Title II Information from Wheaton Press

Wheaton Press expands Professional Development initiative after results from the largest and longest ongoing study of Christian School students.

Engaged Schools is proud to partner with educators to provide Certified Professional Development to schools in the United States and abroad. Since 2012, many schools we have partnered with have found that their local education agency has been very accommodating to funding requests for Professional Development provided by Engaged Schools and our team of master teachers and trainers.

Through a professional partnership with Wheaton Press and Engaged Solutions Research, Engaged Schools Professional Development is undergirded by the largest ongoing scientifically based study of student development and flourishing in private religious schools around the world.

For nearly two decades, Engaged Solutions has been recognized by businesses, educational institutions, and non-profits for its work in using advanced metrics to measure what matters, and identify measurable solutions that transform individuals, communities, and cultures.

Originally founded as Engaged Churches and contracted by Gallup to coordinate their Global Faith Network from 2008–2010, the impact and approach of the research and training quickly drew the attention of leaders in healthcare, education, global non-profits, professional sports leagues, and corporations. The result was a name change to Wheaton Press in order to fully support the production and publishing of resources that would support the research, and allow the company to better serve the needs of individual constituencies through specific initiatives.

The Engaged Schools Initiative continues to conduct ongoing research and evaluate ongoing data from schools located in over 60 countries, representing over 150,000 assessment responses identifying trends and best practices to improve student growth, development, and flourishing.

The goal of Engaged Schools professional development workshops and seminars is to provide educators with the tools, training, and resources they need to grow professionally and maximize learning, growth, and development opportunities for themselves and the students they serve.

Some of the areas where Engaged Schools Certified Professional Development trains and equips teachers with best practices that can be immediately applied in their classrooms include:

• • • • • • • • •

Differentiated Instruction Data-Driven Learning Curriculum Mapping and Alignment Classroom Management Skill Development Formative and Summative Assessments Effective Instructional Design Strategies Project-Based Learning Integration across Disciplines Common Core Implementation

• Accurate Assessment Practices • Cross Disciplinary Skill Development and Learning Integration

• Board and Leadership Training • Academic and Missional Alignment • Learning Standards, Objectives, and Essential Questions • Educational Well-being & Cultural

Engaged Schools partners with schools and individual educators before and after Professional Development opportunities to provide sustained ongoing support and consultation throughout the process of implementation, coaching, consulting, and ongoing assessment.

Every school that partners with Engaged Schools in the assessment process receives additional training and consultation that is based on the unique results and learning needs of the students and faculty of that individual school. In addition, partner schools have access to a private online community of teachers from around the world, which includes over 287 hours of high-quality video and teacher training from master teachers as well access to a global community of shared best practices.

Commonly Asked Questions about Engaged Schools Professional Development Who is providing the service or activity?

Founded by Chris Browne, Wheaton Press is a leader in data-driven learning, metrics, and Professional Development. From 2008–2010, the parent company of Engaged Schools, originally founded by Browne in 2004 was contracted by Gallup to lead, oversee, and coordinate their global faith initiative.

In 2009, seeing the need for accurate metrics and professional development in religious private education, and building upon over 15 years of prior experience, Browne expanded the company and began to focus on the identification of global principles and best practices in education and the implementation of The Global Student Assessment.

By 2014, Engaged Schools had conducted professional development in Rwanda, Kenya, South Africa, South Korea, and the United States, training teachers from over 50 countries. Then responding to the invitation of the President of the Colombian Association of Colleges and Christian Schools, Engaged Schools led training for over 1,000 Colombian educators in March 2014.

Since that time, the influence of Engaged Schools has continued to expand through onsite training in Indonesia, Hong Kong, China, Germany, Australia, and other countries as well as through the implementation of its online training platform in 2018.

In the United States, Engaged Schools has partnered with schools and local education agencies (LEAs) to provide ongoing professional development for private religious-based schools.

How do you assess the needs of teachers or students?

Since 2010, teachers in over 60 countries have been trained to utilize and implement The Global Student Assessment in their schools to identify learning trends, and implement best practice principles that have been identified through the ongoing research provided by over 150,000 individual student assessments and over a dozen years of data tracking.

How is the intensive part of a larger comprehensive professional development plan?

Engaged Schools works with administrators and educators to partner beyond singular professional development intensives through our assessments, consulting, curriculum, online community, and ongoing relationships.

Every school that partners with us through our assessment process receives personalized consultation and the opportunity for additional strategic planning, coaching and customized resource implementation.

In addition, partner schools have the opportunity for their teachers to become part of our online community of teaching professionals. This online community provides over 287 hours of high-quality videos and training in educational best practices. Videos and training include, but are not limited to, best practices in formative and summative assessment, Socratic dialogues, mapping, essential questions, and engaged learning and classroom management.

How does Engaged Schools training equip faculty to meet the students’ academic needs?

Through the data provided by the Global Student Assessment and our partnerships with best practice schools, Engaged Schools has identified key student learning needs and best practice principles. Professional development equips teachers and administrators to identify the needs and implement the principles in their context and measure individual student and classroom progress and effectiveness.

How does Engaged Schools equip schools to document the services provided that identify the secular nature of the content?

Engaged Schools Professional Development has been carefully crafted to equip teachers with educational best practices in classroom and student learning. While each Professional Development is different and focuses on specific key learning objectives, common areas of focus that we specialize in include:

• • • • • • • • •

Differentiated Instruction Data-Driven Learning Curriculum Mapping and Alignment Classroom Management Skill Development Formative and Summative Assessments Effective Instructional Design Strategies Project-Based Learning Integration across Disciplines Common Core Implementation

• Accurate Assessment Practices • Cross Disciplinary Skill Development and • • • •

Learning Integration Board and Leadership Training Academic and Missional Alignment Learning Standards, Objectives, and Essential Questions Educational Well-being & Cultural

For example, our Beyond the Walls Professional Development includes the following specific areas of focus: Session One: Session Two: Collaborative Inquiry A: Session Three: Session Four: Collaborative Inquiry B:

Effective Instructional Design Strategies Curriculum Mapping and Alignment Project-Based Learning Formative Assessment and Differentiated Instruction Data-Driven Learning Learning Standards Identification & Implementation

How will you assess the results of the professional development activity or program?

Schools have the option to initiate or continue the process of assessing student progress through The Global Student Assessment or one of our other assessment tools. Schools will also have the option to work directly with our team of consultants to analyze their results and monitor their strategic implementation plan.

How will you use the results of the assessment for further improvement?

School administration will have the opportunity to partner with Engaged Schools to continue to develop or monitor their strategic plan.

Does Engaged Schools provide CEU certificates of completion to document faculty participation?

Yes. Since 2009, we have partnered with several national and global educational associations to offer Certified Training and Provide Educators with CEUs, Certification, and collegiate academic credits.

More information can be found on our website at EngagedSchools.com