THE CHALLENGE:
The best teams and the best schools are both trying to solve the same problem: How do I help my team get better, faster?
THE IDEA:
In the last decade I’ve had the privilege to work for teams in the highest levels of sport – the MLB, NBA, NFL, D-I NCAA, and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee. I’ve interacted with coaches from teams in more sports than I can count, and from countries across the globe, applying the lessons we learned at KIPP to non-K-12 environments.
Now that I’ve moved on to my next chapter the one question I’m asked more than any other about my time at KIPP is this: “Why did your school succeed when so many other similar schools in similar neighborhoods did not?” My answer is always that we had “More effective teaching.”
There are many different ways to unpack what goes into effective teaching. To begin to understand it, I start with the three things that we were trying to bring to every KIPP classroom:
- Strong Classroom Culture
- Trust-Based Relationships
- Scientifically-Informed Instructional Practices
I have found that the best teams – no matter the sport, no matter the country the sport is played in – are focused on some version of these same three pillars. Why? Because sport is a learning contest. An organization that has these three things in place WILL see more learning occur inside their four walls than an organization that is lacking in one, two or all three.
If you want to win at the highest levels of sport, your athletes need to perform better than the opposition. So Coaches and Managers and Front Office Executives all want their athletes Getting Better, Faster, just like at KIPP we were trying to help our students in Getting Better, Faster. These key pillars to effective teaching are as relevant on a football field as they are in a classroom.
GO DEEP:
- Learn how I teach coaches about Scientifically-Informed Instructional Practices by checking out the IDEAS model
- Hear more about the IDEAS model by listening to me being interviewed on these two podcasts
