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Transition to Life Not College and Career

“For our students, it’s not about the survival of the fittest but making them fit to survive!” -Dr. Garrick Ratliff The beginning of every fall millions of students begin their college career. Students, freshmen, are stepping out on their own for the first time, living life without the help of parents and the responsibility of […]

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Transition Readiness not College and Career Readiness

“The future is always all around us, waiting, in moments of transitions, to be born in moments of revelation. No one knows the shape of that future or where it will take us. We know only that it is always born in pain.” J. Michael Straczynski The introduction of the No Child Left Behind Act […]

A Diamond in the Rough

Imagine, a backup, somebody that isn’t even in the game, rarely plays, sitting on the sidelines and watches, waiting his turn, for 3 years, then he realizes his turn isn’t going to come. So, he decides to leave, to look for a different opportunity and he finds one and with this new opportunity, he becomes […]

Continuous Improvement Model for Schools: Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) (Cont.)

Plus/delta tool. For schools, teachers, students and teams to be successful, continuous improvement is necessary. However, far too often schools fail to achieve the benefits of change because they don’t know what to change or where to start. The Plus/Delta assessment and feedback tool is quick and effective for both individuals and groups. This brainstorm-type format […]

Continuous Improvement Model for Schools: Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) (Cont.)

The Plan-Do-Study-Act procedure. Recognize an opportunity and plan a change. Do. Test the change. Carry out a small-scale study. Study. Review the test, analyze the results and identify what you’ve learned. Act. Take action based on what you learned in the study step: If the change did not work, go through the cycle again with […]

Continuous Improvement Model for Schools: Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA)

Plan, Do, Study, Act; continuous improvement. PDSA (Plan, Do, Study, Act) refers to a four-step improvement cycle for organizing and managing change and continuous improvement. This cycle was developed by Dr. Walter Shewhart in the 1920s and put into business practice in Japan and the United States by W. Edwards Deming. (Embedded in the PDSA […]

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Commitment to Continuous Improvement.

Improvement efforts are sustained and the school demonstrates progress in improving student performance and school effectiveness.

Schools Defined

When one looks up the phrase educational institution on Google there are three different categories: Higher Education; University; and School. Higher Education is defined as education provided by universities, vocational universities, community colleges, liberal arts colleges, technical colleges, and other collegial institutions that award academic degrees, such as career colleges. A University is defined as […]

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Stakeholder Communication and Relationships.

System and school personnel seek opportunities for collaboration and shared leadership among stakeholders to help students learn and advance improvement efforts

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Resources and Support Systems.

The implementation of No Child Left Behind has put more emphasis on state testing than at any other time in educational history. Because of this emphasis in state testing, the results from these tests have become the main focus of school systems across the country. There must be resources and support systems in place for schools to meet student achievement.