I recently returned from a trip where I spoke in Bangkok at the Near East South Asia Council of Overseas Schools (NESA) Conference and in Singapore at the International Association for Scholastic Excellence (INTASE) Conference. The following article was originally posted as part of my blog series on the Huffington Post where I am sharing experiences and insights I gained from my trip. 

Two weeks ago I spoke in Bangkok at the Near East South Asia Council of Overseas Schools (NESA) Conference. Educators and school leaders from around the world attended, ranging from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Nepal, Greece, India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand and Bangladesh to name a few.Some of the teachers were originally from countries in Asia like the Philippines, but have relocated to places like Dubai for better job opportunities in order to support themselves and their families back home.

This single conference housed a tremendous amount of economic, educational, and situational diversity. Some schools struggle with limited resources to bring their students a world-class education in places like Bangladesh and Pakistan and the provinces of the Philippines, where even a private school education is in competition for resources. Conversely, educators in oil-rich countries like Saudi Arabia are challenged to inspire their privileged students to see their unique gifts and talents, not just those bestowed on them from their parents, royalty, or any other outside force.

Continue reading on The Huffington Post. 

What are the top skills employers demand? Communication skills, judgement and decision making, active listening to name a few. These skills are referred to as soft skills, or non-cognitive skills that are not measured by a cognitive or academic test, like IQ, for example.

In an age when our economy demands more college grads in order to fill the jobs of the future and to be globally competitive, the answer has been to make our classes harder and rank students, schools, and teachers by the scores students earn on their standardized test. Put more effort behind increasing IQ and get a better prepared workforce, right?

Wrong. Little to no research gives evidence that more rigorous classes or standardized tests will lead to more college graduates, according to the review, “Teaching Adolescents to Become Learners.” In fact, studies show the best indicator of success in college is not the difficulty level of classes a student took in high school or their standardized test scores, but rather their course grades, GPA, and class rank.

Researchers argue these standings are much more indicative of a student’s academic and economic potential because they measure, in part, the transferable and non-cognitive skills a student possesses:

“The prevailing interpretation is that, in addition to measuring students’ content knowledge and core academic skills, grades also reflect the degree to which students have demonstrated a range of academic behaviors, attitudes, and strategies that are critical for success in school and in later life, including study skills, attendance, work habits, time management, help-seeking behaviors, metacognitive strategies, and social and academic problem-solving skills that allow students to successfully manage new environments and meet new academic and social demands. To this list of critical success factors, others have added students’ attitudes about learning, their beliefs about their own intelligence, their self-control and persistence, and the quality of their relationships with peers and adults.”

This is one reason why parents put their kids on a soccer team, students are told to get involved in activities so they can highlight them on their college application,  and job seekers have a place to showcase their extracurricular achievements on their resumes. While there is no direct economic value to a child playing soccer, it is thought of as a social activity where people acquire the non-cognitive, or social and behavioral, skills that are necessary to get along with people at school and in the workplace, learn responsibility to a team, balance school and life, work under pressure, etc.

While classroom time is traditionally thought of as  a time to develop cognitive skills and after-school time is used for non-cognitive, the two skill sets are inextricably linked and don’t need to be exclusive. At LifeBound we train K-12 teachers, professors, advisors, tutors, and staff to use coaching skills to capitalize on the time they have with students and develop these non-cognitive skills for success in school, career, and life.

Through the coaching process, students answer questions and engage in self-reflective activities to mindfully create:

• Vision for what is possible
• Balance in their academic, social, and emotional lives
• Perspectives on the challenges they face and the choices they make
• Accountability to themselves and others
• Fulfillment from making choices that align with core values
• Habits of success to help address their personal strengths and weaknesses

What would your brightest students be capable of if they developed their non-cognitive skills alongside their cognitive? How would your struggling students benefit if they were asked powerful questions and learned to ask themselves powerful questions when they need help?

If you’re in the Denver area, join us on November 1 for a one-day Introduction to Academic Coaching. This training will give you a thorough introduction to the coaching process as well as leave you with coaching skills you can use Monday morning.  If you are interested in LifeBound coming to your area, email me at caroljcarter@lifebound.com for more information.

