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.

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.

The achievement gap between low- and high-income students is 30-40 percent higher for students born in 2001 than those born 25 years earlier, according to the National Summer Learning Association. The stigma of summer school is changing as experts find that summer learning losses continue to divide opportunities between low- and high- income students and that students can’t afford to unlearn knowledge every summer as our world standing in education continues to slip.

A strong focus for summer learning initiatives is on low-income students who don’t have the same summer learning opportunities afforded to their peers from higher-income families, causing them to be at a perpetual disadvantage at the beginning of each school year. However, summer learning loss isn’t exclusively a low-income problem. All students who don’t exercise their math skills over the summer lose about 2 months of grade level equivalency in mathematical computation skills. Low-income students are more likely to also lose 2 months of reading achievement, while their more affluent peers improve (NSLA).

This summer, LifeBound held a series of summer workshops for students in middle school through high school who attend school in Colorado Springs and Jefferson County School District. Scholarships were given to outstanding students to attend the week-long training. Class titles included: Critical and Creative Thinking: Becoming an Effective Coach, Problem Solver, and Decision Maker and Success in Middle School: How to Make a Great Transition for students in 5-9 grade and Critical and Creative Thinking and Mastery of Leadership: Leading in College, Career, and Life for high school students.

Students in Jefferson County are finishing up their last week in their summer workshops this week, and we look forward to hearing about all that they’ve learned. We will continue posting student reflections on our LifeBound student blog over the next few weeks. Today we have three articles by our talented middle school attendee of the Critical and Creative Thinking workshop in Colorado Springs, Keegan. Just one tidbit he took away:

You don’t have to do something great to be a great person. Whether you create a cure for cancer, or invent some socks that never smell, the thing that makes you great is your attitude.

Next week we will have some more articles from our high school students who attended the Leadership course.

Read Keegan’s blogs:

• What I Learned at LifeBound’s Critical and Creative Thinking Summer Workshop
• Using Critical and Creative Thinking Skills In and Out of the Classroom: A Student Reflection
• What I Learned About Teamwork and Leadership in LifeBound’s Summer Workshop

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/

How are some students curing “senioritis”? By avoiding senior year all together, according the Wall Street Journal article “High School, Only Shorter.” The most recent data on 3-year high school graduates shows about 2.9% of sophomores graduated in three years or less in 2002, which is up from 1.5% of students in the early 1990s. One reason for the rise is the increased availability of online classes, allowing students to continue working after the school bell rings and during summer vacation. In some states, students even receive scholarships incentives for graduating in under four years.

But just because students have the drive to finish high school early, does that mean they are ready for the college lifestyle, the workload, and possibly the distance between their college and their family? Some education experts argue that the four years students spend in high school develop more than their test taking skills and mastery of high school subjects; students need their senior year to continue devloping socially and emotionally.  Personally, I believe we are rushing students through high school, keeping them from valuable experiences to give context for their learning, and hastening their entry to the adult world where they often find themselves unprepared for complex demands.

“Now more than ever, the years of high school and even middle school are often thought of primarily as years of college prep,” writes Lisa Rivero in her article “High School Years: College Prep or Life Prep?” For college-bound students, their K-12 education is already hyper-focused on ACT and SAT scores, AP courses, service learning, and community involvement. What does putting the pressure of finishing high school in three years do to the already high achieving student?  What additional pressures does this cause and what is the cost personally as well as professionally?

For starters, it can exhaust them. Luke is a student who wanted to both get into an Ivy League school and graduate from high school within three years. To do so, he worked seven days a week for almost two years, according to the Wall Street Journal article. By the time he graduated, he was burned out and had to take a year off before attending Brown. Other students who rush themselves through high school and college are burned out once they enter the world of work, and sometimes opt for jobs which are easy and way beneath their education and skill level, because they want to avoid the hassle and pressure of a higher skilled job.

Graduating early is the only way for some students, but it isn’t for everyone. Will increasing the amount of three-year graduates increase the amount of college-ready students? The problems affecting today’s college students are not entirely academic. Many of today’s students don’t have the critical thinking skills they need to do college-level work, a skill that is not acquired through taking standardized tests. Employers are complaining college graduates don’t have the work ethic and sensibility they need to excel in their careers. When students are rushing to earn their high school degree, they have less time to spend having real-world experiences and will enter the workforce earlier with very little practical contributions to show for themselves.

