Win More RFPs with the Right Coaching Platform

As an Educational Consultant, your expertise is your greatest asset — but in today’s competitive RFP landscape, how you deliver that expertise can make or break your success. Districts expect flexible, data-driven, and scalable coaching solutions — and the right tools can set you apart.

The key to winning more RFPs is finding the right tools that allow you to showcase measurable results, flexibility, and scalability. TORSH Talent is an all-in-one coaching platform that can help you stand out in the RFP process, equipping you with data-driven insights, personalized coaching tools, and hybrid solutions. Let’s explore how you can leverage the right tools to succeed as an EC and why TORSH Talent should be at the top of your list.

The Importance of Choosing the Right Coaching Platform for Educational Consultants

Why It Matters

In today’s educational landscape, districts are looking for solutions that go beyond the basics. They need coaching platforms that can deliver personalized, real-time feedback, drive instructional improvement, and adapt to the diverse needs of educators and providers — both in-person and virtually. As an EC, having the right platform is crucial to proving your ability to deliver these results.

Selecting the right coaching platform can make or break your proposal. It can elevate the quality of your professional development, providing the districts you serve with the tools to make a long-lasting impact.

What to Look For in a Coaching Platform:

• Flexible Delivery Methods: The ability to offer in-person, hybrid, and remote coaching is non-negotiable in today’s world.
• Data and Analytics: Districts need measurable outcomes. Look for platforms that allow you to easily track and share progress and improvement over time.
• Ease of Use: The easier it is for teachers and administrators to use, the more likely districts will adopt and appreciate the platform.

Scalability: Whether serving small districts or large, you need a platform that can scale with your growing client base and adjust to district size and complexity.

The Rise of Hybrid Professional Learning

Hybrid professional learning has rapidly become the norm, with districts seeking flexible ways to engage their staff in continuous development. As schools balance in-person instruction with virtual components, professional learning must also reflect that shift.

The Challenge for ECs

For ECs, this trend presents both opportunities and challenges. While hybrid learning allows you to offer a flexible model that meets varying district needs, it also requires robust tools that work seamlessly across both formats. The right tools are critical to ensure smooth transitions between in-person and virtual coaching, while still delivering high-impact feedback.

Why Hybrid Matters:

• Flexibility: Districts are drawn to solutions that offer flexibility. A hybrid model allows you to meet teachers wherever they are, whether in the classroom or working remotely.
• Ongoing Support: With hybrid professional learning, you can offer ongoing coaching and feedback, regardless of geographical constraints. This is key to delivering results that last.
• Adaptability: As an EC, your coaching needs to adapt to evolving district goals, school schedules, and staff availability. Hybrid platforms give you the freedom to adjust your approach based on the moment’s needs.

TORSH Talent – A Leading Solution for Educational Consultants

When you’re searching for the best tools to deliver impactful coaching and win more RFPs, TORSH Talent is your go-to platform. TORSH provides a comprehensive set of tools that help Educational Consultants scale their coaching and deliver measurable outcomes, whether in-person or virtual.

What TORSH Talent Offers:

• Video-Based Coaching: Capture real-time classroom moments and use video as a central tool for reflection, feedback, and coaching. TORSH’s video-based platform allows consultants to provide direct, actionable feedback to educators that leads to immediate improvement.
• Real-Time Data Tracking and Reporting: Districts want data. TORSH Talent delivers detailed analytics on teacher performance and progress, making it easy to demonstrate the impact of your coaching to administrators and stakeholders.
• Scalability and Flexibility: TORSH’s platform works for districts of all sizes, from small teams to large-scale implementations. It’s built to grow alongside your consulting practice and allows you to meet the specific needs of each district.
• User-Friendly Interface: A platform’s effectiveness is measured by how well it’s adopted. TORSH Talent offers an intuitive, easy-to-use platform that teachers, providers, coaches, and administrators will love.

