TEACH BOLD
Teachers cross-sector utilize improvement science, a structured data-driven protocol, to increase their effectiveness and confidence in the classroom, leading to better teacher retention as well as rapid academic and social-emotional gains for students.
Data and improvement science works for teachers and students. Even in a pandemic.
Teachers who participated in EK12’s 2020-21 pilot of the Teach Bold initiative were traditional classroom and special educators focused on improving outcomes for students with disabilities during the mostly virtual Pandemic Year.
Students in participating teachers’ classrooms experienced far less unfinished learning than students in comparable classrooms across the District.
How Teach Bold Works.
Step 1: Bold ideas for root causes.
Each classroom is different and requires creative solutions to rapidly impact student academic and social-emotional wellbeing. A few weeks into the school year, after classroom routines have been established and beginning of the year data collected, Teach Bold teachers meet with their Improvement Coach.
Together, the EK12 coach and teacher generate a creative, research-cognizant strategy that addresses a root cause preventing their students, particularly students with disabilities, from achieving rapid academic and social-emotional growth.
Step 2: Effective data reviewed biweekly.
EK12 provides teachers with access to just-in-time data tools that make it easy to collect good data about their strategy’s effectiveness. After a two-week action research cycle, teachers and their EK12 coach review progress, analyzing data for equitable and statistical improvement towards short-term and long-term goals. Our Teach Bold check-in protocol includes an explicit focus on differentiating improvement for students with disabilities. Our continuous improvement framework concentrates on the mechanisms and builds teachers’ sense of relevance of their efforts as well as improves agency and self-efficacy. Teachers reflect on why they got certain results and what they learned to refine their change ideas.
Step 3: Spread bright spots quarterly.
Teach Bold gathers participating teachers cross-sector quarterly, allowing educators to share which strategies worked and which did not to collectively problem-solve the challenges everyone faces in their individual classrooms. The quarterly network meetings highlight bright spots and catalyze collective action towards a common aim.