Professionals and athletes aren’t the only people who can benefit from a coach, students who participated in an academic coaching program found increased retention and graduation rates.  Through the process of coaching, students deepen their learning, take responsibility for their actions, improve their effectiveness, and consciously create their outcomes in life.

How can you use coaching to improve student outcomes? LifeBound’s Academic Coaching Training is a great professional development option for professors, teachers, administrators, counselors, and other education professionals who want to learn to be a coach for their student by listening, asking powerful questions, and encouraging problem solving. Our next 3-day coaching session is June 24-26. Let me know if you would like to learn more about our Academic Coaching Training in the comments or by sending an email to contact@lifebound.com.

This spring we’re definitely not sitting still at LifeBound. In the next few months we have many new events, trainings, blogs, and more that will reach communities who are dedicated to improving learning opportunities for students, teachers, and professionals. One initiative we’re supporting all summer long is to get more students involved in productive learning activities over the summer months.

Research shows all young people experience learning losses when they do not engage in educational activities during the summer. That’s why LifeBound is offering summer enrichment workshops at Lighthouse Writers Workshop for students in middle school through high school that foster self-awareness, critical thinking, and practical know-how. You can find out more about our week-long workshops for teens at our website. We are also encouraging students to read over the summer with our book display at the Tattered Cover Book Store on Colfax.

Coming up on Wednesday, April 10th, I’m excited to give a keynote to faculty at University of Oklahoma’s First-Year Experience Program. If you’re in the area, the event is free and open to the public. You can find out more at the event website.

Also coming up this month, is our three-day academic coaching training. Academic Coaching is an ongoing partnership to help students produce fulfilling results in their lives. Through the process of coaching, students deepen their learning, take responsibility for their actions, improve their effectiveness, and consciously create their outcomes in life. We conduct trainings for professors, teachers, administrators, and counselors. LifeBound Academic Coaching trainings are available year-round. Learn about our lead trainers, check out upcoming dates, and register for your next coaching session at our coaching website www.lifeboundcoaching.com.

Last but not least, I am now blogging for the Huffington Post under “Impact”.  For the next two months, I will be focusing on remedial students, posting every Tuesday.  Check out my most read article, “Why Aren’t Low Income Students Succeeding in School?” You’ll see some of the best insights include what readers posted in response.  Below is a sample of some of the topics I will be exploring in the future. Let me know in the comments if you have any additional ideas for blog topics.

• “From Trailer Park to Corporate Executive: One Woman’s Path to Personal and Professional Success”
• “Where Are We Struggling With Literacy?”
• “Why And How Are We Struggling with Innumeracy?”
• “Why And How Are We Struggling with Thinking Skills?”
• “Why And How Are We Struggling with Communication?”
• “Pipeline Success for Developmental Students.”

I look forward to sharing more about this eventful season. For inquiries about academic coaching, speaking engagements, summer reading, and anything else, call the LifeBound office at 1-877-737-8510.

A new study by the Milken Institute found a strong relationship between a well-educated population and a region’s economic performance.¹ Though it’s common knowledge that well-educated workers often make more money and have better jobs than less-educated workers, this study stands out in that it also found that just by their geographic location, less-educated people can make more money if they live in the same area as more-educated people.

Other key findings from the report include:

• Education increases regional prosperity. Adding one year to the average years of schooling among the employed in a metropolitan area is associated with an increase of real GDP per capita of more than ten percent, and an increase in real wages per worker of more than eight percent.
• Better educated = bigger benefits. The better educated the worker, the greater the benefit of additional schooling, to both the worker and the region. Add one year of college to a region’s workforce, for instance, and GDP per capita jumps 17.4 percent.
• Clusters count. In metros with clusters of high-skilled occupations, the share of workers holding at least a master’s degree is much higher than in metros without significant clusters, perhaps because of the intense competition for employment.

 

In order to use the findings to improve the economy, one recommendation by the institute is to increase the number of college graduates. As we all know, this is easier said than done. One of the greatest barriers that stands between a student and graduation is unpreparedness. This unpreparedness can start as early as preschool, and if not addressed, will stick with the student until graduation day, if they are lucky enough to make it there. Many of today’s students and high school graduates understand the need for some form of higher education in order to have real career options in the 21st century. However, many students today get left behind in K-12 and enter college unprepared, often taking developmental (or remedial) courses before they can enroll in a college-level course.

