More Insight on Aligning Academics

We recently published a blog post with a link to our Aligning Academics webcast and a short summary of what Aligning Academics is all about. During that webcast, we heard one educator’s experience, but we wanted to take it one step further and get more feedback on the effectiveness of Aligning Academics. We asked our Coaches and consultants out in the field, who observe Leader in Me Schools on a daily basis, how they have seen Aligning Academics help schools and students set and achieve goals. Here is what they had to say:

“This is the first time I have witnessed students owning their learning in such depth. Aligning Academics has provided a strong framework for helping students see what happens when you commit to your own learning. The 4 Disciplines of Execution® (4DX), which is the foundation for Aligning Academics, shows students how to commit to their learning.” ~Shonda Hardman

“As a result of Aligning Academics, I’ve seen teachers own the “change starts with me” paradigm through the explicit modeling of personal and professional goal setting. Modeling exposes students to the principles of focus, commitment, and accountability. These principles are among the most important roots of effectiveness for achieving school goals.” ~Sarah Ann Taylor

“Two years ago I did an internal, multi-school case study looking at a sampling of Lighthouse Schools that had seen a strong trend in improved academics since starting The Leader in Me. The purpose was to determine if there was a common practice (or practices) related to The Leader in Me process that was (were) supporting this improvement in academics. What I found was quite pronounced. All five schools were using the practices now found in the Aligning Academics training. Having these goal-setting skills and knowledge, in combination with the empowering leadership environment, was a powerful force to effectively improve academics for every child in the school. I am thrilled that these effective practices have been captured in the Aligning Academics training because all of our schools, no matter their current academic standing, will benefit from the skills that can be developed from the knowledge learned in this training.” ~Dr. Eve Miller

“It has been an honor to witness staff members and students who have been through Aligning Academics training be able to not only set goals, but to hold to weekly strategies that allow individuals to meet the goal. A game changer for many schools and individuals has been embedding the weekly accountability session with a partner to share updates on how they are working toward their goal.” ~Jill Scheulen

“Schools are most effective with goal achievement when they work from the inside out! One of my most productive schools has set it up so that each adult has a personal Wildly Important Goal^® (WIG), each team has a WIG based on a social/emotional need, and each team/person has an aligned academic WIG. They each keep them within their Leadership Notebooks, and as a cadence of accountability, they have included a check-in for each WIG during their assigned Professional Learning Community (PLC) time. During this time, they alternate weeks for discussing personal and social/emotional WIGs with academic WIGs and make commitments to assist them in progressively moving forward.” ~Alicia Parsons

“Aligning Academics, along with our 4DX process, creates a compelling focus for students and staff alike. Having students accurately articulating their current Goal Progress Status (GPS) location, they can maximize their efforts in using predictable strategies to reach their desired results.” ~Mike Webb

“Aligning Academics is truly impacting schools in a way SMART goals never did. Everyone is working toward a common goal; they each know what they can do to contribute/make an impact on it, and the celebrations are taking place frequently to inspire continued work. Students want to set meaningful goals and work diligently to reach them because now they have a sense of accomplishment, the data is kept in their Leadership Notebook where they can see at any point if they’re winning or losing, and Discipline 2 is helping students and adults alter their strategy if they find it is not working.” ~Ashley Green