The Scope and Influence of LEARNING-FOCUSED

Jim Riedl
Jun 09, 2008

The question is often asked how many schools are using Learning-Focused? That is a difficult question to answer when you consider the wide range of services offered under the Learning-Focused banner. Up until about five years ago, Learning-Focused had only several products and was providing workshops to a limited number of schools with only 4 or 5 consultants. The offerings were limited to Learning-Focused Strategies and Catching Kids Up. Besides Max Thompson and Julia Thompson, there were several consultants that conducted training only part-time as an escape from their regular, full-time employment.

All that has changed over the past five years. Learning-Focused has grown and transformed into one of the largest providers of school improvement materials and training in the United States. The list of publications now numbers over 40 and more are being developed and added as the need for them is established. The number of full-time trainers and consultants has reached eighteen and they are all constantly engaged working with schools that wish to show significant improvement in student achievement.

In 2007, Learning-Focused conducted 1450 direct contact workshop, conferencing and coaching sessions. These sessions were from the full range of current offerings that support Balanced Achievement as suggested by the USDOE in 2006 as the only way schools will bring all students to acceptable levels of performance. They fall into six categories: Leadership, Curriculum, Comprehensive Literacy, Instruction, Catching Kids Up and Assessment.

This range of workshops, conferencing and coaching sessions were provided in twenty different states. The states range from New England to Florida, the Mid-Atlantic to the West Coast and Northeast to Southwest. There are even two states that are currently implementing plans to use Learning-Focused statewide. Many states are seeing the use of Learning-Focused spread as those already using Learning-Focused have greater and greater success.

In those twenty states there were 290 school districts and 3200 individual schools that chose to work with Learning-Focused in raising student achievement and for some to achieve AYP for the first time.

The scope of Learning-Focused’s impact becomes even more impressive when you realize the number of students and teachers being impacted. In 2007, those numbers reached 92,000 classrooms and 111,000 teachers. With the training and materials in place and being used the impact of Learning-Focused has increased dramatically over the past five years. In fact, the number of students being impacted reached 2.8 million in 2007.

These numbers represent a significant opportunity for Learning-Focused to work with a wide range of diverse schools, teachers and students to change the results being achieved across a major portion of the US. It is my sincere hopethese numbers help all of our current clients understand the scope of what they have chosen to be a part of. To those who have been a client or colleague in the past, thank you for being a part of what has moved Learning-Focused along this road to such inspiring growth and development.