If you read my blog earlier this week you know every year 1.7 million 4-year and 2-year students will enroll in a remedial course. The vast majority of these students will not enroll in a college-level course.  Today I am leading the session Professionalism for Developmental Students:  Workplace Mindsets for Classroom Success at the NADE conference. I’ll be answering questions like: “How Does Lack of Preparation at the College Level Impede Employment?” and “How Can Faculty Set Expectations for Professional Success in Your Developmental Class?” Today’s students — developmental or otherwise — need to be held accountable for coming to class, doing the work, and passing the course. Today’s educators need to get an investment from their students and make a choice to show how the skills they are teaching will impact the student’s future prosperity. Not until we have accountable students and educators will we begin to have the graduation rates we desire.

This is LifeBound’s last day at the NADE conference. If you haven’t stopped by our booth, come say hello and learn more about becoming an academic coach for your students. You can also visit our coaching website at www.lifeboundcoaching.com.

¹“Better Higher Education Leads to a Better Regional Economy, Report Says.” The Chronicle. <http://chronicle.com/blogs/bottomline/better-higher-education-leads-to-a-better-regional-economy-report-says/>
²A Matter of Degrees: The Effect of Educational Attainment on Regional Economic Prosperity.” The Milken Institute. <http://www.milkeninstitute.org/publications/publications.taf?function=detail&ID=38801395&cat=resrep>

Kids who aren’t involved in summer learning activities suffer the greatest learning losses in math and reading. Underprivileged students who have less learning resources available to them during the school year and the summer months are put at an increased disadvantage, setting them back from their more affluent peers and increasing the achievement gap. Low-income parents who aren’t involved often suffer in exposure, awareness, and sometimes their own opportunity to prepare for the GED, community college, or better employment.

Due to the tightness of teacher and school resources, no matter how much student success is a priority, the school systems can’t shoulder all the responsibility of improving learning circumstances for their students. But that doesn’t suggest students have no options. Many communities and foundations are stepping forward to support students with free or affordable supplementary programs. As more graduates enter the workforce underprepared for the working world, advocates for student achievement, engagement, and success have moved beyond school walls and infiltrated communities, businesses, and families that rely on successful citizens who propel our society forward.

LifeBound is launching a summer reading program with the Omaha Public Library this summer to get books in the hands of  1,000 students who otherwise will approach a summer without learning resources that keep their brains engaged and ready to start the next school year strong. The role of the public library is being redefined across the country, with some providing computer skills, programs for the homeless, basic supplies for impoverished families, and more. As a place of refuge for many, libraries are answering the call to help educate our communities. One of our trainers will be working with library staff to facilitate enrichment classes for students, sessions for parents, and Friday night “Lock In” events for eighty targeted at-risk youth who will receive dinner and exposure to an educational event. This is just one of many examples LifeBound is involved with this summer to bring reading enrichment to students who would otherwise go without.

LifeBound’s books do more than develop reading skills; they help students develop the social and emotional skills they need to be successful in school, career, and life. As students learn more about themselves, they learn to embrace rigor and challenge and become better students. The manager of Whole Child Programs at ASCD says, “you will find an 11 percent increase” in students’ academic achievement with the implementation of a social and emotional learning component.¹ Based on that 11 percent increase, we can build a strong foundation for students making the transition to middle school, high school, and college. Our hope is that those students can become the peer mentors and role models for younger students in their housing projects or neighborhoods, showing by example the power of summer reading.

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Sources:
¹“Raising Stellar Students About More Than Getting Top Grades,” by Julie Rasicot. 11 May 2012. Bethesda Magazine. Accessed on 15 May 2012. http://www.bethesdamagazine.com/Blogs/Education-Matters/May-June-2012/Raising-Stellar-Students-About-More-Than-Getting-Top-Grades/

In a competitive global market the soon-to-be college graduate and new professional needs to know their unique talents and abilities in order to stand out from the crowd. Our economy is recovering slowly; a shift in our schools  and colleges can set new expectations to better prepare graduates for workforce realities. Many K-12 schools, whether out of choice or necessity, still teach to standardized tests and curriculums. However, the new professional is anything but standardized. The new professional is self-aware, stands out because of their ability to develop unique strengths, can connect their education to their career, is fully integrated into traditional and digital communication, and understands how to use personal discipline for professional advantage. If there isn’t enough time to emphasize this model in class, teachers can emphasize the importance of this exposure out of class.

