Multi-year strategic plans are an approach for creating action plans that will guide schools to systematic improvements. REACH President and CEO was the chief architect and co-creator of New York State Education Department’s new Strategic Plan for School Excellence (SP4SE). This plan will eventually replace the annual school improvement plan that all New York State schools with the identification of focus and priority are expected to complete. REACH© facilitators will bring this same experience and knowledge to your school or district when it is time to create a robust plan for addressing the aspects of your school that are in need of improvement. The supports include ways to communicate the plan and create buy-in for implementing the plan. The REACH Strategic Planning and Implementation Program (SPIP)™ is intended to ensure that schools have expert assistance when making data-based decisions about their next steps. A REACH© facilitator will be on-site to assist with conducting staff meetings, completing the REACH Strategic Plan template©, and analyzing interim data to determine if the school community should adjust the plan. Schools can expect to have a facilitator visit five times throughout the school year. The first session is to conduct a REACH© data-driven inquiry session using specific protocols that will cull the data necessary to create a foundation for the plan. The two subsequent meetings will allow the facilitator to guide the school community through the process of completing the plan. The fourth session is to ensure that the plan is complete and the last session allows the facilitator to work with the school on a communication strategy to ensure that all staff members are knowledgeable about the plan. Find out more about the REACH Strategic Planning and Implementation Program and arrange assistance with the creation of your school’s action plans today.

School and district communities are strongly encouraged to use the REACH© surveys as a complement to the DTSDE or DROCLSD™ processes. Understanding the perceptions of all constituents is key to any school's improvement efforts. Schools should only create action plans after a school leader and staff members have a full understanding of these perceptions so that they address the most important aspects of the school culture.

REACH© has unique surveys that align to the practices and strategies highlighted in our rubrics and assess the state of the school culture via teachers, students and family perspectives. Each group of constituents has a unique understanding aligned to their role and value in the school community.

REACH© student surveys provide a unique lens into their classroom experiences, their understandings about the relationships they have with adults in the building, the supports offered to students, and their perceptions about instruction. Teachers, like students, often have a perception about their work place environment that differs than the one the school leader believes exist in the school.

It is pivotal that the school leader understands how teachers are making decisions and the ways in which the school environment is influencing those decisions. Parents can provide important information about their perceptions about the ways in which the school staff invites them to support the school, the work students engage in during the school day, the support they receive when they have concerns, and how the school incorporates their suggestions in the daily activities of the school community.

Surveys are administered using two methods, pencil and paper or computer-based. REACH© sends the results of the survey to the school approximately 3 weeks after the complete administration of the surveys. Schools receive charts and graphs to provide a pictorial display of the findings. All survey reports end with a synthesized chart that provides next steps for the school community to address some of the highlighted areas of need.

REACH Focused School Walks Program™ (FSWP) is one of our signature programs that the President and CEO of REACH© created and used to turnaround the school she led in Harlem. In this program, focused walks take place on a monthly basis beginning in October and ending in May. The concepts of the walks uniquely align to the school's goals, values, and any review processes used to evaluate the school. In New York State, the REACH Focus School Walks Program™ align to the practices and strategies aligned to the Diagnostic Tool for School and District Effectiveness rubric. The REACH Focus School Walks Program™ for districts and schools outside of New York State, are aligned to the practices and strategies found in the REACH Diagnostic Review for Optimal Conditions of Learning in Schools and Districts™. A meeting with the staff that explains the focus of the month, why that focus is necessary, and the intended outcome of the focus precedes the walks. During the meeting, the school community receives a detailed write-up of the monthly focus and is given an opportunity to discuss the strengths that already exist in the school that can be used to help each staff member successfully contribute how to achieving the goals of the concepts. The walk takes place approximately 3-4 weeks after the staff meeting. During the walk, teachers, school leaders, and support staff members visit classrooms to note the ways in which staff use the concept during the instructional time with students.