How TORSH Helps You Win RFPs:

TORSH Talent positions you as the expert with advanced tools that district leaders want to see. Its ability to provide measurable data, improve teacher performance, and support hybrid coaching environments gives you a competitive edge in the RFP process. Plus, it’s backed by a track record of success, so you can include real-world examples of how TORSH has driven results.

Why TORSH Talent is Ideal for Hybrid Professional Learning

Delivering hybrid professional learning requires seamless integration between virtual and in-person coaching methods. TORSH Talent provides Educational Consultants with the tools they need to ensure that hybrid coaching is just as effective — if not more so — than traditional models.

Key Features for Hybrid Learning:

• Integrated Video Coaching: Video allows you to bridge the gap between in-person and remote coaching. Capture classroom moments for later reflection, provide virtual feedback sessions, or conduct remote coaching in real-time.
• Centralized Data Management: TORSH Talent allows you to track progress and results across all teachers, no matter where they are. You’ll always have the data you need to demonstrate growth and improvement.
• Feedback and Reflection Tools: Coaches and teachers can engage in continuous coaching cycles, no matter the setting. TORSH’s platform allows for real-time feedback and reflection, whether in-person or remotely.
• Scalability: TORSH Talent’s flexibility ensures it works just as well for small rural districts as it does for large urban school systems, making it an ideal tool for consultants in any environment.

Getting Started with TORSH Talent

Are you ready to take your coaching practice to the next level? TORSH Talent offers a variety of resources to help Educational Consultants integrate the platform into their proposals and win more RFPs. Here’s how you can get started:

• Success Playbook: Download our playbook for tips and strategies on positioning TORSH Talent in your proposals.
• Webinar Recording: Watch our latest webinar where experts discuss how to win RFPs with TORSH Talent.
• Email Templates: Access ready-made email templates to pitch TORSH to districts and include it in your RFP submissions.
• Sample Proposal Outline: Get a customizable outline you can use in your next RFP response.

As Educational Consultants, choosing the right platform can make all the difference in winning RFPs and delivering exceptional coaching outcomes. TORSH Talent provides the flexibility, data, and results-driven tools you need to set yourself apart in the competitive RFP landscape. Start leveraging TORSH Talent today and elevate your proposals with the winning combination of expertise and technology.

Ready to position yourself as the go-to consultant for high-impact, scalable coaching?
Download our RFP Success Toolkit or schedule a demo to see how TORSH Talent can help you win your next proposal — and every one after that.

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KIPP DC Public Schools, the second-largest preK–12 district in Washington, DC, is dedicated to providing students with access to high-quality, culturally affirming education. Central to this mission is their commitment to hiring exceptional talent—whether or not they are certified teachers—and helping them grow into top educators. Read on to see how KIPP DC used TORSH Talent to help streamline teacher recruitment and development.

KIPP DC streamlines teacher recruitment and professional development with TORSH Talent

Transforming Teacher Recruitment with TORSH Talent

After the COVID-19 pandemic, KIPP DC aimed to transition back to in-person interviews. However, scheduling in-person demo lessons for time-strapped principals and district leaders posed a challenge. Rather than requiring candidates to present their demo lessons multiple times, the hiring team sought out technology to streamline the evaluation process.

Shanelle Trenard, Associate Director of Instructional Hiring at KIPP DC, initially considered having candidates film lessons on their phones and upload them to Google Drive. However, concerns about data security prompted the team to explore a more secure solution. That’s when they turned to TORSH Talent, an innovative coaching and professional learning platform.

Secure and Convenient Demo Lesson Review with TORSH Talent

One of TORSH Talent’s standout features is its secure video upload functionality, enabling seamless collaboration across the district.

TORSH Talent’s flexible platform allows for various modes of teacher development

• Reimagined Demo Lessons: Candidates present their demo lessons in person on a KIPP DC campus, and the hiring team records and uploads the lessons to TORSH Talent. School leaders across the district can log in at their convenience to review and assess multiple candidates.
• Data-Driven Hiring Decisions: KIPP DC’s hiring team plans to implement competency-based rubrics and data-driven assessments in TORSH Talent, ensuring a thorough and consistent evaluation process.

