What Do All High-Performing Schools Have in Common?

Every school dreams of having numbers to be proud of: high scores on standardized tests, high percentages of college acceptances, and even high percentages of students that graduate. To achieve any goal, a strategy is necessary. Some administrators might not even know where to begin with making changes to their school's structure, and others are already doing well but think there's always room for improvement.

The best way to do well has always been the same: look at what the greats are doing, and take a page out of their book. Recent observations on high-performing schools show that they have a few traits in common – traits which any school can easily adopt.

A Standards-Based Curriculum

If a school wants to be, at least, at the same speed as other schools, it's important to use the national standards to construct the curriculum. No one gets ahead by spoon-feeding students and allowing them to coast from one grade to the next without a challenge. Standards for curriculum have been developed after rigorously observing what students can handle at each age level – they work for a reason. It's a strategy based on research.  

Data-Driven Changes

You can't figure out what's wrong if you're not looking at the numbers. Are your students doing well in English but not in Math? Are they doing well on quizzes but poorly on standardized tests? Use data to localize where the issue is, and then go deeper. It's being found that students respond well to action learning systems, in which students learn through doing rather than through listening to a lecture, which could be one flaw in a school's structure. It could also be that your school has insufficient after-school tutoring. At the end of the day, if you're not using data to figure out where you could improve, then your numbers are going to stay where they are.

Targeted Professional Development

It's not just the curriculum that needs adjustment, in many cases – it's the staff's methodologies, too. Students can, purposely or subconsciously, do poorly when they resent an instructor, whether it's because of their professionalism, their availability, or even their choice in materials. Use anonymous feedback forms and in-class observations to see what could be improved on, and then hold workshops to help teachers improve. Learning how to talk to students of certain age levels, learning new ways to teach old lessons, and learning how to be approachable are all skills that can always be improved upon.

Goals

It's one thing to say, "We want to improve." It's another to say, "We want to improve our test scores by 10%." Schools that set goals are more likely to have their eyes on the prize. Make your school more achievement-oriented by setting quantifiable checkpoints, no matter how small.

Community Engagement

Are the parents at your school as involved with the students' learning as they could be? Are you available to them? Do they have access to their students' grades and assignments? What about school activities – are there enough events that the community can attend? Engagement is massively important for motivating the students to want to do better, and for getting all hands on deck when it comes to improving. You never know who in the community would be willing to help out, and schools that focus on engagement tend to be very high-performing.

These are the types of things that create a strong learning atmosphere in which teachers want to teach, students want to learn, and everyone wants to do well – it's proven by research. Where does your school need to improve?

Is there Room for E-Learning in Your Workplace?

A lot of people probably associate the thought of e-learning with the classroom, but the truth is quite the contrary. The manifestation of technology in current day-to-day life is making e-learning a prevalent concept, and not just for middle-schoolers. In fact, it opens up many new avenues and opportunities for employers to take hold of.

Think about it: how many times has your company had to stay late to take evening training sessions, or even set aside days' worth of work to learn something new? Since it's pretty likely that your workplace has access to the internet, there's no need to waste time on such endeavors anymore. You can access the internet from smartphones, laptops, tablets, and even televisions, making cloud-based technology extremely accessible.

Yes, it does require making the business decision to set aside a budget for mobile devices and software costs. That cost, however, is quickly offset when you consider the hours of paid work you'll save per employee on training and information sessions.

So how does it work?

E-learning systems deliver educational content based on the user's preferences. It maintains a blend of media in order to act as the perfect tool to teach various types of lessons. It is also cloud-based, allowing users to access uploaded content at any time. Thus, employers can upload training materials – whether they're slideshows, infographics, or even pre-recorded videos – right to the cloud, and employees can access the material to absorb it at their own pace. Later, they can use a forum tool to have discussions and answer questions based on the material. It's safe to say it's more engaging than a number of meetings, and it fits better into everyone's schedule because they can access the materials whenever they like.

As with any big change, using e-learning as a training tool is a big jump to make. That being said, there's only so long that companies can go without incorporating technology into the workplace before they're outnumbered. E-learning encourages employers and employees to interact, develop, and improve at all levels, and consistent access to reference materials means the improvements never stop. Plus, it never hurts to get your employees comfortable with using technology!

Three Ways Higher-Ed Learning Isn't what it Used to Be

Higher education these days is still synonymous with expensive textbooks, lectures, and slideshow presentations. Now, though, more and more schools are "teaching with technology:" incorporating new technological tools that benefit students inside and outside the classroom. If you graduated college ten or more years ago, you'd probably think the current curriculums bear little semblance to what you remember. Here are a few examples of ways that college classrooms are getting futuristic.

Video Lectures and Conferencing

Not only can you take entire courses online, but you can make use of video recording technology, too. For online courses, some professors will upload videos of themselves giving a lecture, which is somewhat more engaging than reading the content on your own time. For other courses, many schools offer platforms on which students can video chat with one another in order to work on and create material for group projects.

Classroom Management Software

Gone are the days of losing the notes you need for your homework and not having your classmates' contact information if you want to start a study group. Classroom management software not only enables professors to create lesson plans and manage and post students' grades, but it also allows everyone in the class to access a cloud system to which class reference materials can be uploaded. Students can also start discussions on class-wide forums if they want to get together or simply have a question regarding the coursework. Professors can even share computer screens to show students how a problem is solved.

Digital Portfolios

It's becoming more and more commonplace for students to generate digital portfolios of their work, whether they're majoring in painting, creative writing, or graphic design. A digital portfolio is like a student's unique website upon which they can post a bio, discuss their inspiration, keep track of progress, and simply show off their work. It's becoming typical for future employers to ask students for their website address, and some schools even hold classes or workshops to teach students how to create them.

How are you incorporating technology into your higher education classroom? Would you say it's beneficial or distracting?