Location Avon Lake, Ohio, United States Regions Great Lakes, Midwestern US Gender Male Also Known As Jeff
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Dr. Jeff McClellan has a broad range of experiences as a practitioner, researcher, and entrepreneur that shape his contributions to the field of education. His most recent endeavor began four years ago when he became the founding director of StartSOLE. Evidence shows that problem-based learning is a highly effective process for student success.
However, the time required to plan and implement these programs by teachers is a barrier to large scale use and this method of inquiry learning is reaching only a small fraction of classrooms. StartSOLE helps educators and students implement problem-based learning experiences using self-organized learning environments. The primary innovation is a web-based, mobile application that requires no prior training or preparation on the part of the educator and each experience can be completed in 90 minutes. To date, over 30,000 educators from over 100 countries have joined the StartSOLE community, reaching an estimated 1.5M K-12 students. While a StartSOLE experience can be used on its own, many educators find that becoming a member of the virtual StartSOLE community naturally ignites interest in developing deeper inquiry learning experiences and collaboration.
Jeff’s experience as a practitioner has given him a pragmatic understanding of the opportunities and challenges in K-12 education. He is a talented entrepreneur who has translated this understanding into powerful changes in the institutions he has led. Early in his career, Jeff was a teacher and Small School Leader at Lima Senior High School. He was part of the planning team and that led the conversion of a large comprehensive high school into a high-performing small school based on the theory of Multiple Intelligences. Following this, Jeff was recruited to apply his education entrepreneurial leadership skills as the founder MC2 STEM High School in Cleveland, Ohio, where he subsequently served as Head of School for seven years. MC2STEM was the first school in the nation to be partially housed within a Fortune 500 company’s headquarters. The public school is a demonstration site that openly shares its innovations with other educators across the US and, increasingly, around the world. MC2 STEM has been featured in numerous books and research articles about STEM education and was included as an example of what is possible for all students in President Barack Obama’s 2014 State of the Union address.
As an accomplished researcher, Jeff complements his practical knowledge of educational settings with a deep understanding of underlying pedagogical and organizational theories. His doctoral research explored non-cognitive factors associated with sustained student achievement. Jeff has been invited to serve as an adviser to numerous international agencies and a coach to educational leaders. He is a frequent trainer and keynote speaker on education entrepreneurship and innovative educational programming.