“This year we focused more on quality over quantity, and TORSH Talent has definitely helped us do that.”

— Shanelle Trenard, Associate Director of Instructional Hiring, KIPP DC

Nurturing Exceptional Teachers through the Capital Teaching Residency

As one of Washington, DC’s highest-performing school districts, KIPP DC prioritizes teacher quality. When hiring, the focus is less on prior teaching experience and more on whether candidates are mission-aligned and committed to continuous growth.

For individuals without teaching credentials—such as recent graduates or career changers—KIPP DC offers a pathway to state licensure through the Capital Teaching Residency. This program welcomes candidates from all backgrounds and provides intensive, hands-on training, including mentorship and coaching.

TORSH Talent: Supporting Teacher Development in the Residency Program

KIPP DC leverages TORSH Talent to deliver personalized, job-embedded coaching to Capital Teaching Residents. The platform supports both synchronous and asynchronous learning, ensuring residents receive ongoing, tailored feedback to help them grow as educators.

• Pathway to Licensure: As an accredited Educator Preparation Program (EPP), residents engage in meaningful coursework that aligns with the daily work of high-performing teachers. Torsh seamlessly integrates with our learning management system, enabling resident faculty to grade teaching videos and provide actionable feedback on residents’ practice.
• Feedback for Growth: Residents utilize the goals feature to set performance objectives aligned with the built-in rubrics. With support from the residency team, Capital Teaching Residents work towards mastery with clear action steps and models provided in the exemplar showcase.

With over 100 Capital Teaching Residents becoming KIPP DC Teachers of the Year, and 70% of alumni remaining in teaching or leadership roles after four years, the program is a proven success.

Professional development and teacher coaching can take place in virtual or hybrid settings with TORTH Talent

TORSH Talent: Empowering KIPP DC’s Mission for Educational Equity

Thanks to TORSH Talent, KIPP DC has not only streamlined its recruitment process but has also fostered a culture of continuous improvement and educational excellence. By investing in both quality hiring and ongoing professional development, KIPP DC continues its mission to ensure every student has access to top-tier educators dedicated to transforming lives through education.

To find out more about how you can use TORSH Talent to streamline your teacher development, book a demo today. 

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Dr. Meg Franko, Director of Early Childhood Initiatives, Butler Institute for Families, University of Denver, explains during a recent interview, “[Early caregivers and early educators] are the folks who take care of our youngest citizens and who are their earliest teachers, people who help them get ready for the rest of their lives. At the same time, [programs are] in a position where we’re really struggling to get people to enter and stay in the field.”

Research continues to reinforce the incredible impact of early learning programs on student outcomes, from improving school readiness to predicting success after high school graduation. Even K12 administrators recognize that investing in early education is well worth it to cultivate successful student learning. 

To tackle these staffing issues, many programs are finding creative ways to attract and retain high-quality educators in their classrooms. Some partner with high school Career and Technical Education programs to create hands-on opportunities to engage future teachers, while others collaborate with community colleges and workforce development organizations to build the pipeline of qualified candidates.

These strategies prove effective in drawing nascent educators into the field — but what about those already working with children and their families? Recruitment alone does not guarantee ongoing quality and support for early educators as they advance in their careers. 

This is where job-embedded professional development for teachers comes in. 

Table of Contents

• What Is Job-Embedded Professional Development, Exactly?
• Modernizing Professional Development in Early Education
• Four Strategies to Uplevel Job-Embedded Professional Development for Teachers
• Expand Your Job-Embedded Professional Learning Strategies with TORSH

What Is Job-Embedded Professional Development, Exactly?

Despite its growing popularity among early educators, job-embedded training is more than a buzzword. Let’s examine job-embedded professional learning more closely and see how it compares with other approaches to educator development.

