OUR SERVICES

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT REVIEW, PLANNING & SUPPORT

In Our Best Interest conducts comprehensive school reviews on behalf of schools and districts engaged in improvement efforts. Working with school teams to gather and analyze data, we identify a school’s strengths and areas for growth, in order to guide improvement efforts that will positively impact teaching and learning.Through partnership with your school's instructional leaders and teachers, we help to develop and implement a comprehensive and individualized plan to ensure the success of school wide initiatives, increase student learning and help turn around struggling schools.

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Developing successful school leaders are key to any school. We believe that learning begins at the very top. The development of these leaders is key to the success of their teachers and students. Consultants at In Our Best Interest do not train leaders. We coach them, mentor them, disciple them and develop them. We believe that training focuses on the present and blends to the norm. Development focuses on the future, growth and occurs beyond the norm.

Help your teachers develop tomorrow’s leaders with professional guidance. In Our Best Interest utilizes various teaching models such as, but not limited to:

Framework for Teaching (FFT)(developed by Charlotte Danielson)
Response to Intervention (RTI)
Teaching As Leadership Framework(developed by Teach for America)
Classroom Assessment Scoring System (or CLASS, developed by Robert Pianta, Karen La Paro, and Bridget Hamre at the University of Virginia)
Protocol for Language Arts Teaching Observations(or PLATO, developed by Pam Grossman at Stanford University)
Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS)

Our goal is to effectively train staff on interpreting and understanding data on student assessments. Creating or collaborating with teachers to produce comprehensive standards-based curriculum lessons and units incorporating effective instructional strategies and differentiation are also offered. Consultants also conduct lesson demonstrations and organize classroom observations.

TEACHER TRAINING & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

We customize our professional development sessions to the strengths and needs of each school, paying close attention to student demographics and achievement trends. Our subject-matter professional development aims directly at improving the quality of teaching and coaching practice.

Developing and deepening understanding of the Common Core State Standards.
Assessing and understanding students as learners.
Utilizing research-based, instructional (or coaching) best practices.
Taking an inquiry approach to teacher and student learning.
Building relevant content expertise.
Collaborating with colleagues.

COACHING

We work one-on-one with teachers and leaders to improve the quality of education for all students. Our coaching focuses on helping them hone their skill in the critical areas outlined in the school improvement report that are essential to the development of a positive school climate and culture, which is in turn key to school improvement and success. Another significant success factor for turning around low-performing schools is the strength of the school leadership team (e.g., Armistead, 2010; Lucas & Valentine, 2002). Thus, In Our Best Interest’s coaching for turnaround leaders also focuses on supporting the principal’s capacity to build a strong leadership team and to engage in distributed leadership.

CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

Consultants work with school leaders and teachers to design a curriculum overview that defines a comprehensive instructional path for the school year. The premise for using essential understandings and questions is to guide students to comprehend the content, know the concepts that drive each lesson, and maximize their learning potential. It is through this process that students come to appreciate and learn facts and skills. In Our Best Interest consultants will offer a solutions-oriented approach to help organizations create effective, high-impact programming. We work alongside New Teachers, Experienced Teachers, Principals and other Administrative staff from elementary schools and middle schools to craft customizable and comprehensive strategy development, capacity building and program design.

EDUCATIONAL TRAINING

One of our specialties is to provide practical and research based educational training for principals, administrators as well as teachers in the field of general and special education. We work with principals and lead administrators to identify target areas needing support. Together we assist them in creating and executing a strategic plan for professional development customized to meet your needs.

Additional Services offered in the areas of:

School Audits and Quality Reviews
Charter School Applications and Renewals
Developing a Plan for Improvement/Expansion (adding grade levels, increasing enrollment)
Principal Practice Observations
Measures of Student Learning implementation and support
Support in developing goals for Comprehensive Educational Plan
Support with staff evaluation and effective organizational structure
Curriculum development support
Data Analysis and strategic plans of action to address student / school needs
Leadership development and support for Principals, Assistant Principals, and other school leaders
Budget Analysis and Restructuring

In Our Best Interest LLC provides school leadership consulting and teacher development. Consultants work one-on-one with school and district level administration to create ways to advance leadership and teaching techniques.

"Dennis McKesey with In Our Best Interest LLC has helped me to evaluate my curriculum to ensure alignment with our state standards. In addition, he guided me in identifying benchmark assessment that allow my staff and I to make reasonable predictions on how children will perform on our state assessment. These findings help to guide instructional decisions."

~ Constance Goodwine-Lewis, Principal Broad River Elementary Beaufort, SC