Advisory and Professional Development Services

AUSL has a proven track record of training teachers and turning around low-performing schools in Chicago. We opened our first training academy in 2001 and our first turnaround school in 2006, and our network has since grown to 19 Chicago Public Schools which are a mix of turnarounds and training academies. Click here for a list of schools we manage and here for our results.

Districts, states, and other educational organizations have sought AUSL's expertise to support their school improvement efforts. We believe that by sharing our expertise with schools and systems outside of Chicago, we can help to increase the number of high-performing public schools in low-income areas.

AUSL Institute offers expertise in the following three key areas.

Turnaround and transformation of high-poverty, low-performing urban schools:

• AUSL's PASSAGE framework
• Designing a model for whole-school transformation, given your district's labor agreements
• Turnaround school organizational design and budgeting
• Community engagement before, during, and after school turnaround or transformation
• Ensuring a talent pipeline for principals and teachers; recruitment and selection approaches
• Pre-turnaround planning calendar
• In-depth coaching and professional development for principals and other school leaders
• School and classroom environments:  observations of AUSL schools and classrooms,  expectations and checklists

AUSL's Teacher Development Process (TDP) to increase teaching proficiency, job satisfaction, and student achievement:

• Coaching, feedback, and professional development for principals and teachers
• Training on "Signature Strategies" for classroom management and instruction
• Goal setting and performance management for teachers and school leaders
• Implementing a standards-based, college preparatory curriculum K-12
• Creating an aligned assessment system that identifies student learning needs
• Pre-turnaround summer professional development for teachers and school staff

Teacher Residency training to create a pipeline of talent for school transformation:

• Using public schools as Training Academies
• Building a strong university partnership
• Program financial planning and funding sources
• Competencies needed for the Program Director and team
• Resident recruiting and admissions
• Program content: benchmarks for developing proficient practice, learning and integrating proven instructional strategies, technology-enabled coaching, formative assessment
• Selection, expectations and development of mentor teachers

For engagement types, click here, or contact us for more information.