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James
Joiner

Principal James Joiner

Michigan City, Indiana

Consultant James Joiner works with for-profit and non-profit organizations in youth development, education, and community building. In his current role, James Joiner draws on extensive experience as a school administrator, a teacher, and an IT and marketing professional; organizations such as Guiding Our Descendants, Inc., Total Temple Fitness, New Disciple Love Fellowship Church, and the Jeremi Group have benefited from his advising. Prior to becoming a consultant, James Joiner was the Principal of Fall Creek Valley Middle School in Indianapolis, Indiana, and he has also held similar positions in Merrillville, Indiana, and Paterson, New Jersey. Throughout his career in education, James Joiner has led National Blue Ribbon-winning schools and won recognition for his ability to improve curricula and increase test scores as well as his dedication to his teachers’ personal development. At Paterson Public School #20, a school that was 95% children of color and 85% Free and Reduced Lunch, James Joiner succeeded in eliminating the achievement gap, with 90% of students meeting or exceeding standards in language arts, math and science. Moreover, James Joiner possesses six years’ classroom experience teaching science. James Joiner is a graduate of Yale University and Montclair State University, where he completed studies for his Bachelor of Arts in Chemical Engineering and Master of Arts in Educational Administration and Supervision, respectively. A member of the Indiana Association of School Principals and Indiana Middle Level Education Association, James Joiner also belongs to the National Middle School Association and the ASCD (formerly the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development). Over his long career, James Joiner has received a number of awards and honors, including the Russ Berrie Prize for making a positive impact on youth by founding and running Rescuing Inner Sity Kids (RISK), Inc. James Joiner is also the recipient of the Golden Apple Award for outstanding teaching from the North Jersey Herald & News and the Jordan Olivar Award from Yale University, where he was also a Ross Rossbach Scholar.


James Joiner's Schools

James Joiner's Companies

  		•  Metropolitan School District of Lawrence Township 2005 - 2008
    Principal of Fall Creek Valley Middle School
    Provided hands-on management to 1400 students and more than 150 staff while reorganizing the overall operations to ensure efficiency and a client-friendly environment, which resulted in improved: productivity, internal and external communications, transportation staging, safe and orderly movement throughout the building, time-on-task, responsiveness to client-needs, and client satisfaction.

James Joiner's Publications

  • General Educational Development (GED), Principal James Joiner
    June, 2010
    Knowing the importance of education, I have spent considerable time teaching General Educational Development classes for adults who wish to take the high school equivalency exam. The GED consists of five subject tests designed to certify a level of academic skill that is granted by a high school diploma. The test is only available to those who do not already have a diploma and was originally developed by the American Council on Education to help veterans of World War II as they returned to civilian life. By passing the GED exams, veterans were able to demonstrate their academic credentials and gain access to better jobs or college-level education without returning to high school. As any standardized test should, the GED is continuing to evolve and is now in its fourth incarnation, which includes an essay and places an emphasis on problem-solving and social topics. The five GED tests are Language Arts: Writing, Language Arts: Reading, Social Studies, Science, and Mathematics. The Writing section tests sentence structure, organization, and mechanics, requiring the correction or revision of given texts. Divided into two parts, the second requires test-takers to complete a cohesive argumentative essay. The Reading section presents fiction and non-fiction texts similar to those that one would encounter in high school and then asks questions that assess comprehension. The Social Studies segment covers topics including American history, geography, economics, government, and world history. The Science segment covers basic topics from all scientific areas and primarily tests the application of scientific concepts and the ability to understand and interpret scientific texts. The Math section is divided into two parts, one that allows the use of a calculator and one that does not. Both sections test basic mathematics concepts up to algebra, including geometry, statistics, probability, and basic number operations.