Click the image above to hear about our story from our founder, Francis Cholle.

While we still know very little about AI and its impact on our world, yet we can say it will transform our relationship with knowledge and the position of "knowledge accumulation" as a priority in education. Imagination, creativity and eco-intelligence must be at the forefront to educate flourishing life-long learners in the age of adaptation. Supporting the adaptation of education to meet this pivotal moment is the basis for our Know Better World K12 Education Initiative.

From Know Better World Foundation President, Victoria McCoy

"I met Francis Cholle at a point where I'd spent over 25 years in K12 education, in schools and in the business sector. As Vice President of Professional Learning Services for a major education not-for-profit, post-acquisition, I was in the process of launching my education and business coaching and consulting company when a good friend introduced me to Francis.

Francis's program for executive coaches was focused on business transformation, and his track record was impressive. I soon found myself struck by the unique value and potential of the research, tools, and resources in the SQUIRCLE program. Francis had assembled a means to support progressive leadership, team culture, decision-making, and organizational transformation that went deeper and farther than anything I had studied on my path to senior leadership.

As I journeyed deeper into Francis's books and programs for executives, I saw the unique potential for these resources to serve the emergent and urgent needs of K12 educators to meet current and future challenges, so I shared this observation with Francis. As a mission-driven, future-focused innovator, Francis embraced this potential wholeheartedly, and this initiative was born."

TWO KEY PROBLEMS:

Learners are too often disengaged in schools -- and they face a world we don’t yet understand.

The current focus on core academics, while necessary, is not sufficient to produce the expansive growth students will need to be the leaders of tomorrow. A 2023 WestEd report on early use of more holistic graduate profiles as a means to redefine student success implies that a change in scope and expansion of conventional competencies now emphasized in our K12 curriculum is urgently needed to ensure that students have the skills required for the future.

Beyond a dated curriculum, evidence indicates that learner engagement falters in our classrooms where abstract expectations for learning are often detached from students' interests and real world concerns. A 2023 Gradient Learning report sites a full 50 percent of students who said that they were not engaged in what they are learning in school most of the time.

The individual needs, motivation and inspiration of each child are caught in the undertow of an endless sea of academic performance data that has stolen the focus of education. The emphasis on standardized testing for accountability, legally mandated and in place for decades, has unintentionally instilled a compliance-based atmosphere in our schools in place of the innately joyful experience of authentic learning.

Being an educator today is as hard as it’s ever been.

Balancing external pressure, staff shortages, and a volatile environment inside and outside our schools, it’s no wonder that many educators are exhausted and overwhelmed.

Teaching and leadership ranks are severely depleted. The educator pipeline today is too narrow to meet the needs of the coming school year. Morale is low and frustration is high. Political divisiveness and artificially enflamed discourse drive school board agendas from coast to coast, while the pressure to drive academic results is relentless. A June 2024 article at weareteachers.com reports that fully 90 percent of schools surveyed indicated that they are struggling to find and hire qualified teachers for every classroom. The need for change is urgent, and the issues are impacting our students today.

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Your donation funds the development and promotion of innovative, research-based professional and student resources to reinvigorate our schools as places of pride, foundational to their communities, and fully engaged in empowering our next generation of leaders to thrive in a changing world. Our framework is derived from the science-based, practical model pressure-tested for success in the world of business as described in our two best-selling books below, SQUIRCLE: A New Way to Think for a New World and Education in the Age of Adaptation.

Click on book images to purchase a copy

Our products and services will help educators and learners to move through the limitations of today's education system, which is

driven by knowledge accumulation instead of critical and creative thinking
using outdated proficiencies in high-stakes standardized assessments
leaning toward a factory model rather a human-centric approach

Our resources will target immediate challenges for our schools, and support educators in helping students for the emerging 21st Century graduation requirements now being rolled out in 20 states.

Our educator training will focus on a science-based approach to complex problems with a practical human-centric perspective that benefits educators, students, families, and community stakeholders.

PROGRAM SUMMARY:

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ABOUT KNOW BETTER WORLD FOUNDATION

OUR MISSION: We collaborate with educators to enable learners to thrive.

OUR VISION: An adaptive, innovative education organization where we empower leaders, educators, students, and parents to adopt a sustainable growth mindset for a better future.

OUR VALUES:

Commitment to access and equity in education
Advocacy for complex problem-solving and holistic decision-making in uncertainty
Respect for education as an essential element of strong communities and a bright future
Belief in human-centric pedagogical innovation, inspired by the science of nature
Embrace of the limitless synergy between technological advances and dynamic human capabilities

WHAT WE DO: We bring innovation to established pedagogy to support educators and students in expanding teaching and learning practices to meet competencies required to sustain thriving communities in the 21st century.

Through programs that restore care, deepen engagement, and generate parent and community support for educators, we promote a process to revitalize the education workforce, retain highly qualified teachers and leaders, and restore a sense of passion and purpose for educators and learners alike.

Through a holistic, science-based and proven approach, we empower students to uncover and embrace authentic new pathways in learning, self-realization, efficacy and agency so they may rise as leaders to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world.

WHO WE ARE:

Francis Cholle, Founder & CEO, Know Better World Foundation, The Human Company, SQUIRCLE™ Academy

Francis uses deep human learning and cognitive science to help leaders and organizations solve complex problems and thrive in disruption®. The last of his three books, a Wall Street Journal best-seller, SQUIRCLE: A New Way to Think for a New World examines the human predisposition to dismiss perception, emotion, and inspiration, and its cost to people and organizations. As the sponsor of this project, Francis lends his subject-matter expertise on human potential via the SQUIRCLE™ framework to the challenges and opportunities in education today.

Victoria McCoy, President, Know Better World Foundation

Vicki brings 30 years of exemplary business and K12 educational experience to her leadership of the foundation. An award-winning instructional leader, Vicki transitioned to building a record of high-performance in leadership roles in the education sector. As VP of Professional Learning Services at NWEA/HMH she expanded the reach and impact of her company in the field of teaching and learning through innovative design, development and implementation of large-scale, transformative initiatives with educators at all levels, including two state departments of education.

Gail Powers - Education Leadership Specialist

Gail earned her Ed.D. from Johns Hopkins, her MS of Education from Virginia State, and her BS in Education from Shaw University. As an experienced education leader, Gail is driven by a deep passion for transforming education and empowering individuals to reach their full potential. Her transformative work focuses on support for leaders in cultivating a culture of continuous improvement to create brighter futures for schools and communities.

Robin Whitacre - Education Design Specialist

Robin’s exceptional work with educational leaders across the US spans decades. As a teacher, building principal, leadership coach, and professional learning specialist, Robin brings creativity and innovation to design leadership resulting in transformative programs for districts and states. She has built long-term relationships in diverse communities through her extensive work with Bureau of Indian Education schools and recent work with the Loyola Marymount University Center for Urban Resilience Restorative Justice Project (CURes RJ).

Know Better World Foundation K12 Education Initiative

Innovative principles to transform education and catalyze social and ecological change at scale by 2050.