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Jonathan G. Vander Els

Jonathan G. Vander Els specializes in supporting teachers and administrators in schools and districts across the country in developing, sustaining, and enhancing structures to support all learners.

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Jonathan G. Vander Els

Jonathan G. Vander Els specializes in supporting teachers and administrators in schools and districts across the country in developing, sustaining, and enhancing structures to support all learners. As a practitioner, Jonathan is able to blend his experience and expertise to meet educators where they are and assist them in developing practical next steps to ensure high levels of learning for students in their school.

Jonathan serves as a project director for the New Hampshire Learning Initiative, overseeing and participating in supporting the competency-based work in schools throughout the State of NH. Formerly, Jonathan was principal of Memorial Elementary School in Sanborn Regional School District in New Hampshire. Under his leadership, Memorial School became a nationally recognized model PLC and competency-based learning elementary environment.

Jonathan has coached and presented at conferences and Institutes throughout the United States on building highly effective PLCs, implementing competency-based and personalized learning, and developing balanced and rigorous assessment systems. Jonathan was involved in the New Hampshire Performance Assessment of Competency Education (PACE) initiative as a member of the PACE Leadership Team, and facilitated the state’s initial effort to integrate skills and dispositions into curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

Jonathan has an education specialist degree from the University of New Hampshire in educational administration and supervision, a master’s in elementary education, a bachelor’s in history, and is certified as a superintendent, principal, and teacher. Jonathan is currently enrolled at the University of New Hampshire in their Ph. D. Educational Leadership and Policy strand, with a focus on competency-based learning. Jonathan lives with his wife and three children on the New Hampshire seacoast. You can follow Jon via Twitter @jvanderels.


PLC at Work®

PLC at Work® experts have proven success in leading the PLC at Work process in a school or district. Work with them to implement a focus on learning, build a collaborative culture, and create a results orientation that leads to sustained, substantive school improvement.

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RTI at Work™

RTI at Work experts focus on learning for all students and will empower you to build your own timely, targeted, and systematic intervention program. Work with them to implement a results-driven program that provides targeted instruction at all tiers of intervention.

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Presentations by Jonathan G. Vander Els

  • Collaborative Leadership Teams: The Catalyst for Continuous School Improvement
  • Building Performance Assessments in Collaborative Teams
  • Transitioning to Competency-Based Education: How PLCs Facilitate This Change
  • Providing Focused Intervention and Extension for All Students Through a Collaborative Model of Support
  • Using Data Cycles to Analyze and Inform Instruction
  • Student Work and How It Informs Instruction in a Competency-Based System
  • How Performance Assessments Determine Competency
  • Building Purposeful and Focused SMART Goals That Positively Impact Student Learning
  • Assessments That Truly Support Student Learning
  • Culture Is Key: Cultivating and Sustaining the Collective Mindsets to Transform Learning

“Jon was extremely well prepared and extremely knowledgeable! My elementary teachers were so comfortable with Jon. They asked him questions and he answered every single one of them. We are planning on bringing him back. Jon is excellent!”

Horda Semdani, supervisor of research, professional development, and professional learning communities, Bossier Parish Schools, Louisiana