Improvement Essentials

Schools are complex systems and improving them requires coherent, orchestrated action sustained over time.

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WE HELP HIGH POVERTY SCHOOLS SYSTEMATICALLY IMPROVE THE ESSENTIAL SUPPORTS MOST CRUCIAL FOR SUCCESS


 

Improvement work in high-poverty schools is incredibly difficult and challenging. It requires coherent, orchestrated action sustained over time across a number of important areas. We have spent more than a decade learning how to organize our own schools for improvement and success. Building on this work, we help schools purposefully improve in five essential areas: human capital, curriculum planning, lesson delivery, school & classroom procedures, and school culture.

 
 
 

Researchers have found that schools strong on at least three of the five essentials were 10 times more likely to show substantial gains in student learning over time than schools weak on three or more of the five essentials. Research also shows that a persistently low score in even just one of the five essentials reduced the likelihood of improvement to less than 10 percent.

 

THE IMPROVEMENT ESSENTIALS FORM THE FOUNDATION FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT

 
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OUR APPROACH TO IMPROVEMENT ESSENTIALS

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1. CURRICULUM PLANNING

Learn a comprehensive curriculum design process utilizing the backwards planning model.

School culture: teacher and student working one on one

2. HUMAN CAPITAL

Design and execute a mission-aligned human capital management system for recruitment, selection, hiring and training.

 
 
 
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3. SCHOOL & CLASSROOM PROCEDURES

Design and execute school and classroom procedures that maximize the learning time you have with your students.

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4. LESSON DELIVERY

Design lessons with a laser-like focus on student achievement using the gradual release model of instruction.

 
 
 
School culture: teacher engaging students for lesson

5. SCHOOL CULTURE

Build a positive, joyous school culture that enables rigorous and engaging learning to thrive.


 
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