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To support parents in making their homes a place of learning, we are excited to announce the release of a manual entitled, Success in School Begins at Home. The purpose of the manual is to be a guide for groups of parents to discuss how to help their children be as successful as possible in their schooling. The Success in School Begins at Home manual contains 12 lessons, with topics such as: The study guide is brief, easy-to-use, and contains specific action items to help parents follow-through after each lesson.
A volunteer Latter-day Saint senior missionary couple, Reed and Nada Spencer, spent the past two years researching, compiling, and publishing the educational manual. Reed Spencer began his professional career as a primary teacher.
He soon moved into administrative positions, ending his career at the Utah State Office of Education directing literacy instruction for the , public school students there. In addition, he spent twenty years teaching graduate school, training teachers. Nada Spencer spent those years raising five children, taking an active part in their education and schools, and teaching and leading church youth groups.
Since the home is the most important element for learning success, Mrs Spencer gained valuable experience as she coached their children to become successful students. With Mr Spencer's retirement and their children out on their own, the couple volunteered to serve a mission for the Church and received an assignment to Samoa. Their assignment was to raise the level of education in the families of the Church throughout the South Pacific. It was a big challenge, they say.
They were the first couple called to be education coordinators. There was no manual for them to follow as they began to tackle the job. When we got here, we knew two things: We were sure of that. And the other was, we were pretty sure the Lord did know what to do. The Spencers developed some literacy initiatives in the Church schools in Samoa, providing them additional experience in preparation for producing the Success in School manual.
Social science research demonstrates a strong link between theintact family structure, parental involvement, and educationaloutcomes, from school readiness to. School Success Begins at Home academic performance drops. Why? First . Schools need to stay the course of raising academic standards. Parents need to.
The evidence is real strong that parents just need to know that. In addition to compiling the Success in School Begins at Home manual, the Spencers produced four other guides relating to education: The leadership guide quotes senior Church leader Russell M. Unfortunately, a five-year-old child who has not learned certain skills can already be as much as two or three years behind other children when they start school!
Our goal is for every child entering the first year of school to be prepared and ready. The study buddy guide explains how small groups can help one another learn and gives examples of lessons and skills. The second purpose is to help anyone improve their skills in basic reading, writing, and math. Most people need extra teaching and practice on certain skills, and schools do not usually have the funding to provide that extra help.
Private tutoring is very expensive, and not always effective. As members of the Church, we can and should help each other—not just go to school, but be successful in school!
More and more, English is the language of business, industry and employment, the language of tertiary education, and the language of technology—worldwide. What should my next step be? The combination of revealing student strengths, engaging them in meaningful in-classroom exercises, and coupling it all with individual advising appointments leads to amazing self-discovery and clarity on the best fit for the student's academic pathway.
Now, the advisor is able to leverage a portfolio of resources to help support the student with experiences that provide intentional application of these strengths in preparation for their future life and career path. We have learned that many higher education institutions make the mistake of providing students with strengths assessments that have no link to academic advising, career services, or other aspects of individualized advising.
How we structure the opportunity for students to apply their strengths in the co-curricular space helps students make a meaningful connection between their unique skill set, their academic experience, and their professional future.
In this regard, global experiences are critical. Traditionally, study abroad has been presented to students as an opportunity for cultural exposure.
Under the strengths-based approach, international experiences are an opportunity for further developing their strengths while cultivating a global mindset. At Pitt Business, we have undertaken a strengths-based approached within our academic and career advising center. Similar to other institutions, we use the Clifton StrengthsFinder tool for the strengths assessment of all first-year students. Then we take it a step further with our integrated academic and career advising approach, which coaches each student through an individual development plan that is discussed, revised and used as a guide for the student's progress across their four years.
Our advising is augmented by a competency-based technology platform called Suitable , which helps students leverage their strengths as they advance through co-curricular opportunities.
Drawing on the student engagement analytics provided by this platform, we are able to provide individualized feedback to students on how their participation in student clubs, case competitions, professional development activities align with the positive outcomes that result when their strengths are recognized, developed and supported within their undergraduate experience. Changing a mindset is never easy, but by viewing student development through the lens of building strengths rather than correcting faults, higher education institutions are better able to drive key student success outcomes.
Doing so also helps to advance the broader institutional outcomes of enhanced freshman retention, higher graduation rates, and stronger student engagement levels. The pathway to student success begins with identifying and drawing out the often hidden assets of each individual student and providing them with a strengths-based educational experience that creates positive academic, career and life-long well-being. Tap here to turn on desktop notifications to get the news sent straight to you. Go to mobile site.