Raising Student Achievement

Raising Student Achievement

Working alongside teachers and principals, we deliver customized professional learning programs where you need it most.

COVID-19

As schools across the country work to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, we are here as your partner to support you as you navigate these unprecedented times. We are prepared to offer virtual learning opportunities and resources. Our thoughts are with you, students, families and communities during this difficult time. Please let us know if we can help you in any way. 

For current information on the virus:  https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

Dr. Erick Witherspoon

It is with a heavy heart that we inform you that our colleague and friend Dr. Erick Witherspoon passed away peacefully at his home on Thursday night at the age of 48 after a brief illness.

Erick was a much-loved member of the Generation Ready family and began with us in July 2013 as the California State Manager, eventually becoming our National Director of Equity. He had a passion for equity and justice and quickly steered Generation Ready into our Cultural Proficiency consultancy. Erick was passionate about pushing this valuable work forward not only across the country but also within Generation Ready. Many teachers, schools and districts across the country have grown and changed in their thinking and policies as a result of the great work that Erick has done. His legacy of positive change will live on for years to come.

Erick always believed that we needed to look at ourselves before we started judging others and telling them to change – he called it “the inside out” approach to equity. The words from the song “Man in the Mirror” remind us of how Erick viewed life.

“I’m starting with the man in the mirror
I’m asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you want to make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself, and then make a change”

Erick will be missed by so many, his life bought so much happiness and enlightenment to those he touched in the world. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.

Partnering for School Success

When you work with Generation Ready, you have a partner that shares your passion for student success. We focus on your highest-priority needs, collaborating closely with you to (deliver impactful) achieve success on professional learning assignments, districtwide instructional initiatives, or total school improvement. Our combination of people, rigorous processes, and data-driven accountability offers an integrated system that impacts teacher effectiveness, closes student achievement gaps, creates a culture of continuous improvement, and assures that the next generation is ready to meet the world.

OUR SERVICES

LITERACY

We’ll model what balanced literacy looks like in practice, demonstrate effective reading and writing strategies and show you how to cater to the diverse needs of all learners.

MATHEMATICS

Learn to build mathematical capacity as we model effective math instruction and help deepen teachers’ understanding of CCLS and assessment strategies.

CULTURAL PROFICIENCY

We’ll show you how to ensure an equitable education for all students regardless of gender, socio-economic status or ethnic origin so that every child is able to succeed.

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT

In addition to providing an intensive focus on classroom teaching, we offer school and district leaders a framework for decision-making, resource allocation, and targeted differentiated support that improves school performance.

VIRTUAL

As innovative new technologies to support virtual teaching and learning are being deployed, we can ensure both teachers and students get the most out of tools.

LEADERSHIP

Whether you are a new or established principal, we can help you build effective teams, deliver high-quality instruction and bring school performance to the next level.

NEEDS ASSESSMENT

Our thoughtful and detailed analysis will help you empower your school staff with actionable changes that will improve student learning while creating a sense of momentum and possibility.

SPECIAL EDUCATION

We’ll coach your teachers in content, classroom and behavioral management to minimize barriers that frequently prevent students with special needs from successfully meeting grade-level standards.

WORKING WITH GENERATION READY
If you want to change the culture or climate of a school, start with the adults and the kids will follow.”

– Mike Cox, Superintendent Osceola School District

Case Studies

Click on each case study to open

DeSoto County School District, DeSoto County, MS

Area of Focus: ELA

DeSoto County School District is the largest school district in Mississippi with a total of 33,140 students and 38 schools. Prior to the partnership, the district’s ELA Director and other staff members visited Generation Ready’s lab-site school (Riser Middle School in West Monroe, LA) for an understanding of the work conducted in a Middle School Literacy Initiative (MSLI). DeSoto County partnered with Generation Ready in August 2015 to work with three of the district’s 6-8 Grade Title I middle schools (Horn Lake Middle School, Lake Cormorant Middle School and Olive Branch Middle School) to implement their own MSLI.

As a result of the partnership, the percentage of students in the grade level proficient and above grade level proficient groups increased from 38% to 53%. For all schools, DRP scores increased 4.9 DRP levels. Further, the largest growth was seen in students that were severely at-risk with an increase of 7.2 DRP levels.

DeSoto County School District –

Decrease in Percentage of Students At Risk

Comparison of All Students by DRP Group

* Only the three middle schools that partnered with
Generation Ready are represented in this graph
PS 105 The Blythebourne School, New York, NY

Area of Focus: Mathematics

Our Generation Ready math consultants worked closely with the school’s leadership team to support the development of units of study, then modeled for and guided teachers as they strengthened their instructional practice in math.

Teachers learned to engage students in standards-aligned curriculum that was differentiated for all learners. The consultants supported teachers in establishing small group work where students collaborated around challenging problems.

We also helped to engage students in cognitively demanding math tasks that required them to demonstrate their ability to model with mathematics and/or construct and explore the reasoning behind arguments to arrive at a viable solution.

As a result of our work, the school received an “A” on the NYC Progress Report and a “Well Developed” for the 2013-2014 Quality Review.

PS 105 Significantly outperformed the district and city in meeting state standards in the 2015-2016 school year.