Job-embedded learning typically refers to “learning that is grounded in day-to-day practice and is designed to enhance professional practice with the intent of improving children’s learning and development” (Croft et al., 2010). It often relies on teams of education providers collaborating through a variety of methods to identify and solve issues of practice in an ongoing manner. Programs that embrace cycles of continuous learning and improvement lean on this type of professional learning to support their staff.

One example of a job-embedded learning strategy is practice-based coaching, defined by the ECLKC as “a strategy that uses a cyclical process. . . that supports teachers’ use of effective teaching practices that lead to positive outcomes for children.” This model focuses on collaborative, targeted relationships between coaches and teaching staff that center mentorship on specific goals related to practice. 

In contrast, other “traditional” forms of adult learning are often provided as external training (workshops or “PD Days”). But these approaches are far less effective in nurturing shifts in teaching practices than job-embedded professional development for teachers. In their 2020 report, Debra Pacchiano, Ph.D., Rebecca Klein, M.S., and Marsha Shigeyo Hawley, M.Ed. highlight that traditional PD is limited as it:

• Lacks support to assist teachers with applying training information to practice
• Involves minimal to no time for teacher reflection and examining real, relevant problems of practice
• Offers few opportunities for teams to collaborate and learn from each other to support quality teaching practices

According to research examined by the Society for Research in Child Development, job-embedded supports like practice-based coaching have a greater impact and result in more benefits for teachers: “Coaching that supports domain-specific curricula is more successful in improving preschool children’s learning than coaching on general best practices for preschool teaching.”

Modernizing Professional Development in Early Education

The stakes are high for early education providers seeking to uplevel their approaches to teacher professional development. Quality instructional practices can be the difference between a child entering kindergarten, ready to learn in a classroom setting and a student who struggles with learning on day one. 

The consequences of school readiness (or lack of it) cannot be underestimated. In many cases, factors beyond educators’ direct control affect children’s kindergarten preparedness. For instance, socioeconomic gaps and racial inequities affecting families can result in some students entering the classroom already far behind their peers (NCES). More challenging still, gaps in academic performance as early as kindergarten persist even into the upper elementary grade levels (Princiotta & Germino Hausken, 2006).

These data underscore the importance of turning to empirically proven methods of improving teaching practice as the lever educators can maneuver to improve student outcomes. As such, job-embedded learning is all the more crucial for programs to invest time and effort into. 

However, not all job-embedded professional learning is equally impactful. Pacchiano, Klein, and Hawley explain that four key characteristics make these PD strategies most effective in the modern era:

• 1:1 coaching support: As explored earlier, one-off training is insufficient for adult learners to retain new knowledge, let alone apply it in new ways to their teaching. Individualized support like practice-based coaching for early childhood teachers is more effective in shifting practices for the benefit of young students. 
• Upskilling and self-learning: Early educators are busy! When programs offer opportunities for independent professional growth, they allow teachers to bolster their skills and even complete requirements for specific certifications on their own schedules around their many obligations. In particular, online courses work well to lead educators down tailored learning paths based on their learning opportunities or needs.
• Peer-to-peer collaboration: Collaboration can include formal mentorship relationships between colleagues as well as less formal gatherings like lunch-and-learns or professional learning communities (PLCs). Fostering a spirit of collaboration among teachers can boost morale, create space for staff to seek and receive support when needed, and nurture a culture of continuous improvement as a team.
• Data assessment and analysis: Metrics are essential to measure the effectiveness of all three characteristics above. The right data help educators and program administrators alike identify patterns of success and new ways to drive improvements to teaching practices that meet students’ needs.

With these characteristics of successful professional learning in mind, how can early learning organizations efficiently launch or uplevel a job-embedded upskilling program?

Four Strategies to Uplevel Job-Embedded Professional Development for Teachers

1. Invest In The Right Online Learning Platform For Your PD Needs

The first step to expanding and supporting job-embedded professional learning opportunities is identifying the best technology for your programs. The right online learning platform can make all the difference in either helping or hindering your team’s ability to engage in coaching efficiently, provide peer feedback and support, and measure the impact of coaching activities on program goals.

