From a District Leader's perspective

The Fundamentals of Making Good Decisions introduces the core principles of Decision Quality. The 22-page booklet was originally designed for educators and parents but has proven accessible for students in the classroom.

Authors: Carl Spetzler, Tom Keelin, and Paul Schoemaker

Decision Skills support teaching and learning core objectives educators are already working to fulfill. Decision Skills are central to student success by supporting the learning of critical thinking, creativity, and SEL skills.

Learn how DEF programs support educators in learning and teaching Decision Skills in a way that is relevant, enjoyable, and valuable.

DEF has formal results showing Decision Skills can be taught in a way that improves subject learning and decision-making competence, which also correlates with better life outcomes.

Students, parents, teachers, counselors, and administrators have all shared the value they see in students learning Decision Skills.

Junction City High School led the way in implementing DEF curriculum across the high school experience. For 9th graders, a first trimester class built around Decision Skills develops SEL and study skills for a successful high school experience. The advisory program continues to build on these skills throughout the high school career. Because advisory teachers stay with students, they share and can reinformce the decision-making language over time and all teachers have been trained over 4 years of implementing the Steps to Success 9th Grade course.

Students share how Decision Skills make a difference in their lives. In this video, Isabella shares how she applied the tools she learned at a summer course at Stanford to her life when she got home.

Like many motivated students, Isabella was over-scheduled and stressed out. She was able to find a solution that worked for her parents, her friends, and for herself.

Many teachers have shared stories of how they have used Decision Skills to improve their decision making and help friends.

Few stories are as compelling and heart-felt as the decision Carrie Brumbach and her family faced with her husband's cancer diagnosis. She and her husband, Aaron, share how DEF's decision making framework helped them face these challenges.