With the Strategic Instruction Approach, the key to success for students is that Routines and Strategies are explicitly taught, valued, discussed, and nurtured across the total school environment. Consequently, when a teacher asks a student to paraphrase content, for instance, the expectations and criteria for satisfactory performance is consistently applied across courses in the school. Therefore, Strategic Instruction, ensures that all students, for whom the core general education curriculum has been judged to be appropriate, can master that content, regardless of literacy skill levels.

What is the most critical component in a student's learning experience within the Strategic Instruction Model? THE TEACHER....

"After 25 years of research and $60 million later, what really moves diverse learners forward is a masterful teacher who commits the necessary energy to: create a learning community; provide a learning apprenticeship; and make plans or content explicit enough so that ALL kids are on the journey!"

Dr. Donald Deshler, Director
Center for Research on Learning
University of Kansas

The Learning Coach®,Inc. views teachers as partners in the staff development process. Therefore, training programs are customized per site using the "Teacher Guided Professional Development Approach" (J. Knight, University of Kansas), which is sensitive to the integration levels teachers experience in adopting and adapting innovations. Its "Partnership Learning Principles" have yielded significantly higher "intended implementation rates" (4:1), over traditional staff development procedures. Additionally, participants are more engaged, significantly increase memory for content, and enjoy enhanced staff development.

The philosophy of The Learning Coach®,Inc. is that all students can be taught to be good learners. When given the proper tools, a student is armed with strategies that will make their school experience exciting and rewarding. But, it does not stop there. These same strategies can be carried into the future and last a lifetime, allowing students to achieve their dreams. As educators, the greatest gift we can bestow upon our students is believing in themselves. That begins with knowledge. Learning the right strategies and routines can give students the knowledge as well as confidence to push themselves farther than they ever thought possible and achieve more than they ever dreamed.