ACADEMIC COACHING

1. ACADEMIC COACHING Presented by: Adetunji Adesesan & Michael Anderson Georgia Perimeter College

2. What is Academic Coaching? Academic coaching is a designed alliance between a coach and student for the purpose of fostering success skills in an educational environment. It is an individualized process that facilitates goal clarification and achievement.

3. Brief History of Coaching Academic Coaching is a creative, holistic, action-oriented partnership based on a model created by Whitworth et. al. (2007) in which students: • Set goals in any area of their life in which they desire change (i.e. academics, balance between study and recreation, etc.) • Work with their coach to develop systems and structures to reach these goals • Agree to be held accountable for commitments made during sessions • Deepen their learning about themselves – including their values and ambitions – which helps to define and refine future goals.

4. Academic Coaching Is: • Collaborative • Supportive/consultative • Socratic Questioning • Encourages Problem Solving • Creative • Self-Development • Directed Goals • Provides Structure/Systems • Contractual Relationship • Theory-driven

5. Academic Coaching is not! Coaching is not: • therapy • counseling • learning strategy instruction

6. Do’s and Don’t of Academic Coaching Coaches: • Do not provide solutions and strategies for students; they provide information about strategies • Listen and ask questions to elicit solutions and strategies from students • Occasionally share information, observations and suggestions for students’ consideration; students are ultimately responsible for their own decisions • Unlocks a student’s potential to maximize their performance • Role is to build awareness, responsibility and self belief • Facilitate practical approach to solving problem

7. The Purpose of Academic Coaching The purpose of academic coaching is to stimulate and motivate students toward their scholastic goals through: • Structure • Support • Skill • Strategies

8. Structure of Academic coaching

9. SPECIFICS ABOUT ACADEMIC COACHING • Academic Coaching is student driven, based on the students personal definition of success. • A coach serves primarily as a facilitator, asking questions that allows a student to draw upon their own self-understanding and resourcefulness to create systems that will work for them as an individuals. • Academic Coaches also teach skills, suggest strategies, and hold students accountable for following through on plans. Just as an athletic coach directs, instructs, tracks, and focuses each player’s performance on the sports field, an academic coach provides leadership, specialized training, accountability, and regular individualized feedback and support to make the most of each student’s academic potential to optimize scholastic performance. • Finally, an academic coach help students to enjoy the process of learning and take pride in their work.

10. HOW DOES COACHING WORK? Students: • meet weekly with coaches one-on-one • develop goals for the week and semester • developing skills to achieve those goals Coaches: • provide skills training based on the needs of each individual student • refer students to subject-specific tutors and other support services when needed.

11. Why does coaching work? Coaching works because it brings out your best academically. The solutions and answers always reside within you – but a coach allows you to see them and bring to light what you cannot perceive. This service proves helpful as it enhances structure and accountability while providing new study strategies, better organization and time management skills, and general moral support.

12. What a student can benefit from Coaching Experience. • Collaboration:  Student and coach working together to solve problems.  The coach teams up with the student to critically look at crucial situations, help develop appropriate skills, offer key information, and provide necessary feedback. • Knowledge Development:  The acquisition and application of new and relevant information.  Coaching allows for the development of concrete strategies and critical support systems and for the exploration of individual learning styles, memory, and organization. • Plan for Action:  The development of a strategic plan for accomplishing goals.  Coaching focuses on developing short and long term goals and providing necessary structure for the actualization of those goals.  By establishing timelines, assigning tasks, and assuring follow-through to completion of goal, coaching helps students systematically change behavior and develop problem-solving skills.

13. Other benefits of Academic Coaching • Enhanced self-esteem • Improved study habits • Improved social and communication skills • Increased motivation • Greater scholastic accomplishment • Less struggle with and more enjoyment of educational experience • Fuller development of accountability and responsibility • Identifying strengths and weaknesses • Setting realistic goals • Learning to prioritize • Using strategies without giving up; becoming more resilient • Improving organizational and time management skills • Self motivation by means of your internal dialogues and self observation • Setting up a more efficient environment to meet student needs

14. Areas of Academic Coaching. • Time management • Organizational skills • Study and test taking skills • Learning Styles • Self Advocacy • Coursework management • Establishing priorities • Establishing goals • Learning and thinking skills • Self Monitoring • Procrastination • Problem solving • Promotion of self confidence, self discipline, integrity, efficiency and productivity • Mentoring • Organizing papers • Test Preparation • Notetaking

