12 Things to Know About Academic Coaching

Did you know that academic coaching raises grades and keeps more students in school? If you did not know before, you do now!

Academic coaching helps students develop strong skill sets as well as tools and resources to bring with them throughout the years as a student and even into their careers to help them be successful. It has a strong focus on executive functioning skills.

If you are ready to learn more about academic coaching and if it may be for you or your child, keep reading to learn more.

1. Academic Coaching Is Not the Same As Academic Tutoring

The most important thing to know about academic coaching is that it is not the same as academic tutoring. They are two separate things.

While tutoring takes an approach that focuses more on the content and materials that the students are learning, academic coaching focuses more on the student’s ability to solve their own challenges and prioritizes the skills to help them do that. Instead of focusing on specific types of content, academic coaching helps students figure out the tools and skills they need and already have to succeed with all curriculums they are working with.

2. Academic Coaches Serve As a Connection for Struggling Students

Unlike how to teach the material, an academic coach connects the tools and strategies a student needs to get better at various curricula they are working on. Many of these tools and methods have to do with goal setting, understanding how they approach problems and challenges, and dealing with specific behaviors regarding academics.

Coaching meets a lot like tutoring. The coach and the student will work and meet regularly to foster more support and accountability for the strategies to be put into place.

Because the coach regularly meets with the student, they will start to understand their perspective on learning and how they want to be successful so that they can help them do so. Additionally, the coach must build trust with the student through active listening and curiosity to foster the correct type of communication with the student.

As part of this, an academic coach help students must take their own responsibility for their learning. The coach can assist in fostering this understanding in their students rather than telling them exactly what to do, much as a tutor would do. Because the coach is not telling the student exactly what to do, it puts more autonomy into the student’s hands.

This will unlock more motivation and initiative on the student’s behalf. While the student is responsible for meeting their academic goals through the tools and strategies provided by the academic coach, the academic coach is still there for guidance and support.

3. Choose Your Qualifications Carefully If You Want to Become an Academic Coach

While you may think that to become an academic coach, you need to have a lot of qualifications, that is not always the case. If you work for yourself, you can have whatever qualifications you want as long as you can back up why you are an academic coach and how you can help. If you do this, it is best to have testimonials from previous clients to help vouch for you.

On the other hand, you can take the more traditional route by having an employer. It will depend on your employer whether they require an associate’s or a bachelor’s degree in education or some related field based on the skills you will need to be an academic coach. Researching this prior is always vital so that you know what qualifications you may need.

In addition to having a degree in a related field, you may also choose to pursue certification from the National Tutoring Association or NTA. During this course, you will learn more about what it actually means to be a coach based on your previous study skills and your degree. You will learn more about how to help students strengthen their study skills, prepare for tests, and become their best academic selves.

4. Many Academic Coaches Work in Schools—At All Academic Levels

While you can work from anywhere as an academic coach, it is most popular for academic coaches to work in schools.

The schools can vary from elementary school or middle school, but most academic coaches that work in schools work in high school. This way, they can help students develop the right skills they need to get into college, succeed at college, and eventually succeed in a career.

It depends on the school to determine what type of qualifications you need. Most of the time, working at a high school requires more advanced qualifications than in other schools.

5. Every Demographic Can Benefit From Academic Coaching

Academic coaching can be helpful for anyone that wants to improve their studies. This can be helpful for people in college and getting a master’s as well. However, it is most common for students in high school and below.

Specifically, students who have functioning difficulties, like those that have ADD, are those who can benefit a lot from coaching. Those with high anxiety around test taking and those with other types of academic anxiety can also benefit from an academic coach who teaches them different strategies to minimize anxiety.

6. Sessions Vary By Student and Subject

Every session may look a little bit different depending on what is going on in the student’s academic life.

For instance, one week may help the student plan out the schedule for the next week, like when they will complete their homework and how they will prepare for any tests or projects that they have coming up.

