SoCAT can provide your school or district with support in six areas that are critical to continuous improvement and increased program effectiveness.

A clear vision for strategic action

Vision is the engine that fuels the work of schools and districts. When your school or district has a shared vision, you will make more progress in reaching your goals and become more collaborative in your efforts. SoCAT can help your school or district…

• Conduct a needs assessment to verify successes and identify problem areas
• Determine root causes of problems and focus on testable predictions of where you want to be in 2-3 years
• Write a short, compelling vision statement, then gain consensus and communicate the vision to all stakeholder groups
• Make connections between vision, planning, implementation, assessment, and modifying for continuous improvement
• Refine support structures and systems as vehicles for attaining your vision

Academic programs aligned to standards

Strong implementation of standards-based instruction will clarify decisions about resources, curriculum, and instructional strategies and raise academic achievement. SoCAT can help your school or district…

• Identify and align essential standards across grade levels to narrow and deepen the curriculum
• Develop pacing calendars so grade levels agree when to teach essential standards
• Align state-adopted instructional materials to essential standards and identify supplemental materials linked to essential standards
• Ensure that students are actively engaged by teachers who are implementing effective instructional strategies
• Engage specialists in implementing standards-based instruction so that struggling students can reach grade-level proficiency

Evidence-based decision-making

Evidence-based decisions help you focus on your school/district vision and support your students, teachers, and administrators in attaining goals. SoCAT can help your school or district…

• Identify, create, or refine multiple measures in language arts and math, K-12
• Define proficiency for each measure
• Develop a timetable for evidence collection
• Collect and analyze evidence collaboratively to determine student, grade, and program successes and needs
• Make decisions based on what the evidence reveals

Addressing individual student needs

With academic achievement as the focus, the needs of each individual student are clarified. Deliberate actions to address those needs will result in improved academic achievement across classrooms, grades, and schools. SoCAT can provide ongoing, embedded professional development to…

• Ensure that teaching is grounded in district-identified essential standards
• Ensure the use of a variety of assessments that can inform instructional practice
• Differentiate classroom instruction as the first level of intervention for all students
• Deliberately target instruction to student needs, especially among struggling students and student subgroups
• Share responsibility and accountability for ensuring all students reach grade-level proficiency

Collaboration and distributed leadership

Working toward a common purpose creates the infrastructure for promoting continuous improvement focused on what happens for students in your classrooms, schools, and district. SoCAT can work in partnership with you to…

• Train teachers and administrative teams to deliberately create a common purpose that’s focused on continuous improvement in the instructional core
• Assist in creating distributed leadership to create transparency and increase participatory, evidence-based decision-making
• Assist in building grade level, school, and district partnerships to increase trust and openness to continuous improvement
• Identify and improve systems and structures that negatively impact responsiveness to student needs

Involved parents and community

Parents and communities that understand what students need to know and be able to do can support your school or district in making your vision a reality. SoCAT can help your school or district…

• Refine the work of your school site council, ELAC, and DELAC
• Promote outreach strategies to engage parents in support of student achievement
• Educate parents about how they can help schools reach established goals