If the institutions don’t have the money, time, perspective, or know-how to teach to students unique strengths, students often miss learning the skills they need to thrive in the real-world.  When teachers and parents don’t make specific opportunities available for students to apply their academic skills to real-life job prospects, young minds struggle to make those connections which employers deem imperative. Small change can make a big impact, whether it’s one teacher making a difference in his class, one initiative helping kids work on their skills after school, or parents creating a supportive culture at home. Below are some small ways educators, professionals, and parents can help find and develop students’ gifts and talents to prepare them for success in school and their career.

Robinson believes the waste of talent we see in our schools is not “deliberate”, but rather “systematic”. There will be an education revolution, as Robinson calls it, but how long can you wait for change? If your school curriculum doesn’t offer enough creative outlets, how can you make one change in your lesson that uses students’ critical thinking skills instead of memorization? If you’re a parent, what is one activity, whether a physical one, a video game, board game, etc. that develops critical and creative thinking skills you could encourage kids to play at home?

Create opportunities for students to practice professional skills and find professional role models. For many students, there can be a disconnect between what they’re learning in school and how that knowledge applies to the real world. Many students ask, “Why are we learning this?” and parents and educators don’t always have a better response than “because I said so” – or some variation. Share the true purpose of the learning and connect the value of each idea to career and personal life.

How are you helping students draw the connection between school and life? Would you be willing to coordinate positive role models to come speak to your students? Consider the impact of bringing in a real-life role model to a class that is tapped into the unreal behaviors of many of today’s celebrities. It’s the responsibility of parents, educators, students, and the community to create a stable tomorrow.  Our energy and our imagination can transform current difficulties and frustrations into  a new, vibrant and energizing learning environment.

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Sources:

¹Â “How Schools Stifle Creativity,” By Sir Ken Robinson. _{http://www.cnn.com/2009/OPINION/11/03/robinson.schools.stifle.creativity/index.html}

²“How One Principal Recruited Role Models to Motivate His Black Male Students,” by Baruti Kafele. 14 April 2012. Good. Accessed on 20 April 2012. http://www.good.is/post/how-one-principal-recruited-role-models-to-motivate-his-black-male-students/

Many parents and educators equate a student’s high self-esteem with high achievement. However, according in the article “In schools, self-esteem boosting is losing favor to rigor, finer-tuned praise,” empty praise is out, and a new vocabulary that supports challenge is in. So, how can we work with students to hold them accountable to high expectations while helping them to believe in themselves to risk, to try, to grow, and to deliver quality work?

Research shows “unearned praise does not help students but instead interferes with significant learning opportunities.” Students learn to accept challenge and move beyond difficult obstacles when they are encouraged by educators with words like “persistence,” “risk-taking,” and “resilience.” Studies also show that praising effort over intelligence is another way students can learn to enjoy challenge. An academic coaching question you might ask a student is:  on a scale of 1-10 (1=lowest) how much effort did you exert on this assignment, preparing for this test or participating in this class?  If the answer is under 5, the student may be developing more slacker tendencies which will impede their progress over time.

Rocky Hill Middle School started the school year by teaching their 1,100 students about brain development. Teaching students about how the brain makes connections and continues to grow can give some students a sense of control over their learning. Students should be encouraged to look inward to cultivate their own judgment and motivation to learn, rather than rely on outside feedback, according to Alfie Kohn, author of “Punished by Rewards.”

How can you help students look inside when confronted with a challenge, instead of waiting for outside encouragement?

How can you adjust your vocabulary to support a student’s effort instead of intelligence?

How would your classroom dynamic change if students had to find their own answers? Are you, as a parent, teacher or counselor ready to release the reigns of control somewhat so that you can become the academic coach and champion of your child’s best effort?

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Source:

“In schools, self-esteem boosting is losing favor to rigor, finer-tuned praise,” by Michael Alison Chandler. 15 January 2012. The Washington Post. Accessed on 17 January 2012. http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/in-schools-self-esteem-boosting-is-losing-favor-to-rigor-finer-tuned-praise/2012/01/11/gIQAXFnF1P_story.html