When working with underperforming schools, Ed Directions’ coaches always emphasize that a school cannot improve scores by setting out to improve scores. In our approach to school improvement, we emphasize that to improve scores, you must improve individual students as learners and performers. This is not an attempt to de-emphasize

In states with more detailed district and school reports, we can carry our analysis to another level. In states that offer information on individual student performance, or in a best case scenario the actual student work and how it was scored, we can connect more dots and begin to speculate

Once we have established where students are expected to be as learners and performers by the time they take a test or transition to the next year – we then facilitate the school’s analysis of current status. This can vary from state to state depending on the nature of, and

There are lots of things for school leaders to do between the time students leave school to the time they return for the next year, and they are all important. Some of these things relate to personal survival (e.g. vacation time, personal professional development, etc.). Many relate to management responsibilities

This tool can be used to focus academic leader/teacher end-of-year conferences and teacher professional development planning, or can be used by teachers to begin the rethinking of their program for next year’s students

Recently, I spoke with one of my mentee principals about the impact of the pandemic on his students’ learning and performance. We talked at length about the numerous challenges the past year has presented. As we were ending our discussion, I asked if he learned any positive lessons. Upon reflection,

Ed Directions continues to emphasize the importance of preparing students to work at the level of the state assessment. We’ve also emphasized mastering the formats and venues they would face on the assessment whether they’re going to have an assessment this year or take an assessment that will count. This

In our planning, the Ed Directions staff looks at state standards or expectations and come up with a plan as to how they turn those expectations into positive test scores. We try to identify what the states identify as priority learnings (what students have to know), what they want the

In our first mental health blog we identified an abbreviated list of pandemic related conditions that could create stresses and anxieties that will ultimately cause mental and emotional issues for students. We looked briefly at issues within current mental health plans in schools that we are currently training or coaching

For the last five years or so, Ed Directions planning teams have been studying the impact of mental and emotional issues on student learning and student performance. We found that there is research dating back to the 1960’s that relates student mental and emotional issues to underperformance in school. In

In the past, many organizations and business leaders used a reductionist view of the way things work inside their companies, adding the individual parts (i.e., departments, supply chain, etc.) to equal what they thought was the sum of the whole. However, in modern times, many thinkers have developed new processes

The classroom has many lessons it can teach the boardroom. Five years ago, I wrote a series of chapters in the book HOPE for Leaders Unabridged on what the business world could learn from K-12 education. As business gets ready for the post-pandemic world, there are new lessons on mental

Recently, I wrote about a principal’s request for me to review his school re-opening plan for students in April. I noted that his plan was well constructed, well thought out, and included all the elements (strategic, logistic, and tactical) that makeup a strong plan. I mentioned that I had two

Last month, a friend asked me to review his school’s plan for restarting traditional classroom learning in April. Specifically, he requested that I look at his priorities and see if he missed anything. He added a caveat “do not depress me.” In reviewing is plan (actually plans) I was struck

When the Ed Directions coaches started working with schools, they were working with schools that had been identified as “in decline” or “in crisis.” They were given labels because of scores that their students had earned on a very rigorous state assessment of all content areas. As we started working