What is Academic Coaching?
Academic coaching is a personalized support system designed to help students develop the skills they need to succeed both in school and in life. Unlike traditional tutoring, which focuses on subject-specific assistance, academic coaching is centered on building executive functioning skills that are essential for managing the various demands of a student’s academic and personal life. This approach helps students tackle challenges such as time management, study strategies, and goal setting, while also addressing broader areas of need.
Through academic coaching, students work on improving their homework habits, enhancing study skills, and adopting effective learning strategies. They learn active note-taking techniques and self-advocacy, crucial skills for navigating the complexities of the classroom and beyond. Additionally, academic coaching helps students balance the busy schedules of student-athletes, prepare for college, and foster a growth mindset. For students facing specific learning challenges, such as ADHD, Nonverbal Learning Disorder (NVLD), or other learning disabilities, academic coaching provides tailored tools and strategies to overcome these obstacles.
What does a typical coaching session look like?
Academic coaching typically involves one-on-one sessions where the coach works closely with the student to identify their strengths, challenges, and goals. These sessions focus on areas like improving study habits, managing time effectively, and staying motivated. Your coach can also help break down large tasks into manageable steps or develop a personalized plan to keep students on track.
Here’s what a day working with a coach may look like: You might start by discussing your current workload and identifying any areas where you’re feeling stuck. For example, if you’re overwhelmed by an upcoming research paper, the coach might help you outline the paper, set deadlines for each section, and develop a schedule for research and writing.
If time management is a challenge, your coach can work with you to create a daily planner that balances your study time with other daily tasks. They may also implement strategies for staying focused, such as using techniques like the Pomodoro method to maintain concentration.
What Does an Academic Coach Do?
An academic coach wears many hats in supporting students through their academic journey. They work closely with you to develop essential skills like time management, organization, and effective study techniques. For example, if you struggle with procrastination, the coach might help you break down tasks into manageable steps and set realistic deadlines. If writing essays feels overwhelming, they can guide you in structuring your work and refining your process.
What can an Academic Coach help me with?
Academic coaches take a strength-based approach to helping middle school, high school, and college students develops Strategies for ‘Working Smarter, Not Harder’. This is about applying effective effort in managing priorities and getting things done, as well as working towards desired goals. Effective effort is about more than just putting in the hours; it’s about making those hours count. An academic coach helps students learn how to work smarter, not harder, by teaching strategies for managing the learning process, short-term and long-term assignments, and keeping up with due dates. This approach involves forming clear intentions, developing a personalized roadmap and action plan, and cultivating the perseverance needed to achieve goals. With effective effort, students learn how to direct their energy and focus towards becoming the best version of themselves, academically and personally.
⌛ Time Management
An academic coach can help you develop effective time management skills by teaching you how to prioritize tasks, avoid procrastination tendencies, create realistic schedules, and set achievable academic goals. They work with you to identify where your time could be better used and offer strategies to make the most of your class time, free time, HW time, and study time. By improving your time management, you’ll be able to handle your academic workload more efficiently and reduce the stress associated with the overwhelm of getting a task completed.
✍️ Writing Essays and Dissertations
Writing essays and dissertations can be daunting, but an academic coach can guide you through the process. They can help you structure your work, develop clear and compelling arguments, and refine your writing style. Whether you’re at the brainstorming stage or final revisions, a coach provides valuable feedback and hands-on support to encourage your concentration to produce something your teachers will love.
✔️ Procrastination
If procrastination is holding you back, an academic coach can help you overcome this common challenge. They work with you to understand the root causes of your procrastination and develop strategies to combat it. This may entail setting smaller, manageable goals and creating a clear action plan. Because, one of the biggest issues for those who have trouble getting things done is looking at the finish line. That’s too overwhelming. An Academic coach shows you how to focus on the task at hand and accumulate small wins to eventually reach your goals.
🗒️ Reading and Note-Taking Strategies
Effective reading and note-taking are tough. You need to know how to prioritize focusing on key terms so you can pull them out of your mental library for later use. An academic coach can show you how to improve in these areas. They can teach you techniques to read more efficiently, identify key information, and take organized, useful notes. (Not just scribbles of illegible words).