Solutions like the innovative TORSH Talent online learning platform provide all the tools needed to catalyze your job-embedded professional development program — all within your organization’s available resources. 

Let’s take coaching, for example. Teachers leverage TORSH Talent’s video recording features to capture classroom practices live, which they can review ahead of coaching sessions to self-reflect or identify opportunities for growth. In parallel, coaches can also review these recordings, leaving time-stamped feedback for their mentees with specific input related to their coaching goals. When a teacher and their coach next meet, whether it’s in-person or online, these prep steps set them up for a more targeted, productive session. 

These are just a few of the many resources available to early childhood teachers and coaches using TORSH Talent. Ready to learn more? Request a demo to discover how our platform can nurture your coaching practices and teachers’ professional growth as a continuous process. 

Looking for more tips as you search for the right online learning platform to meet your PD needs? Read our recent article for seven key questions every administrator should ask. 

2. Create Multiple Methods for Self-Paced Development

Another critical component of effective job-embedded training is self-learning. Asynchronous opportunities for upskilling give early educators autonomy and practical ways to continue building their teaching effectiveness on their own schedule. Many programs will use solutions like TORSH Talent’s Learning Paths to develop right-sized online modules and courses for:

• Targeted training on specific topics, identified based on program data or opportunities for educator growth sourced from coaching observations
• Certification requirements, either for new or ongoing education (especially helpful for teachers early in their career)
• Other self-paced learning opportunities based on educators’ interests or personal learning goals

The best part about online learning pathways is their flexibility to meet individual educator’s unique needs. For example, TORSH Talent allows administrators to curate which modules educators must complete in order to layer on learning with great intentionality and precision. And with such busy schedules, early childhood teachers appreciate the ability to complete requirements like certifications when and where it’s convenient for them.

When early childhood providers take time to develop self-learning opportunities for their staff, they create conditions for practitioners to improve teaching effectiveness. Further, they encourage a mindset of curiosity among educators, which can greatly encourage them to stay in the field and continue helping young learners grow and thrive.

3. Leverage Hybrid & Virtual Collaboration for Scalability

Like many early education program leaders, you may be exploring hybrid and virtual professional learning methods such as online coaching to stretch limited program dollars and staff resources to the maximum. But there are so many ways technology can support collaboration beyond coaching! 

Consider building peer-to-peer collaboration opportunities in a digital space for early childhood staff. As highlighted earlier, PLCs are a great way to foster peer collaboration. Many programs leverage PLCs that focus on particular challenges with teaching practices within their classrooms. This setup encourages teachers to take ownership of isolating, testing, and measuring changes to program instructional approaches to improve student outcomes. 

TORSH Talent’s Communities feature is the perfect place to launch a virtual PLC or complement an in-person one with online collaboration. This informal tool allows your staff to pose and answer questions among their peers. A comprehensive directory also allows you or PLC leaders to manage membership in specific Sharing Circles around particular topics or challenges.

Learn more about this and other collaboration features available for early childhood educators in TORSH Talent.

4. Gather The Right Data To Guide Continuous Improvement

Even with the best coaching and collaboration practices in place, job-embedded professional learning is nothing without data. After all, the ultimate goal of improving teachers’ effectiveness is to improve students’ learning and growth — which requires measuring the impact of your PD strategies.

Whether you manage a Head Start program working to meet performance standards or a preschool experimenting with a new curriculum, data are essential. Consider how you might synthesize outputs from early childhood assessments, coaching feedback, and more to paint a picture of your program’s effectiveness. What learning outcomes are educators successfully driving in young learners? Where might teachers benefit from additional training or support? 

Additionally, these learning outcomes will inevitably change as a program matures and shifts — and that means building an ongoing process for reviewing and analyzing data becomes critical.

