For better or worse, the No Child Left Behind Act has forced educators and parents to live with the notion that test scores are the ultimate measure of a quality education. Unfortunately, administrators and teachers are being held solely responsible for the program’s overall success or failure. "Goal Setting for Kids and Teens", an innovative goal setting program, helps shift the responsibility for success from the school to the student where it really belongs.
SYRACUSE, NY (PRWEB) October 11, 2005 -- Gary Blair, President of GoalsGuy Learning Systems and well known international educator and strategic planner, believes he has developed a program that will improve teacher morale, student attitudes and classroom performance. "Goal Setting for Kids and Teens", a new, student centered, goal setting program, affords administrators, teachers and parents alike a practical means by which to motivate kids to take ownership of the learning process and, thereby, improve their academic performance.
"Aside from the few math and science teachers I’ve talked to about the federally mandated ‘No Child Left Behind Act’, the vast majority of administrators and educators resent the imposition of a program they weren’t directly involved in creating," says Blair a goal setting strategist whose company services the needs of more than 80.000 organizations including the likes of IBM, NASA, General Electric, Federal Express, and Ford.
"And their reaction to the process is only natural. No professional likes being told when, let alone how high or how far to jump. And educators are not alone in this respect. Most students have a similar attitude about the goals their parents and classroom teachers have set for them," Blair says.
Blair points out that the same problem exists in the business world. "Employees naturally resent what they sometimes perceive to be mindless directives from a faceless MBA sitting behind a mahogany desk in the front office. Recognizing this, forward thinking executives have changed the way they deal with their employees, engaging them in the goal setting process. In short, enlightened managers know that it’s important their employees get intellectually and emotionally involved in the goal setting process.
"In the business world, it’s a generally accepted fact that those who strive to achieve internally established and formalized goals are not only more productive, they’re happier and more successful than those who rely on others to tell them not only what to do but how to do it," he says.
Applying the basic principles underlying business goal setting strategies to education, Blair has developed "Goal Setting for Kids and Teens",an instructional guide which is divided into seven components that can be easily digested, managed and implemented by administrators, individual classroom teachers and parents.
The program is derived from the same popular program he developed to meet the needs of industry and includes the following modules.
I. Goal Orientation. A series of lessons that introduces teachers, parents and students to the value of goal setting in their academic life. From the onset students learn the difference between a goal and wishful thinking. A goal is not only specific, attainable, and measurable, it must be tied to a specific time frame.
II. Anatomy of a Goal. Provides a visual representation and extended explanation of what constitutes a goal. A picture often times speaks louder than words.
III. Suggested Goals. Ten goals students might want to consider before they start setting up and implementing their individual goals.
IV. Goal Setting Activities. Great ideas on facilitating important goal related activities.
V. Rewards and Celebrations. A crucial section devoted to the psychological importance of rewards and their impact on behavior.
V. Goal Setting Forms. Three computerized forms to formalize the process: a form to list the student’s Top Five Goals; 1-2-3 Goal, a form designed to reinforce specific goals, listing why there is a need to achieve a specific goal and what actions need to be taken to realize them; and "Contract with Myself" which is designed to formalize the student’s ownership of each and every goal.
VI. Inspiration Quotes. Thirty-six quotations that bring the importance of goal setting to life.
Is the No Child Left Behind Act destined to fail? “It may not be doomed to failure, but as it stands right now the program is counterproductive especially when it comes to teacher recruitment and retention. After all, who wants to work (or continue to work) in an environment where one is held solely accountable for the performance of others,” Blair concludes.
Administrators, teachers and parents interested in learning more about the program are invited to visit GoalGuy.com (www.goalsguy.com).
About Gary Ryan Blair. Mr. Blair is no stranger to education though up to now his focus as an educator and strategic advisor has been directed to the corporate world where his company now services the needs of an international audience of over 4,000,000 individual users and subscribers. He has established and sponsored two nationally recognized events: Youth Goals Education Week, a unique opportunity for kids and teens to learn about goal setting and its influence on their future, and New Year's Resolutions Week, a series of activities designed to encourage young and old to set goals for their lives.
Media Contact:
Todd Harris
www.GoalsGuy.com
Tel: 315-422-1777
Fax: 315-422-1888
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