Sessions that happen around exam time or test time will focus more on strategies to help get them through the tests and be successful on them. Other times, like during projects, sessions plan how to tackle a specific project, breaking it down daily and even task by task.

More normal sessions that do not fall around test season or project season will focus more on study skills, test-taking strategies, reading strategies, note-taking strategies, and more. This will set the student up for success when those times come around.

7. The Length of Coaching Depends on Student’s Needs

Not everyone can benefit from just one coaching session. While some people can have one or two tutoring sessions for specific content and benefit, most need a much longer academic coaching experience to reap the benefits of it.

That is why our academic coaching will last all year long. This way, habits actually have a chance of being built and retained for the long term even after coaching ends at the end of the year.

Laying the groundwork that students may need to succeed will need a lot of time to nurture the skills and habits for the student. Many times, this will actually take anywhere from 12 to 18 months.

8. There Is No Wrong Time for an Academic Coach

You may think academic coaching is only for those struggling with work and school work. However, there is no right time to meet with an academic coach. Those succeeding may want to meet with one more regularly than those who are not succeeding and vice versa.

However, we do recommend specific times to see an academic coach. It is usually smart to meet with an academic coach during the first semester of work to review the next few months and how to tackle everything coming your way. Additionally, you may want to meet mid-semester to ensure that you are on track for what you discussed earlier in the year.

While those are general times that may be helpful to meet with an academic coach, there are other times when having an academic coach can be beneficial as well. For example, if you feel that you are not doing well and are struggling, this is a great time to work with someone who may help you gain better strategies and tools to succeed.

But you do not only need to be struggling to meet with a coach. If you have any questions about work or courses, feel pressure in your studies, want to explore different types of academic options, or want to manage your time better, this is a great time to meet with a coach. Additionally, if you want to improve your life skills, meeting with an academic coach can do just that.

9. Preparation

There’s also no right way to prepare for an academic coaching session as a student. When it comes to the session, you want to bring any questions about your work or what you are struggling with so that the coach can help.

Depending on what you are looking for, it is also essential to bring any syllabi, schoolwork, tests that are coming up, past tests, and important projects to your meeting so that you can walk through what you expect and what you see coming in the months ahead. You and your coach can discuss strategies, time management techniques, study skills, and other helpful hacks to succeed over those few months.

10. It Is Not a One Size Fits All Occupation

Every student will have a different experience with academic coaching. The academic coach’s job is to ensure that they are coaching each student individually to help them with their own needs.

While one student may need help with multiple choice questions and how to successfully tackle those for different subjects, another student may need help overcoming anxiety for test taking. Both of these students will need a different approach from their academic coach to succeed. This is why it is vital that you bring all questions and concerns, struggles and hardships, and passed work to coaching sessions.

11. You Can Help Improve Executive Functioning Skills for Students

It may also be helpful to consider academic coaching as learning to improve executive functioning skills for students. This means they are teaching students life skills they will need for the rest of their lives rather than just skills they will need in the classroom.

For instance, a coach might teach more about time management and how to break down a task so they can start doing that independently without help. On the other hand, they may learn skills like reviewing coursework effectively and over time rather than cramming everything into a few days or the night before an exam. They might also support communication between the student and their teachers and peers.

12. You Can Offer Environmental Support

Although tutoring has much to do with content support, academic coaching has much to do with environmental backing.

This means creating a space where students feel safe to foster more success. This is where improving their life skills will come in handy.

For instance, a coach may post a daily schedule for them, provide visual support, and organize clutter to make them more successful. They can also offer encouragement or constructively point out issues a student might otherwise be blind to.

Academic Coaching: A Valuable Investment for Students

Before you become an academic coach or enroll your student in academic coaching, it is crucial to understand the idea behind it. It is very different from academic tutoring but offers the student more life skills that they can bring into the years ahead to be successful.

At Peak Academic Coaching, we pride ourselves on having the best academic coaches to help your students. If you believe your child would benefit from a coach, reach out to our experienced team today. We are ready and waiting to help.