Building Background Knowledge for
Academic Achievement
 
      Bea McGarvey
 
Bea McGarvey is an educational consultant working with educators around the country and in Canada in the areas of standards implementation, teaching and learning, leadership and organizational development.  She leads school organizations to become more student centered, focusing vital resources on strategies and processes with the potential to make a difference in the future lives of children, adults, and organizations.  She is a Senior Associate with MARZANO & ASSOCIATES working with Robert Marzano and Debra Pickering as a presenter and trainer.  As a member of ASCD’s What Works in Schools Cadre, she presents to schools and school districts around the country.  Additionally, Bea is a partner in TOTALLEADERASSOCIATES™, a consulting firm dedicated to looking at education through leadership eyes. She is a trainer of Dimensions of Learning, Classroom Instruction That Works, What Works in Schools, and Transforming Classroom  Grading, Building Background Knowledge (Marzano, Pickering and Associates); Total Leadership, Strategic Design, and Strategic Teacher Selection (Schwahn Leadership Associates).
 
Bea has enjoyed a successful thirty year career in public education as a classroom teacher, middle school and central office administrator, and most recently as an educational consultant.  She can be reached in Maine at 207.767.2243 and at mcgarvey@maine.rr.com.
 
Research literature supports that what students already know about the content (that is, academic background knowledge) is one of the strongest indicators of how well they will learn new information relative to the content.   Many students enter school having had many experiences.  Those experiences provide them with a plethora of background knowledge; thus, giving them an advantage over students that have not had rich and varied experiences.  How do we increase the academic background knowledge for those students?  Research shows us that schools CAN strategically and effectively decrease that so called “achievement gap.”
 
In this workshop you will acquire an understanding of how background knowledge is acquired; and learn direct and indirect approaches to enhance academic background knowledge.