LifeBound’s book MAKING THE MOST OF HIGH SCHOOL gives students a look at the four years of high school and how to take advantage of all their opportunities in and out of the classroom. MAJORING IN THE REST OF YOUR LIFE provides college-bound students with a map of how to make the most out of their college years by getting involved, discovering their passions, and using college as a entryway to the world-of-work. We encourage students to take their time, embrace rigor, seek experiences that will be different from what their friends are doing, take risks, and gain exposure to the global world through language emersion, friends from foreign countries, travel abroad volunteering or working, or all of the above. In short, we believe in helping students develop who they are and that takes time, discipline, and the self-confidence to slow down and enjoy the experiences which can be hatched with the time it takes to mine your passions, interests and abilities.

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Sources:

“High School, Only Shorter,” by Sue Shellenbarger. 10 April 2012. Wall Street Journal. Accessed on 13 April 2012. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304750404577321561583186358.html?mod=e2fb

“High School Years: College Prep or Life Prep?” by Lisa Rivero. 11 April 2012. Psychology Today. Accessed on 13 April 2012. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/creative-synthesis/201204/high-school-years-college-prep-or-life-prep

The classroom bully is not a new character, but technology has given the bully new shape. The Internet and the accessibility of handheld devices for younger and younger kids has afforded the bully to be more elusive and far-reaching, both in audience and victims.

Findings of a new cyberbullying study illuminates the changes and challenges well. According to the study, physical bullying decreases as children get older, but cyberbullying increases. The study also found:

• Almost 90 percent of students are online by third grade.
• 83 percent of middle school students have a mobile device.
• 35-40 percent of elementary students report being targets of bullying, and 50-53 percent of middle and high school students say they have been victims.

 (“One-Fifth of Third-Graders Own Cell Phones” — CNET)

Abuse, harassment, and bullying are not only physical; verbal and written forms of hurtful behavior also make long-lasting and high impact imprints on the victim. Educators, parents, students, and policy makers understand that cyberbullying needs to be reigned in, but how it will be done is still unknown. One reason squashing cyberbullying is so hard is that it doesn’t have a clear-cut definition. Is gossip or rumor spread over social media cyberbullying? Whose jurisdiction does cyberbullying get tried in (law, parental, education)?

One eighth grader, Charlsea Brewer, was recently profiled for being the target of a fast moving rumor on Facebook, in the article “Rumors of Violence, Spread by Social Media, Weigh on Teens, Schools.” After having been picked on, Charlsea wrote a post that wished the popular kids at her school would get shot, which definitely wasn’t a well-thought out statement to share on Facebook, but held no real threat. Within hours, the rumor spread that Charlesea had a “hit list” from which she suffered lasting backlash from parents, peers, and school officials.

The article quotes a Pew Research study as finding that 95 percent of teens are online, and eight out of 10 of those teens have a social media account. “Social media are vital to teens’ lives,” said Amanda Lenhart, a researcher with Pew. “This is their space of social interaction.”

Clearly, social media is a preferred method of communication for most teens, but is part of the attraction due to them not having to be themselves? The anonymity users get from having an online identity can bring out the worst in people. Adults can be just as guilty of spreading inappropriate and scarring words on the Internet. Some teen cyberbullies have even turned to impersonating students and faculty through fake Facebook and Twitter accounts they set up to post offensive comments, according to the article “Students Create Fake Online Profiles to Bully Peers.”

It’s clear that we have a responsibility to teach kids how to be respectable members of society both on-and off-line. We are already seeing how social media can not only be used as a vehicle to hurt other people, but can drive people to self-destruction as well. Adult users of social media who post inappropriate pictures and comments can lose careers, career opportunities, college admission, college scholarships, and personal friends.

It could be possible that the solution to cyberbullying isn’t a completely new idea. Students don’t need new social skills to navigate an online environment; they need to take the same morals and ethics they should have in the physical world and apply them online. LifeBound’s book People Smarts for Teenagers gives students the skills to help them learn about themselves and how to socialize with their peers. A socially and emotionally intelligent person has empathy for people, understands social boundaries, and thinks before they act, no matter if they are in a digital or physical forum.

How much do you know about how the brain works?

Studies show that children don’t have a solid understanding of how the brain functions, which isn’t surprisingly linked to the lack of education they receive in early childhood neuroscience. New research shows elementary students commonly believe the brain is like a container that holds memories and facts, according to Annie Murphy Paul’s article “What Kids Should Know About Their Own Brains.” Consider the limitations students might start putting on themselves at an early age when they envision the brain as having the same finite characteristics of a container. They might set unnecessary parameters on knowledge, knowing that a container acts as a holding tank and that it runs out of room.  This runs counter to the brains’ nearly infinite and plastic capacity.