TORSH Talent offers clear reporting and metrics that you can tailor to meet your specific program needs or measure particular goals. Additionally, the platform integrates seamlessly with many LTI-compliant platforms such as Canvas, Blackboard, and Sakai, allowing you to examine multiple data across existing tools to make informed decisions about professional learning and practices. These capabilities underpin a successful cycle of improvement where teachers grow and students thrive.

Expand Your Job-Embedded Professional Learning Strategies with TORSH

TORSH brings a wealth of expertise and experience in effective coaching and job-embedded professional learning for early childhood educators. The innovative TORSH Talent online learning platform is the ideal solution to support and enhance job-embedded professional learning practices within your early education program, with easy-to-use and secure tools to:

• Complete video-based observations
• Provide targeted, specific feedback to early learning educators on their interactions with children and families
• Nurture synchronous and asynchronous collaboration
• Individualize educator coaching and learning
• Give insights to guide professional learning and training

Uplevel your early childhood educator professional development needs with TORSH Talent. Request a demo today!

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Watch this on-demand webinar to hear from Dr. Christi Moore, Director of Professional Learning at the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL), how DECAL has built, expanded, and sustained professional learning programming across the state using the online learning platform (OLP) TORSH Talent.

During the 45-minute webinar you’ll learn tips for how to:

• Utilize synchronous and asynchronous coaching to provide educators with targeted feedback on practice and make learning digestible for busy schedules
• Use standardized rubrics and frameworks so 1:1 coaching is aligned to evidence-based practices and providers stay on track with portfolio completion
• Create the space for self-reflection so that both educators and coaches can easily revisit and build upon their learnings
• Leverage data, insights, and reporting in all facets of your professional strategy to support informed decision-making 

Take advantage of this opportunity to see how one enterprise-level program provided more coaching to educators with greater efficiency and, as a result, cultivated high-quality educators who improve developmental outcomes for the families and children they serve.

Fill out the form to watch the on-demand webinar.

Webinar Presenters:

Dr. Christi Moore 
Director of Professional Learning at the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL)

Christi Moore is the Director of Professional Learning at the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL). She guides the work of the Professional Learning Unit, which oversees DECAL’s early learning workforce development and professional learning initiatives. In 2011, Christi earned her Ph.D. in Early Childhood Education from Georgia State University. She has a variety of experiences in education, including service as a classroom teacher in Georgia’s Pre-K and in K-5 classrooms, as well as working as a guidance counselor in a middle school setting. She has also worked in teacher education, serving as a language and literacy instructor in a university teacher preparation program and as a facilitator and trainer for a non-profit professional development center. Before joining DECAL, Christi led the development of an award-winning online learning platform for teachers of children ages birth through third grade.

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First Connections is a Little Rock-based agency within the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE), Division of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), Office of Special Education (OSE) that provides early intervention support and services to parents and other caregivers of program-eligible children from birth to three years old. First Connections also provides technical assistance to early intervention professionals to meet program certification requirements, offers ongoing professional development, and supports providers in applying evidence-based practices in their work with families.

First Connections employs only two full-time technical assistance and training professionals to support a diverse group of early intervention professionals spread across the state. With such a small team and such a big mission, First Connections needed a better way to provide certification training, ongoing professional development, and technical assistance beyond in-person training workshops. The program also needed more effective ways to track completion and collect data on the effectiveness of their technical assistance and training. Last, early interventionists working toward certification needed more flexibility in when and how they accessed training while they managed full caseloads.

These challenges led First Connections to search for a comprehensive online platform to help them manage and deliver technical assistance. In particular, First Connections wanted a solution to enable early intervention professionals to navigate certification requirements at their own pace. They also wanted an intuitive, simple-to-navigate platform to accommodate different technological abilities.

The goal: Ensure that all early intervention professionals, regardless of their location or schedule, have equitable access to essential resources and support opportunities.

