Should pilots make up flight procedures?

Pilots follow systematic and rigorous procedures according to evidence-based flight safety standards. Pilots don’t make up their own procedures, or “fly by the seat of their pants.” The result of such a “creative approach” to flying would be catastrophic.

Unfortunately, we can’t say the same about our education system. In fact, systematic methods and procedures are considered blasphemy in the College of Education. Teachers are trained to be creative and use their intuition. They are not trained to follow procedures or methods scientifically proven to produce effective outcomes with students. The result? More than 70% of students below proficiency, and less than 10% of students at the advanced level, in all academic subjects.

In any other profession where producing a specific outcome is the job, standards of practice are developed based on evidence. Following these standards and consistently producing the intended outcome is required to maintain a license or credential and continue practicing that profession.

It makes no sense that these same standards go out the window for teachers. Decades of science have led to a scientific understanding of the following:

Teachers should receive rigorous training in evidence-based procedures and be required to follow these procedures to continue in the profession.

We train and certify each of our Learning Coaches in standard procedures derived from the science of learning. They must achieve a measurable level of proficiency in these instructional competencies and consistently produce one year of academic gain in 40 hours of instruction with each learner. Maintaining these rigorous standards is why we do not have variability across Coaches, and all of our learners make remarkable gains.

Standards matter.