15. Differences between Academic Coaching and Tutoring. Academic Coaching Tutoring • Focuses on the Big Picture • Work on both short and long term problems and solutions • Utilize comprehensive, multidimensional approaches to provide extensive, long lasting benefits and catalyze maximum success • Academic coaches addresses contextual factors that play a key role in scholastic success and achievement • An academic coach inspires and encourages students to reach for their own personal best • An academic coach on the other hand is part teacher, manager, mentor, organizer, cheerleader, taskmaster, counselor, resource expert, learning specialist, educational consultant and a motivational speaker • Focuses on the little picture • Work on short term issues, and offer simple fixes • Does not utilize comprehensive multidimensional approaches • A tutor is someone who answers questions on a particular academic subject or course with which one is having trouble. • A tutor does not inspire but answers questions on a particular course or subject • A tutor teaches

16. Areas of Academic Coaching(disabled students)

17. Areas of Academic Coaching(non-disabled students)

18. Academic Performance

19. “…evaluations can strengthen the plans for services and their delivery in order to improve the outcomes of program or to increase the efficiency of programs…evaluations can help us decide whether a program should be started, continued, or chosen from two or more alternatives…” (Posavac & Carey, 2007) Assessment and Evaluation GPC’s Academic Coaching Program

20. Academic Coaching Purpose of this study was to answer the following questions: • Did receiving academic coaching significantly impact the • student’s decision to remain at Georgia Perimeter College? • Did receiving academic coaching significantly improve the • student’s academic performance? • Did receiving academic coaching significantly assist students • with reaching their stated goal(s)?

21. Academic Coaching Program Objectives: • Assist students with developing effective time-management strategies • Increase retention • Assist students with effective scheduling and academic planning • Improve academic achievement • Foster self-reliance and advocacy skills • Assist students with developing a balance between academic and non-academic responsibilities

22. Academic Coaching Selection Criteria : 1) Participants must have completed at least 3 coaching sessions during the academic years of 2008-2009 or 2009-2010. 2) Participants must have a diagnosed disability.

23. Academic Coaching Sample size= 52 Actual participants= 27 Return rate= 52%

24. Academic Coaching RQ1: Did receiving academic coaching significantly impact the student’s decision to remain at Georgia Perimeter College? Strongly agree/Agree 81.4% (22) Not applicable 3.7% (1) Disagree 11.1% (3) Strongly Disagree 3.7% (1) (13) (9) (3) (1) (1)

25. Academic Coaching RQ2: Did receiving academic coaching significantly improve the students’ academic performance? Strongly agree/Agree 74.1% (20) Not applicable 3.7% (1) Disagree 22.2% (6) Strongly Disagree 0.0% (0) (14) (6) (6) (1)

26. Academic Coaching RQ2: Did receiving academic coaching significantly improve the students’ academic performance? Strongly agree/Agree 88.9% (24) Not applicable 3.7% (1) Disagree 7.4% (2) Strongly Disagree 0.0% (0) (14) (10) (2) (1)

27. Academic Coaching RQ3: Did receiving academic coaching significantly assist the students with reaching their stated goals? Strongly agree/Agree 100.0% (27) Not applicable 0.0% (0) Disagree 0.0% (0) Strongly Disagree 0.0% (0) (17) (10)

28. Academic Coaching RQ3: Did receiving academic coaching significantly assist the students with reaching their stated goals? Strongly agree/Agree 88.8% (24) Not applicable 3.7% (1) Disagree 7.4% (2) Strongly Disagree 0.0% (0) (13) (11) (2) (1)

29. Academic Coaching RQ3: Did receiving academic coaching significantly assist the students with reaching their stated goals? Strongly agree/Agree 96.3% (26) Not applicable 0.0% (0) Disagree 3.7% (1) Strongly Disagree 0.0% (0) (18) (8) (1)

30. Academic Coaching RQ3: Did receiving academic coaching significantly assist the students with reaching their stated goals? Strongly agree/Agree 77.7% (21) Not applicable 3.7% (1) Disagree 18.5% (5) Strongly Disagree 0.0% (0) (12) (9) (5) (1)