Grade 3 - 20130%
Grade 3 - 20140%
Grade 4 - 20130%
Grade 4 - 20140%
Grade 5 - 20130%
Grade 5 - 20140%
Sacramento Unified School District, Sacramento, CA

Area of Focus: Mathematics

After SCUSD was awarded a Bechtel Foundation grant for support in implementing the California Common Core Mathematics Standards, we were selected to help implement the work for grades K-8. We provided a systematic framework for effective coaching to the district’s staff including:

  • Methodologies of effective reflective discourse
  • Cognitive coaching
  • Specific mathematics instructional best strategies for teachers

We also focused on building teacher capacity so that they could fully understand and translate the Common Core instructional shifts to the day-to-day classroom work.

Since we completed our work with the district, teachers have had a laser-like focus on content knowledge, the use of models and representations, multiple ways of knowing and the Standards for Mathematical Practice 1, 3 and 6.

P.S. 198 Manhattan Beach School, Brooklyn, NY

Area of Focus: ELA

P.S. 198 is an elementary school serving a high poverty inner city community in Brooklyn. 94% of the 503 students are from minority (Hispanic and African American) backgrounds. The first Common Core-aligned state tests were administered in 2013 and the results were disappointing, prompting the school to adopt a new curriculum and enlist our help to adapt and supplement the curriculum in order to meet the diverse needs of their students. During literacy instruction, teachers began asking higher order questions and generating stimulating discussions resulting in student engagement in rigorous classroom instruction. All teacher teams were involved in the creation of rubrics for writing standards 1, 2 and 3 as a more effective way of monitoring students’ progress.

As a result of this work, teachers now use the writing rubrics to increase the expectations of the writing they receive from students. Teachers also use more actionable comments when giving feedback to students on writing tasks. With more focused teaching, there was a significant increase in students meeting state standards.

P.S. 198

Percentage Growth in Students Meeting or Exceeding State Standards

Grade 3 - 20130%
Grade 3 - 20140%
Grade 4 - 20130%
Grade 4 - 20140%
Grade 5 - 20130%
Grade 5 - 20140%

       – Before Generation Ready Consultation

       – After Generation Ready Consultation

Ann Smith Elementary School, Ridgeland, MS

Area of Focus: ELA

Ann Smith Elementary partnered with Generation Ready in 2012. The principal wanted to ensure teachers had a common understanding of best practices across the teaching of writing and had consistently rigorous expectations for students as writers across the grades. As a result of the work, the volume of writing increased as well as the quality. Teachers now see writing as an integral part of reading instruction. Halls are filled with displays of student writing and classrooms show evidence of student work, anchor charts and writing samples for each student. The principal noted that teachers became self-reflective about their instruction.

As observed in a Grade 1 class, the majority of students completed the school year at or above grade level compared to the beginning of the year.

New York City Public Schools Showing Significant Growth in ELA Proficiency

Data from 2015-2016 School Year Common Core Test Results

School Year over Year Change
in ELA Proficiency		 Reduced & Free
Lunch Rate
P.S 007 Kingsbridge School + 22.5 86%
P.S 204 Morris Heights School + 20.2 100%
Manhattan Beach + 19.8 86%
Yorkville Community School + 19.1 40%
P.S 154 Harriet Tubman + 15.8 97%
P.S. 65 Academy of Innovative Learning + 15.6 100%
P.S 19 Asher Levy + 15.0 100%
P.S 049 Willis Avenue School + 13.6 97%
P.S. 105 Sen Abraham Bernstein + 13.2 89%
P.S 087 + 12.7 86%
P.S 555 Mount Eden Children’s Academy + 12.6 93%
P.S 366 Washington Heights Academy + 12.5 87%
Academy of Independent Learning & Leadership + 12.4 88%
Statewide Average + 7.0  
New York City Average + 7.6
VIEW ALL CASE STUDIES
NEWS & RESEARCH
  • 15
    Mar

    Evidence shows that high-quality teaching is the most important influence schools can have on high-quality outcomes for students with diverse learning needs. Evidence also shows that effective teaching and learning depends on the relationship between teachers and students and students’ active engagement.
    ...

  • 26
    Apr

    The old paradigm of balanced instruction focused on enabling children and teachers to achieve success at school. Today’s paradigm focuses on students achieving college and career readiness in life, beyond school. The old paradigm of balanced instruction focused on enabling children and teachers to succeed at school. Today, the focus is for students to achieve college and career readiness in life beyond school.
    ...

  • 15
    Nov

    The most powerful way to raise student achievement is through professional learning. More than ever before, students need effective teaching if they are to develop the higher order thinking skills they will need to be career and college ready in the 21st century. At the same time the expectations for student achievement are being raised, the student population in schools is becoming increasingly diverse. This means the need for effective professional development for schools and teachers is critical.
    ...

WHERE WE WORK


Arkansas
California
Connecticut
Louisiana
Maryland
Massachusetts
Mississippi
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Texas

Generation Ready employs more than 200 educational consultants who work with preK-12 teachers, principals, and district instructional leaders in urban, rural, and suburban environments as well as in perpetually underperforming and excelling schools.

TWITTER FEED
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