Coaches will conduct evaluations and make course recommendations consistent with students’ demonstrated skills and commitment level in Skill Assessment.
Coaches look holistically at what will best benefit the student's growth in the long run. It is rare that students will skip levels within our program, but it has happened in the past due to unique circumstances.
At LearningLeaders we consider the skills of public speaking, debate, and critical reasoning to be lifelong skills that will serve students for the duration of their lives. Acquiring these skills is thus a lifelong process; it is our hope that we place students on a path to enthusiastically pursue these goals. Each season it is important to be aware of and aligned on the next steps in terms of training and development.
We have taken many years to develop a challenging and rewarding course progression at LearningLeaders. The progression is designed to take students step-by-step through the key skills that will empower them to become effective leaders and communicators. You can see the course progression in our course prospectus, which can give you an idea of the most common pathway through our program. However, learning is not always a simple, straightforward, or linear process. Some students, through detailed preparation or participation in competitions or other enrichment events, may find it more optimal for their learning to move up or down the progression at a faster or slower pace than others. Coaches will conduct Skill Assessment and make both evaluations and course recommendations consistent with students’ demonstrated skills and commitment level. The coaches will ultimately determine placement for the next season’s courses based upon these considerations.
Our goal is not to force students to move through the progression in a perfectly standardized fashion, nor is it to speed them arbitrarily through the course progression. Rather, we seek to place students in the learning environment that is best for them. This creates an environment where students are appropriately motivated, where their teammates are challenged, and where opportunities to successfully master new learning material are available. If a student is not placed in the most suitable group for them, the parents, coaches, teammates, and most importantly, the student him/herself, loses out. We invite students to take our placement test if they feel that they deserve a different placement. The coach may also recommend some students to apply for the Elite Debate program where they can focus on more intensive study and advanced level training for competitions.
We strongly believe that the Skill Assessment process should not be a cause for concern or despair. Public speaking and debate are challenging activities that all students take to in their own way at their own pace. Possessing the willingness to do it at all is already a step ahead of most students of high academic performance.
Some students may struggle for a few seasons and reach a moment where things “click” and achieve incredible success. Some students may “click” sooner than others and commit to a more rigorous competition schedule and training regimen. Ultimately, there is no rush. The goal is to place students in the optimal learning environment that will enable them to cultivate these skills. For any questions about the Skill Assessment process, please contact Doris Yu at doris@learningleaders.com. If you have enrolled into our program, please feel free to contact your coach.