The Solution 

First Connections was excited to discover TORSH Talent, a HIPAA-secure online platform that streamlines technical assistance and certification processes for staff in early intervention programs. With TORSH’s extensive expertise in supporting early intervention and care programs, First Connections found an ally to help them meet their goals and overcome obstacles.

Using TORSH Talent’s advanced suite of tools, First Connections has successfully launched a robust, accessible online environment for practitioners to tap into technical assistance services that support their practices. First Connections immediately began using TORSH Talent to:

• Offer on-demand, asynchronous courses
• Track completion of certification requirements
• Offer a variety of on-demand technical assistance modules to support in-service development of
  practitioner’s knowledge, abilities, and skills
• Offer Learning Paths tailored to the core competencies needed for specific roles

Core Competencies For Early Interventionists:

• Teaching families their IDEA rights in the context of the Part C Program process;
• Completing the Child Outcomes Summary (COS) rating as a team with the family using the state-approved tool
• Determining Part C Program Eligibility as a team with the family
• Developing a family-centered Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) around typical routines, child and family interests, and family priorities and concerns
• Selecting the Part C service necessary to reach the goals and objectives on the IFSP

Core Competencies For Therapists:

• Evaluation practices and sharing results of evaluations in the evaluation report within Part C Program guidelines and timelines
• Providing IFSP services within typical child and family activities to meet Natural Environment requirements
• Documenting Home and Community Visits (service sessions) in ways that describe the parent or caregiver participation

With its expanded reporting on practitioner engagement with content, TORSH Talent also enables First Connections to assess the effectiveness of their courses and course content in ways that the program was unable to do previously with in-person workshops or even in live webinars.

“The TORSH system provides an online platform to coordinate a variety of technical assistance activities and offer content and ongoing certification training courses to meet the needs of home visitors around their schedules.”

Tracy Turner
Part C Coordinator
The Arkansas Department of Education, Division of Elementary and Secondary Education, Office of Special Education

Initial Successes

With the comprehensive technical assistance and certification platform now fully operational within TORSH Talent, early intervention professionals are successfully engaging in coursework that historically had limited offerings. The result is that the statewide network of early intervention professionals are obtaining certification credentials in a timely manner with minimal support. And so far, feedback from in-the-field professionals about the experience has been positive.

First Connections is seeing significant improvements to both engagement and satisfaction levels among early intervention professionals, who appreciate the flexibility offered by TORSH Talent to access technical assistance on their schedules and supportive content specific to their needs. The collaboration between First Connections and TORSH has also yielded improved data collection, collaboration, and communication among stakeholders through the use of reporting tools.

As their partnership with TORSH progresses, First Connections anticipates a notable improvement in the effectiveness of their technical assistance offerings. Ultimately, bettering this support will also strengthen the practices that early intervention professionals leverage to serve families and children across the state.

What’s Next

The next step for First Connections is to work with TORSH to develop internal reports that group leaders can use to track their Provider Program staff’s completion of certification and annual professional development hours to further engage users. Additionally, First Connections plans to leverage TORSH Talent’s data collection capabilities to enhance the fidelity of technical assistance implementation and ongoing quality improvement. The program anticipates additional growth for practitioners and transformational practice improvements across the state through this collaboration.

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CT3’s mission is to transform the quality and culture of education for youth, especially those in traditionally disenfranchised communities. The organization’s transformative and sustainable professional development centers around their innovative and research-validated “No-Nonsense Nurturer” approach to classroom management. Alongside this training, the organization offers real-time teacher and leadership coaching, virtual leadership coaching, and in-depth anti-racist school culture training aimed at building culturally relevant classrooms. With all of their work, CT3 builds capacity with their partners to implement anti-racist practices and to dismantle the systemic structures that have historically impeded self-confidence and academic outcomes among historically disenfranchised youth. (For more information about CT3, please visit https://www.ct3education.com)

Using TORSH Talent for Leadership Coaching Simply Made Sense

Pre-pandemic, CT3 had already found success using TORSH Talent for video support. Once pandemic restrictions and regulations forced schools to transition to the virtual space, CT3 discovered the usefulness of the platform for their real-time leadership coaching work. TORSH provided the organization and its coaches with “eyes on the ground when we couldn’t actually be on the ground. What TORSH has allowed us to do is to keep our people in their homes, and they are still able to give quality feedback and do important work without exhausting themselves flying three red eyes in five days,” Treadwell explained.

