School Improvement
Our “less-is-more,” focused approach to school improvement helps raise achievement and engage staff in continuous, sustainable improvements that build on what your school already does well. We work with your leadership team to customize a plan of action and provide hands-on guidance to help you develop shared leadership and collective efficacy; use data more effectively; establish a purposeful community; use research-based practices consistently; and develop a culture of continuous improvement. Our long-term consulting includes professional development for leadership teams, onsite visits to provide technical assistance, and ongoing support.
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Making Sense of Data
Using data effectively is at the heart of continuous school improvement, and our experts can help your school or district become more systematic about your approach. Our consultants deliver training on using a four-step data-driven decision making process and fostering a data-driven school culture. Our evaluators provide services and training to help you and your staff collect and analyze data more effectively and develop and implement program logic models and performance indicators and measures.
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Monitoring Improvement Efforts
When schools begin new initiatives, they often don’t see the immediate benefits of their work. We’ll show you how to monitor and adjust the implementation of an initiative, including how to use the right tools, measure effectiveness, and make adjustments to increase effectiveness.
High-Performance/High-Reliability Cultures
Initiatives to increase achievement can only succeed in school and district cultures that support continuous and consistent improvement. Our practical, research-based training and consulting services help school leadership teams and district leaders develop shared, clear goals for improving teaching and learning and ensure that all stakeholders work together to meet those goals.
Power Walkthrough
With our Power Walkthrough™ software, principals and instructional coaches can make their classroom observations more meaningful and help teachers develop their instructional expertise. Based on the research-based strategies of Classroom Instruction That Works (2nd ed.) and compatible with any mobile device, the software includes customizable templates that help school leaders collect useful data on the most important elements of effective teaching.
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EmpowerED Suite & Power Walkthrough
This comprehensive suite of applications, developed in partnership with MediaX, makes it easy for teachers, coaches, and school leaders to work together to improve professional practices in the classroom. The suite includes our Power Walkthrough software for collecting and sharing classroom observation data; a Survey component for gathering feedback from teachers, parents, and students; a Reflection tool that helps teachers develop SMART goals and track their own growth; and a Coaching component that provides tools for enhancing coaching conversations and helping teachers be the best they can be.
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Professional Development Planning & Evaluation
How well is your professional development working? We work with schools, districts, intermediate service agencies, and states to design and implement comprehensive professional development plans that support achievement goals. We can also evaluate the efficacy of current programs—and help inform future efforts to improve professional development.
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Building Shared Leadership
It takes a team to create and maintain a high-performance school, but some teams may need help getting started. Our workshops and consulting guide your leadership teams in establishing the structures and processes they need to be productive, work together well, and gain the confidence and support of their entire staffs.
Changing the Odds: What Matters Most for Student Achievement
For this report, McREL President and CEO Bryan Goodwin examined thousands of studies to identify the school practices that demonstrate the largest effects on student achievement. He distills the most important influences and approaches into five “high-leverage, high payoff” areas for improving students’ chances for academic and life success.
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What Matters Most Survey
Our What Matters Most Framework identifies five key areas that matter most in improving student achievement. This free online survey helps you determine in just 20 minutes the extent to which your school or district is effectively addressing: challenging and engaging instruction; curricular pathways to success; whole-child student supports; high-performance school cultures; and data-driven, high-reliability systems.
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Education Logic Model App
Logic models are invaluable tools that help to visually represent the structure, process, and goals of a program. This downloadable computer app, developed by the REL Pacific at McREL, runs locally on Google Chrome and doesn’t require an Internet connection. The program guides you through a series of questions and gives you opportunities to enter your program resources, activities, outputs, and outcomes.
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Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) and Response to Intervention (RtI)
Our customized MTSS consulting addresses your school, district, or state’s specific implementation goals while focusing on building academic, social-emotional, and behavioral systems to ensure all students graduate college- and career-ready. Working collaboratively with you, we can conduct a needs assessment and audit of current practices to help identify and prioritize areas to improve. Together, we’ll select evidence-based solutions that address your needs, which can include coaching and consultation services, on-site workshops, and development of training materials, intervention handbooks, and guidance documents.
Curiosity & Powerful Learning (C & PL)
Curiosity drives the impulse to learn—and our C&PL program shows school teams how to systemically develop and support curious learners and create an effective, sustainable learning system supported by students, staff, and school leaders. McREL consultants provide onsite training and coaching at your school and help develop capacity among your staff to keep the momentum going throughout the year.