💪 Increased Intrinsic Motivation
Staying motivated throughout your academic journey is like trying to sleep after drinking ten cups of coffee. But an academic coach can help keep you inspired. They assist you in setting meaningful goals and finding intrinsic motivation to pursue them. With their support, you’ll develop a stronger sense of purpose and the drive to continue working towards your academic and personal objectives.
🆘 Self Advocacy
Effective communication with advisors and mentors is essential for academic success. While this can be a significant challenge, especially for introverts, an academic coach can help you develop these skills. They can guide you in how to be yourself, ask the right questions, and maintain professional relationships. This support cultivates confidence and self-esteem that will translate into all areas of one’s life.
🎯 Goal-directed Perseverance
Maintaining focus, especially during long study sessions, can be difficult. The mind wanders, you get bored, and you forget the purpose-driven motivation behind the efforts. An academic coach can introduce techniques like the Pomodoro method (as mentioned earlier) or mindfulness practices to improve your concentration. Learning how to manage distractions to stay engaged helps students accomplish more in less time.
⏯️ Getting “Unstuck”
Graduate research can be complex and overwhelming (to say the least), and it’s easy to feel stuck. An academic coach can help you break down your research into manageable steps, set clear objectives, and maintain progress. Whether you’re struggling with developing your thesis or gathering data, a coach provides the guidance needed to keep your research moving forward.
🧑🎓 College Readiness Skills
Academic coaching plays a crucial role in preparing students for the demands of college life by developing essential college readiness skills. Coaches work with students to enhance their time management, study strategies, and organizational abilities, which are critical for handling the increased independence and responsibility that comes with college. They also help students develop self-advocacy skills, enabling them to effectively communicate with professors and navigate campus resources. Additionally, coaching supports students in building a growth mindset, fostering resilience, and cultivating the confidence needed to tackle academic challenges and new social environments.
Matt shares the 5 things that matter most to him as he progressed through the Academic Coaching Process in his efforts to return to college.
⏱️ Preparing for Exams/Quals
Preparing for exams and qualifying exams (quals) can be stressful, but an academic coach can help you approach them with confidence. They assist in creating study plans, reviewing material, and developing test-taking strategies. With their support, you’ll be better prepared to tackle your exams and perform at your best.
😰 Managing Test Anxiety
Test anxiety can hinder your performance, put you in a negative state, and even cause manic depression. An academic coach can teach you how to regulate your emotions as they bubble up. They provide techniques to reduce anxiety, such as relaxation exercises, positive visualization, and effective study habits.
⚖️ Balancing School and Family Life
Balancing school with family life is a challenge many students face, and an academic coach can offer strategies to help. They work with you to create schedules that accommodate both your academic and personal responsibilities. With their support, you can find a balance that allows you to succeed in school while still maintaining a fulfilling family life.
Does coaching require a long term commitment?
Coaching doesn’t necessarily require a long-term commitment. Some students may benefit from just a few sessions to address specific challenges. However, we recommend ongoing support to ensure students stay on the right track until they show signs they can independently handle their workload on their own. Considering that students might prefer ongoing support throughout their academic journey for personal guidance, which can set the foundation of a long-lasting independent work-ethic.
Tutoring vs. Academic Coaching
While both academic coaching and tutoring aim to support students in their educational journey, they serve different purposes and address distinct needs.
Basic Approach
Tutoring focuses primarily on subject-specific assistance, helping students grasp particular concepts, solve problems, and improve their understanding of specific academic material like statistics, Spanish, biology, or chemistry. Tutors often work to fill knowledge gaps in areas where a student may be struggling, using practice exercises and explanations to reinforce learning. The goal, ultimately, is to improve the student’s performance, often with a short-term focus on upcoming tests or assignments.
Academic coaching, on the other hand, takes a broader, more holistic approach. Instead of focusing solely on subject matter, academic coaching addresses the underlying skills and habits that affect a student’s overall academic success. Coaches will work on developing time management, organizational skills, study strategies, and motivation. This approach is long-term, and is aimed at equipping students with the tools necessary to succeed across all subjects and in future academic pursuits.
Who Benefits from What
Students who benefit most from tutoring are those who need targeted help in specific subjects, such as math, science, or language arts. These topics can get intricate quite quickly, so any individualized focus support will be highly beneficial. So, if a student is struggling to understand particular concepts or needs to improve their grades in a specific class, tutoring can provide the focused support necessary to help them catch up and excel in that area.