REACH School Leader Coaching Program

The REACH School Leader Coaching Program (SLCP) is based on the premise that school leaders benefit from participating in a leadership support program that helps bridge the inevitable gap between credential leadership programs and the real world experiences of being a school leader. The reality of dealing with competing priorities, lack of confidence around making the correct decisions, and navigating the political landscape while honoring the sense of urgency a school may need to be at the forefront of actions, can be overwhelming to anyone. Through the REACH SLCP, school leaders learn how to and when to manage the aforementioned issues. REACH coaches share their experiences and proven methods for successfully addressing matters of a school community that impact improvement and success. Coaching begins in July and ends in June of the following year. During the 12-month program, The REACH school leader coach will spend at least one full day per week, 3 times a month, coaching the school leader. REACH offers optional regional workshops 3 times a year so that participating school leaders have the opportunity to meet and develop professional relationships with colleagues struggling through the similar challenges. We uniquely design programs to address the specific needs of our participating school leaders.

REACH Teacher Leader Coaching and Mentoring Program

Teacher leadership is a growing practice in school improvement. It is particularly important to school leaders to have a teacher or group of teachers to assist with leading various aspects of the school improvement efforts. Cultivating teacher leaders is a sure way for a staff member to feel empowered. Research has proven that when teachers feel empowered, they begin to subscribe to a sense of shared accountability. The REACH Teacher Leader Coaching Program™ provides support to teachers identified to become a formal teacher leader.

REACH© provides teacher mentors. Mentorship is very important to teachers, especially new teachers and teachers experiencing struggles with classroom management and delivery of instruction. As experienced educators, REACH© mentors are fully aware that even in a large school, teaching can be a very lonely profession. Teacher support can be a determining factor for attracting teachers committed to your school's vision and retaining highly effective teachers. The REACH Teacher Mentoring Program™ (TMP) addresses the unique needs of the mentored teacher. Our REACH© mentors visit with assigned teachers and maps a plan for improvement. As the school year progresses, the support lessens to once every other week, and by the end of the year, the teacher is visited once a month. As the mentorship continues, the REACH TMP™ participants are asked to engage in online course-like workshops uniquely created for teachers either new or experiencing difficulty in the profession. The REACH© mentor will work closely with the school leadership to ensure that the support and plan for the mentee is appropriately aligned to the teacher’s and school’s needs

The use of data is becoming a resounding call to action for all school staff, but not many schools have established explicit protocols for how to analyze data.

The REACH School-wide Effective Practices for Using Data Program™ (SEPUDP) not only assists the school community with the data sources that align to overall goals the school has established, but the program will also ensure that there are systems established to benefit from the protocols.

Teachers receive professional development aligned to the use of the REACH data protocols. This program consists of monthly visits to the school where the REACH© consultant meets with staff members during teacher team meetings to review the ways in which teachers collect and track data against the school's missions.

This program has a blended model that incorporates off-site support of creations of data charts and graphs for the school leader and community to use to discuss if the school is on track to achieve established goals or if adjustments of practices are needed. These reflection sessions take place four times a year and a REACH© consultant conducts the reflection meeting in person with the school leader.

Teacher teams are becoming one of the most popular ways school leaders are attempting to address teacher effectiveness and student achievement. Even though, there is no doubt that increased and consistent opportunities for professional conversations and peer feedback are ways to help teachers improve their decisions and practice, many school communities continue to struggle to set-up protocols to provide these structures for teachers. The REACH Teacher Team Development Program™ (TTDP) assists the school or districts with developing effective teacher teams that lead to increased and better teacher communication, peer assistance, shared accountability, and improved data-based decisions aligned to instructional practice. Our program is a unique blend of assisting teacher teams and individual visits to classes that aim to determine the ways in which teachers are incorporating recommendations and decisions made during teacher team meetings in their everyday practice. The class visits result in a REACH Jot™ that the teacher is encouraged to use to inform their practice. Schools have the ability to select a monthly or bi-monthly visitation schedule. There is also an optional 3-session workshop package that focuses on the research and theories that support teacher teams and development via an adult-development theme.

The federal government, via IDEA, has strongly recommended Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS) as a framework to prevent disruptive behavior and support students’ development of self-monitoring, correction, and effective decision-making. REACH© has developed a specific program to assist school leaders with addressing school culture and student behavior.

This program aligns to the five principles highlighted in effective PBIS frameworks: universal screening (REACH climate survey), continuous progress monitoring (classroom checkpoint cards, homework planner, and the REACH Character Board, etc.), data-based decision-making (student workbook and Turquoise Squad book series), implementation fidelity (REACH facilitator), and evidence-based interventions (REACH referral ladder).

