About FASL
FASL will build your internal capacity to close the learning gap.
Based on the science of learning, our professional development transforms the design of instruction. Get a huge return on your PD investment by leveraging the enthusiasm of your staff in research based, effective instructional PRINCIPLES.
FASL builds the capacity for sustained, continuous improvement in schools by developing people – students, teachers, staff and administration – and their ability to construct their own learning and growth as a part of a larger community and organization.
In a series of 64 teacher case studies involving over 4000 students, over 90% of the teachers reported learning gains related to FASL professional development and the average gain was over one letter grade. Gains were found on a variety of measures from tests to essays to projects.
Why? FASL focuses on helping teachers and understanding how they learn. They can then design and construct their own teaching and learning.
A Little History
Christine Drew and Richard Erdmann have been passionate supporters of American public schools and have studied the science of learning for over thirty years. From the beginning, they have focused on creating a climate in schools of steady, measured improvement based on often small but transformative ideas. Their first corporate name, Syfr, signified that commitment. Sifr is the Arabic word for zero and the use of zero revolutionized mathematics, but it took approximately 400 years for the Arabic numbering system to travel from Baghdad to Rome, a distance of under 2000 miles, and to replace Roman numerals! The story reminds us that change is difficult, but its pursuit worthwhile.
The process is best described in Christine and Richard’s early book, The Art of Learning. Even better, FASL’s professional development institutes bring the process to life through the application of the POPs (Principles of Practice) based on the sciences of learning.Their work with teachers is hardly the “same ol’ same ol’.” They draw from stories going back to the Greeks on memory to their own research on the arts, from literature to music, painting and film, to organizational research from the world of business to creativity and STEM research from economists to contemporary neuroscience to the fMRIs of the 21st century . This program for teachers of multiple subjects and grades focuses on building the capacity through a truly interdisciplinary approach to construct deep learning for learners at all levels.
Looking Forward
FASL’s Professional Development raises achievement while lowering costs, improves classroom pedagogy, increases teacher effectiveness, exceeds prior years’ assessment results and accelerates learning. In less than six weeks, teachers will begin to demonstrate improvements in measured student achievement.
Reach out today to find out how you can receive this impact for your teachers! It takes just a couple of days of professional development for organizational leaders/principals and four days of professional development learning institutes for a teacher cohort over the course of one year. Plus, custom conferences and speaking engagements are available.
FASL believes that teachers make all the difference and that all teachers, like all students, can and do continue to learn at increasingly higher levels with high expectations for their performance and with rewards as their students learn more. We are passionate about this work and the importance of our teachers and our schools to our country.