On the other hand, academic coaching is ideal for students who need help with skills that support academic success across all subjects. This includes students who struggle with procrastination, time management, or balancing multiple responsibilities. It’s not that they can’t grasp the material. They simply have trouble controlling their emotions and impulses.
Academic coaching is also beneficial for those who may be doing well academically but want to improve their study habits, stay motivated, or prepare for the demands of higher education.
How Does Academic Coaching Differ from Tutoring?
While both academic coaching and tutoring aim to support students in their educational journey, they serve different purposes and address distinct needs. Tutoring is typically focused on helping students understand specific subject matter, fill knowledge gaps, and improve performance in particular areas like math, science, or language arts. Tutors work on clarifying concepts and reinforcing learning through practice exercises, often with a short-term focus on upcoming tests or assignments.
Academic coaching, on the other hand, takes a broader, more holistic approach. Rather than concentrating on a single subject, academic coaching addresses the underlying skills and habits that affect a student’s overall academic success. Coaches work with students to develop time management, organizational skills, study strategies, and motivation that can be applied across all subjects and throughout their educational journey.
A student might need a tutor if they are struggling with understanding specific content in a particular subject. In contrast, a student would benefit from an academic coach if they need to improve their overall approach to learning, manage a busy schedule, or develop strategies to handle learning challenges. Academic coaching is especially beneficial for students who are capable of grasping academic material but need support in developing the skills to apply it effectively and consistently.
Who Coaches
Academic coaches are professionals who specialize in developing students’ overall academic skills and habits. They often have backgrounds in education, psychology, or counseling and are trained to address a wide range of challenges that impact a student’s academic performance.
Who Tutors
Tutors are typically subject-matter experts who provide targeted assistance in specific academic areas. They may be teachers, graduate students, or professionals with deep knowledge of the subject they tutor.
Why Do Students See an Academic Coach?
It’s important to gauge what’s best for the student, as each individual has unique needs that might require different levels of support. To do this, you will want to ask yourself if your child shows any of the symptoms below.
- Forgets to complete or pass in assignments
- Gets easily overwhelmed and avoids projects, multi-step assignments, and writing assignments
- Inconsistent homework habits
- Leaves long-term projects to the last minute
- Puts off studying until the night before exams
- Poor and ineffective study skills and strategies
- Believes there is more time to complete assignments than is actually true
- Struggles to manage the learning process, but inside and outside the classroom
- Needs constant prompting from parents to make-up assignments
- Lagging active learning strategies regarding notetaking, reading, or studying
How to Choose the Right Academic Coach
If you’re considering reaching out to help your child and or student, there are key considerations you must keep in mind, so make sure the coach is a good fit. When it comes to choosing the right academic coach it has a lot to do with chemistry. Therefore, here’s what you should keep in mind when opting to hire an academic coach.
Qualifications to Look For
When choosing an academic coach, look for someone with a strong background in education, psychology, or counseling. Look into which schools they attended and the type of studies they specialized in. They should also have experience working with students at their chosen academic level and be skilled in developing key academic skills.
Experience and Expertise
Experience is a big factor when selecting an academic coach. A coach with years of experience will have encountered a wide range of student challenges and will know how to navigate different kinds of personalities. Having expertise in the areas where you’re seeking help, whether it’s improving study habits, managing stress, or balancing multiple responsibilities, is also a green flag.
Matching Coaching Style to Student Needs
Developing minds are delicate, and not all coaches are a good fit. Some students thrive with a coach who is more structured and provides clear, step-by-step guidance, while others might benefit from a more flexible, supportive approach. Talk with potential coaches about their methods and see how they align with the student’s personality and goals.
Conclusion
School, academics, personal life, and relationships. Wrapped in a ball of confusion, it can easily get overwhelming for anyone. Academic coaches can help make sense of the clutter that students may have trouble organizing. Whether it’s managing time or improving social skills, academic coaches are a guiding light for those who need a little extra guidance on their path to academic and personal development.
To learn more, connect with Dr. Murphy and his team. They offer a free screening to understand your needs and tailor their expertise to best support your student or loved one. Reach out today to start your journey toward improving academic performance and achieving success in school and life.