Past and current studies on neuroscience and early education suggest teaching children about brain functioning as early as first-grade could make a significant impact on how students feel about their own learning. For example, Paul, in the article, says new research shows giving first-grade students only one  20-minute lesson on neuroscience helped their understanding of how their brain works significantly. A small lesson that could make a big impact. Also, Carol Dweck’s well-known studies show teaching students about their brain helps them understand the value in making mistakes, when it’s followed by the understanding that persistence leads to mastery and that effort pays off.

At the core of these findings is a familiar logic that we use in LifeBound’s books and LifeBound’s Academic Coaches training. In the recent neuroscience studies cited above, when students learned even a little bit about how their brains worked, the limits they set for themselves collapsed. They learned their brains are flexible and capable of holding more than they have the ability to comprehend. They learned experiences, good or bad, help us grow so that they can be resilient and persistent. We train academic coaches to use powerful questions to help students develop these qualities and find their own answers. Giving students the answers (instead of letting them arrive at their own) reinforces the parameters on their knowledge they are apt to set up themselves. When students learn how to find their own answers, they build the experience they need to solve their own problems in school, career, and life.  They also learn that they have an impact on their own insights, ability to relieve stress and provide calm and measured solutions among others–qualities that can help among bullies and other challenging forces.

Learn more about LifeBound’s academic coaches training and how you can coach your students using powerful questions to develop accountability, resilience, and persistance so that they can help themselves and others. LifeBound’s book, CRITICAL AND CREATIVE THINKING, provides many role models of people of who have stretched the capacity of both their brains and their talents.

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Sources:

“What Kids Should Know About Their Own Brains,” by Annie Murphy Paul. 5 April 2012. Mind/Shift. Accessed on 6 April 2012. http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2012/04/what-kids-should-know-about-their-own-brains/

Education in the arts can do more than boost a student’s creativity. A new report by the National Endowment for the Arts shows high school students who had “arts-rich experiences” had a higher overall GPA than students who weren’t involved in the arts. The report also found disadvantaged high school students involved in the arts were more likely to enroll in competitive colleges than their peers who weren’t involved, according to the article “Arts Involvement Narrows Student Achievement Gap.“

Art education has shown to make a positive impact on student success, but it runs counter to the belief that testing and more rigorous programs aimed at raising math and reading scores is the answer to higher graduation rates and lower dropout rates. How does art  make students a better at solving math problems or reading a book? For one, students are engaged by these creative activities, making them more likely to attend and participate in class. A music, theater, dance, or visual arts class might be the only motivation a student has to come to school on any given day and increases the odds they will make it to their academic classes as well.

For some at-risk students, their involvement in the arts might be the first thing they’ve excelled at and been encouraged to pursue. When students find their niche, they might be more motivated to continue down the path of success and translate the hard work and payoff they’ve seen in action to their other studies. It’s not the mastery of brushstrokes or pirouettes that will help students become better readers and mathematicians; it’s the confidence they gain through experimentation and play that lets them know they can succeed.

However, schools are facing hard financial times and many are required to cut programs, and the first classes to go are often art classes. A recent report from the U.S. Department of Education found that fewer public elementary schools are offering visual arts, dance, and drama classes than they were 10 years ago, which is believed to be due to an increase in programs aimed at improving math and reading scores. It’s not a surprise that student populations that qualify for free or reduced lunch — and benefit most from arts programs — are getting hit the hardest.

Student success starts early. The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading has the mission to close the achievement gap by having all low-income students reading at grade-level by third grade. What would happen if more initiatives were focused on giving students the tools to succeed throughout their development, instead of focusing all their efforts on reversing damage already done? We can’t afford to wait until high school to expose at-risk students to the arts, sports, or community participation that exposes them to the real-world and that might give them the first taste of intrinsic motivation.

LifeBound offers books and curricula that follow a stairstep developmental path for students in fifth through twelfth grade that teach social, emotional, and academic skills for success in school, career, and life. We are also passionate about closing the achievement gap and believe a summer reading program can make a world of difference in the lives of at-risk and impoverished students. Ask us about our book donation program for summer reading in the comments or email us at contact@lifebound.com.

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Sources:

“Arts Involvement Narrows Student Achievement Gap,” by Tom Jacobs. 29 March 2012. Miller-McClune. Accessed on 3 April 2012.  http://www.miller-mccune.com/education/arts-involvement-narrows-student-achievement-gap-40745/

“Report: Fewer Elementary Schools Offering Visual Arts, Drama, Dance; Poor Students Hurt Most,” by Christine Armario. 2 April 2012. Star Tribune. Accessed on 3 April 2012. http://www.startribune.com/nation/145804075.html