According to the Education Data Initiative's publication "College Dropout Rates," 24.1% of incoming freshmen drop out of college each year within their first year of attendance. The team of experienced professionals at Northwest College Support is here to provide customized tools to ensure your student's academic success in their first year and beyond.
Education Coaches are an essential component of the scaffolding of support that Northwest College Support builds for each student to help them achieve academic success, independent living, and other long-term goals. We recognize that each student entering Northwest College Support will have unique and individualized needs. With our experienced team of licensed specialists, our students receive consistently focused guidance perfectly tailored to their individual needs – even as those needs change over time.
What Is an Education Coach?
Gearing up for your student's first year of college can be nerve-wracking, especially when they've previously struggled with various aspects of education. At Northwest College Support, we structure our program to help guide your student through this difficult transition with the same level of academic care and attention they would receive at home.
Many of our students are highly intelligent young adults who struggle with executive functioning difficulties like staying organized and managing a schedule yet flourishing in other areas of life. Your student's Education Coach provides the structure and consistency required to learn, practice, and master skills that will benefit them for life.
How Education Coaching Helps Your Student
For those who struggle with self-accountability or executive functioning difficulties, the complexities of young adulthood can feel quite intimidating. Luckily, the programs available at Northwest College Support offer your student guidance and coping skills required to be successfully independent and thriving.
Our Education Coaches are there to help with the following:
Recognize and address problematic patterns of academic behavior
Maintain a clear focus on the student's individual educational goals
Design strategies to organize coursework, textbooks, reading materials, and handouts
Support assignment completion with appropriate tutoring methods
Create a unique scheduling system that supports and improves time management abilities
Integrate these strategies with those of the other Northwest College Support coaches and counselors
Break Free From Behaviors That Hold You Back
People who have struggled with traditional educational settings have likely been experiencing frustration for many years. Being "stuck" in this mindset for so long can create feelings of hopelessness. You may not be able to recognize how some choices or habits may be creating obstacles. Trained for these situations, the coaching teams at Northwest College Support can look with fresh eyes to provide a new perspective on old habits.
While it can feel uncomfortable to label your habits as negative or problematic, these moments are valuable opportunities for personal growth. Many of our actions are made without much thought. Education Coaches can then integrate beneficial habits in place of those creating obstacles.
What Qualifications Do Education Coaches Have?
The role of the Education Coach is integral to our program and requires detailed instruction. Working with students who have highly individualized needs requires highly trained and experienced instructors. The Educational Coaches at Northwest College Support are certainly that.
Every Education Coach on our team has earned a bachelor's degree in education, psychology, or other related fields. Many of Northwest College Support's coaches continue pursuing postgraduate degrees, making education less of a job or career and more of a way of living.
Graduated Levels of Coaching
Young adult transition programs are designed to fortify students with the skillsets they need to live independent lives. As the name of the program states, students will eventually transition into another educational establishment, career, or independent living situation. Due to the unique structure of transition programs, Northwest College Support coaches create daily routines and solid strategies to aid your student as they continue down a sustainable path to success.
Students entering into the program at Northwest College Support receive the full level of support from their Education Coach. During this initial period, the intensity of coaching is at its peak.
When students begin consistently demonstrating their new abilities, Education Coaches can assess how and when to reduce their level of support slowly. This is done intentionally to build confidence and give an adjustment period for students to practice their new skills independently before making the transition to the next step.
Balanced Coaching on All Levels
The team standing proudly behind every student at Northwest College Support understands that every person is unique, with individual requirements and capabilities. To provide well-rounded guidance, every student's team includes:
Education Coach: to help navigate the academic hurdles
Therapist or Counselor: to maintain a healthy mind so students can focus on healthy habits
Life Skills Coach: to teach skills that will increase students' chances to live independently
Each member of your student's support system works independently to ensure quality coaching while consistently integrating their lessons and therapies with the other team members to provide better continuity of care.
As a parent, you might worry about your student's approaching college years if they have struggled with mental health, neurodiversity, or other learning difficulties. Unfortunately, those difficulties aren't likely to improve once students live independently, despite their desire or attempts. Academic success may have always felt slightly out of their reach. Traditional colleges don't typically offer focused support for students who struggle with executive functioning difficulties, but Northwest College Support can help. We structure highly individualized programs tailed around your student's unique needs. Call (877) 485-2776 today to learn about how our programs, counselors, and coaches at Northwest College Support can help your student thrive at college.