EduGuide is scaffolded and can be customized for multiple grade levels and needs. We’ve even included special tools for developing readers and English Language Learners. It is recommended for:
Upper elementary school
Middle school
High school
College
EduGuide can also work with students in early elementary, with adaptations.
Schools use EduGuide in a variety of ways, but it is most effective as a standard part of a class or a required assignment in an advisory period or student support program.
At the school level, EduGuide is most commonly delivered in one course that reaches all students campuswide, such as:
English Language Arts
Advisory
Social Science
Physical Education or Health
Learn more about EduGuide’s curriculum flexibility.
EduGuide focuses on building key learning and life skills that help students achieve their goals. Students choose areas where they want to grow and plan how to work toward that. Then each week they learn a skill, or a part of a skill, that has helped others achieve their goals such as learning from failure, overcoming setbacks, and how to persist in the face of obstacles. They reflect on their emotions and learn social skills that will help them work well with others. Then at the end of each EduGuide activity, they choose an EduGuide Challenge for how they could help someone else with the skill they learned. As they tackle those challenges to support one another, they learn EduGuide’s most important lesson, that we grow stronger when we grow together.
EduGuide is based on more than a decade of What Works Clearinghouse validated control group research on exercises that have improved academic behaviors, increased degree completion, and closed achievement gaps by as much as half. EduGuide’s platform ensures that these activities are delivered with fidelity. Thanks to multiple national grants, we’ve been able to research, develop, and scale this model to deepen its impact. As a result, multiple independently funded studies at multiple levels in multiple locations have found that EduGuide has improved attendance, behavior, grades, and standardized math scores. Learn more about the research behind EduGuide's model and research into our success in schools.
EduGuide has achieved positive results with a diverse mix of urban, suburban and rural communities at every school level with a wide range of ethnicities and incomes. That may be because EduGuide’s inclusive approach helps students and staff draw on their own strengths and values to choose ways to grow their community. Colleges have documented success using EduGuidewith a wide range of virtual, commuter, undergraduate and graduate students in everything from orientation and first year courses to TRIO and GEAR UP programs to English, Engineering and Health Science Classes. It makes an excellent campus library resource that can be used in multiple ways. But EduGuide has seen limited results with out-of-school programs that have irregular contact with students. As a result, our nonprofit evaluates any such out-of-school partnerships carefully to determine if there will be an effective way for them to grow an EduGuide community.
Yes. EduGuide includes translation and other support for English Language Learners. We’ve learned that students who struggle with reading and writing English are especially vulnerable to a lower sense of belonging, engagement, and growth mindset—critical social and emotional factors that can get in the way of learning. So EduGuide is designed to help ELL students grow those factors while also building new English reading, writing, and vocabulary skills.
Read more about how EduGuide supports English language learners.
Very little. All that’s required of staff is to share EduGuide’s link and provide 15 minutes or more each week for students to work on EduGuide. That’s it. If staff want to go deeper, they can also choose from a variety of options that include self-paced PD, discussion guides, group activities, materials and more. When they want, selected staff can also see and respond to what students are writing from their own device. This extra layer of adult mentoring boosts engagement and is often used to support MTSS goals. But the only requirement to start getting results is to simply share the link and make sure that students are regularly using EduGuide.
If you want, you can invite other staff, outside mentors, or program partners to work with students on their activities. EduGuide’s model engages the whole school community in coaching students: counselors, special educators, administrative professionals, coaches, band directors, central office staff, and even community partners.
EduGuide provides multiple layers of training and support options, though most staff learn what they need to start using EduGuide in less than an hour. We assign an EduGuide Results Coach to every school who will work with you to customize and deliver the training you need. Options include introductory materials for staff, students, and families, as well as brief hands-on training to help all staff get started with the platform. Additional technical support is available online anytime. All staff will also have access to self-paced PD activities to grow coaching skills that bring out student strengths. Your Results Coach will continue to meet with school leaders to provide insights from your data and best practices to continually improve results each year.
EduGuide is a comprehensive platform that includes:
A web-based app students and staff can use on any phone, tablet or computer
A systematic student curriculum with 20 new activities each year (with an option to purchase additional activities)
Blended offline support materials and group activity options
A parallel series of self-paced professional development activities that can be done individually or collaboratively
An online and on-call technical support system
Reporting and analytics tools
An assigned results coach to help your institution continually improve
Each student needs access to an internet-connected computer, tablet, or smartphone. The platform is cloud-based, so there’s nothing to install, and students and staff can use it from home. Some students prefer to use it on their phone, but they tend to write more on a device with a dedicated keyboard. Some groups use headphones to limit the sound. The computers should have a reasonably current web browser, and should have internet speeds able to support video.
No. EduGuide provides enough activities for students to complete one per week, and you set the schedule that works for you. At a minimum, your coaches should bring students back to the mindset provided by the activities twice per month. EduGuide does set limits that keep students from going faster than one activity per day, because students need time to reflect and apply each activity to their lives.
No, you are welcome to start EduGuide with any group on which you want to focus. You will see a greater return on investment by using it proactively and holistically instead of just with students who are struggling the most. That’s because research shows “gifted” students are just as likely as others to face obstacles in school and life that lead them to regress or drop out. And using it campuswide has larger peer effects, spreading a positive climate and culture where “at our school, we look out for one another.”
EduGuide is a flexible, year-round program you can start any time because it builds skills incrementally. The earlier you start, the sooner you can equip your students with the formative experiences to overcome challenges and strive for higher goals.
EduGuide provides teachers and administrators with real-time metrics in easy-to-understand charts and dashboards. EduGuide’s multi-layered, on-going measurements better equip teachers to guide student growth.
At the start, students identify their goals and obstacles for growth, providing key insights on how to help them.
At the end of each activity, students are briefly assessed on their learning.
At the beginning of each week, students report on their last weekly EduGuide challenge.
At the conclusion of each new module, students report on their growth in 17 key attitudinal, behavioral and achievement skill indicators.
For every measure, EduGuide captures both quantitative and qualitative insights that helps staff see students’ needs and strengths.
And because EduGuide’s measures are brief and frequent, unlike static once-a-year studies, they provide more timely and actionable insights into students SEL needs.
Learn more about EduGuide’s assessments, metrics, and charts.
Yes. EduGuide is self-paced, so wherever a student stops one year is where they pick up the next. They first build a strong foundation and then sequentially unlock more and more advanced activities that build on the previous ones as they progress. Each year students are exposed to different social, academic, and emotional competencies. They learn new skills to prepare for bigger obstacles. They practice habits that help them to persist in pursuing their goals. And they are brought back to a growing sense of purpose that brings out what they most want to contribute to their community.
Less than many other programs. That’s because as a nonprofit, EduGuide includes a lot of value at one low cost that includes all the software, curriculum, materials, training, coaching and support you need. We also help you avoid hidden costs because there are no materials to order, ship, or store and there’s no need to hire subs during training, because EduGuide delivers training in bite-size pieces that are easy to fit into staff meetings. Schedule a strategy call, and our nonprofit will give you a quote based on your size and needs.
It’s simpler. Colleges just provide a link to EduGuide in any course or program to give students access to a resource that’s been shown to improve their grades, wellbeing and preparation for careers. For instance, in courses faculty just add a link in their syllabus usually as part of the participation grade. Completing 10 activities for one course satisfies the requirement for all courses using EduGuide that semester. And 10 new activities become available to the student in their courses the next semester. In this way, EduGuide can become an embedded support system that helps all students without them needing to seek out help. EduGuide can also be used in programs to provide extra support for first-year, TRIO, GEAR UP, transfer, online, scholarship or other student groups.