Through an outlined approach for change, a REACH© facilitator will take a school community through the steps of self-assessment to action planning aligned to the results of the assessment, and implementation of the action plan. The impact of an explicit plan and approach to address a school's culture can lead to increased effectiveness of staff performance, family engagement and student achievement.

The Reimagine Excellence and Achievement in CHILDREN (REACH) Character Program™ is a Positive Behavior Intervention Supports (PBIS) that incorporates research-based approaches to addressing students’ behavior.

This program is grounded in a book series that follows a group of urban children through issues they encounter in schools and their neighborhood. To create this system of support, our REACH Character Program™ includes:

1 REACH school flag™

1 REACH school entry banner™

1 REACH Character Program™ school board banner

Up to 2 copies: REACH school leader curriculum and activity binder

Up to 5 copies per school: REACH school support curriculum and activity binder)

15 copies: REACH© book of the month posters (to be placed strategically around the school)

Up to 25: REACHitution posters™

Up to 25: REACH Character Board (per classroom)™

Up to 25 copies: REACH teacher curriculum and activity binder

Up to 25 per school: REACH classroom entryway poster™

1 of each title per class (up to 250 per class):The Turquoise Squad series© books of the month (per class)

1 of each per title per class (up to 250 per class): REACH© book of the month graphic organizers

Up to 750 copies: REACH student workbook™

Up to 750 copies: REACH student homework planner™

Up to 750 sets: REACH student lesson checkpoint cards™

Up to 750 per monthL REACH monthly family guides and letters™

Up to 750: REACHitution contracts™

REACH(c) facilitators deliver instructional support using four types of strategies. Once a clear plan of action and intended outcomes are discussed and defined with the school leader, the facilitator works with the assigned teacher(s) to determine the best strategy for delivering instructional support. Of course, our service is unique to the individual school and teacher, so other techniques are incorporated in the delivery of support, if one of our four strategies is not deemed to be the best fit for support. REACH(c) facilitators are always prepared to create and implement strategies that best meet teachers' needs.

Electronic Real-Time Coaching-In Support ERTCIS

The Electronic Real-Time Coaching-In Support (ERTCIS) protocol is delivered by a REACH(c) facilitator during instructional time in a classroom. After the teacher participates in two professional development sessions, the first focused on ERTCIS cues and phrases and the second focused on norming the understanding of when and why a cue may be provided, the teacher receives real-time coaching via our headset transmitter and receiver protocol. This protocol is highly effective because instead of watching a teacher struggle with delivering instruction, the facilitator is able to make suggestions and point-out opportunities for better teaching strategies during the lesson. The protocol is also used with students to promote engagement and student ownership of learning.

TEAM TEACHING

When the REACH(c) facilitator discoveries that the teacher can benefit best from real-time modeling and coaching, the protocol used may be team teaching. This protocol includes the use of the REACH(c) Volleyball Protocol (RVP). The RVP allows the facilitator to incorporate mentoring and coaching support within the same lesson. Once the two agree on what should be taught, they review the strategies that will be modeled or coached, during the lesson. This approach allows the facilitator to chime-in, redirect, and guide the teacher's responses to students' needs, during the lesson, without the facilitator appearing obtrusive or supplanting the teacher's authority.

MODEL TEACHING

REACH(c) facilitators model lessons when teachers are learning the new skills or content. When the REACH(c) facilitator models the lesson, the teacher is expected to take notes specific to the strategies the teacher is learning. Modeling lessons enables the facilitator to transfer tacit knowledge, which research has proven can only be transferred when it is modeled. An explanation or verbal directions of tacit knowledge does not allow for the person obtaining the knowledge to ascertain it by a mere discussion. Modeling strategies and practices allows the teacher to observe when and how modification should take place and which strategy is best to employ at different points of a lesson.

OBSERVATION-BASED MENTORING

Observation-based mentoring is aligned to specific REACH(c) observation protocols. These protocols include observing student engagement, questioning techniques, teacher-student interactions, clear expectations, teacher's use of assessment, teacher's use of learning data, or the presence of intellectual safety in the classroom. Prior to the observation, the facilitator and teacher meet to discuss the specifics of the lesson to ensure that the lesson is well planned. This pre-meeting ensures that misaligned planning is not an impediment to observing the agreed upon strategy. Once the lesson is observed, the facilitator and teacher meet to discuss the details of what was observed and next steps for improved instruction.