What is a Learning Coach?

Your role as the Learning Coach for your student is vital to their success in online school. Teachers and administrators of the school work as part of what K12 calls the "Three-Legged Stool" of your child's education. One leg is the student, the second leg is made up of the teachers, and the third leg is the Learning Coach. Without all of these legs working together, the stool will topple over. 

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The Learning Coach is the person that works with the student face-to-face, helps them stay on task, make and keep goals, and holds them accountable for their work. The student's teachers will also help make goals and provide a structure to their education. The student also holds responsibility for their own education, ensuring they are following the plan, schedule, and goals they helped define. 

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The Learning Coach role involves the following: 

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- Monitoring student progress (includes checking grades and assignment completion)

- Helping set up student schedules and routines

- Communicating with school, teachers, and student

- Assistance with course work (or helping find the resources to support student in course work)

- Helping student establish goals and a plan to meet them

- Helping student stay motivated to meet goals, keep up in course work, and graduate

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We will review all of these expectations and you will be offered resources to help you further understand those roles and how to go about meeting them.

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Without you, the Learning Coach, taking an active and engaged role in your student's education, they will struggle to succeed. Students need someone at home to hold them accountable, someone they can't ignore phone calls or avoid emails from. 

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Your student's teachers and administrators know that you are busy working (sometimes more than one job), taking care of your family, and meeting your responsibilities. They understand that you don't have a lot of time to spend following up, reviewing every assignment, and scheduling every minute of your student's day. This course will show you how to do these things quickly and efficiently. 

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Fulfilling the Learning Coach role is not easy, but it is important to the success of your student. In the next three units, you will learn to monitor student progress, help your student stay organized and motivated, and how to maintain effective communication with your student, their teachers, and school administrators. 

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This blog post for new Learning Coaches is a great place to start: Top Ten Tips for New Learning Coaches

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K12 also hosts Learning Coach University, which will offer live or recorded sessions detailing how you can help your student succeed. If you are a new Learning Coach, check your email or OLS announcements for this information. If you are a veteran Learning Coach, you can email your student's homeroom teacher or counselor to request information about Learning Coach University.

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Please watch the below videos to get the basics of how online school works and the role of Learning Coach.

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Also, follow this link to watch a video tour of the Online High School from the student view to understand what your student sees when they are in their account: Student OLS Tour

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