plus years, and the site leader of two elementary schools for fourteen of those years, the state school testing cycle every spring was unsettling. We hoped our work planning instruction, executing lessons, and analyzing data weekly in PLC’s would yield positive results on a
I admit that when I was a building administrator, and I thought about the end of the school year I concentrated on planning to avoid casualties. I missed opportunities to be a more effective academic leader in pursuit of survival. I know now that there are number of things academic
By mid-March, teachers and school administrators should know which students are ready for the assessment and which ones are not. If you’ve not already created student profiles, then now is the time to do so. Student profiles will help you identify areas of student strength as well as areas that
All Educational Directions PD offerings are action-oriented. The session begins with an introduction to issues, includes an introduction to the knowledge base related to the resolution of those issues, and then provides participants with facilitated planning time to take what they have learned back into their role at the school
A common question that we receive from principals is, “I have my benchmarking test scores, how to I maximize insights from these tests to boost student performance?” When thinking about academic leadership in December (the transition month between the Formative Period and the Calibrating Period of the Learner Year), the
The Formative Period runs from about the third week of school to winter break. In addition to content delivery/learning, the Formative Period emphasizes the development of efficient learning skills and behaviors in every student. Around the first of October, school leaders need to assess classroom status in terms of student
Last week I had a chance to talk with a school principal about his school improvement plan. His leadership team had just read the schools state report and built a strategic plan for raising their score to the goal that have been set for them by the state. The principal
Educational Directions is a consulting company that works with states, school districts, and individual schools to support student growth as learner and student growth as performer. We usually tie that support to test scores, school and district accountability, etc. As a part of our work with states, districts, and schools,
A core component of Educational Directions is the “Rhythm of the Learner Year” – ROLY. This approach emphasizes that proficient performance by all students requires a focus on high-level student engagement in optimum learner and performer work. In addition, it emphasizes that the level and nature of this work changes
During the Opening of School and the Formative Period of the Learner Year, teachers focused on preparing students with the minimum competencies needed for success and on building student potential as learner. In the next period – the Calibrating Period – the focus is on building proficient performers (i.e., students
From the start of school through December, the focus for academic leaders has been the development of proficient learners. Ed Directions coaches emphasize that during the Formative Period, student potential can be increased dramatically if they are taught how to learn and not just what to learn. Academic leaders were