Principals and school leaders who were engaged in CT3’s leadership coaching were open to the shift in delivery because “it seemed like the right pivot, at the right time, for the right reasons.” The organization’s main challenge during this shift was to ensure that they were providing the same level of quality and rigor of work in the virtual space. CT3 prides itself on giving really actionable feedback and coaching plans, and our Talent platform allowed associates to continue to provide high-quality support to their partners.

Looking forward, CT3 plans to continue with a hybrid engagement style that combines in-person touchpoints with intentionally designed virtual sessions using the TORSH Talent platform.

A Necessary Emphasis on Anti-Racism and Equity

Although anti-racism was already playing a large role in CT3’s work, the organization re-committed itself to increased anti-racist engagement and education with all of its partners in June 2020. “During this time, we truly have to put equity at the center of our work. We really have to make sure that this time, we are focused on all scholars.”

CT3 has been empowering schools to be bold, act in anti-racist ways, and eliminate some of the policies that led us to the current inequitable state of our educational system. Pandemic difficulties have really highlighted that there are some structures built within schools that were meant to withstand challenging times like these, and some that were not.

In order to really tackle structural problems, schools must hold a mirror up to themselves and their own practices. As the primary thought partner for school leaders, CT3 spends a lot of time talking with principals about habits they have built together, habits they still need to build, and habits they need to break. “Our goal at CT3 is to continue to push our schools not to go back to ‘normal,’ because ‘normal’ didn’t serve all of our kids. ‘Normal’ serves some kids, and this became very clear very quickly, especially in terms of access to technology and use of that technology.”

CT3 hopes that COVID-era conversations surrounding this concern on a macro-scale will provide schools with the momentum to rethink and reimagine the conversation around learning loss, ultimately pushing forward sustainable and meaningful anti-racist solutions.

The post TORSH Talent Facilitates Business-as-Usual for CT3 Despite Pandemic Virtual Shift appeared first on Torsh.

TORSH is delighted to celebrate the fourth year of our partnership with Teach Plus, a service organization that provides professional development for teachers through various training and coaching programs. We sat down with Michael Savoy, their National Managing Director of Teacher Leadership Programs, to discuss the partnership and the ways in which TORSH Talent has allowed Teach Plus to continue with business-as-usual in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“We felt fortunate that we had this opportunity to just continue to do the work as we have been doing,” Savoy began.  “Our work is a little different than many other coaching organizations, in that we’re not coaching classroom practice.”  

Michael Savoy, National Managing Director of Teacher Leadership Programs for Teach Plus

The mission of Teach Plus is to empower excellent, experienced teachers to take leadership over key policy and practice issues that affect their students’ success. The organization empowers expert teachers to advance policy changes and improve instructional leadership and teacher supports; trains and coaches teacher leaders to successfully mobilize and lead teacher teams; and empowers teacher leaders to be change agents among their peers and policymakers.  Since 2009, Teach Plus has trained thousands of teacher leaders across the country who are driving policy changes and improving the instructional practices of teachers to create an education system driven by equity, access, and excellence for all students.  (For more information, please visit https://teachplus.org)

In Search of Solutions to Support Their Dispersed Network of Coaches & Teachers

Four years ago, Teach Plus was searching for a solution to a pressing issue: how to maintain the same level of support and quality of coaching to an increasingly dispersed network of coaches and teachers. 

“Most of us with Teach Plus started out in an in-person position somewhere… but as the organization grew and we were starting to work with teachers spread out in different places, we realized that it didn’t always make sense to hire a local full-time coach.  We wanted to figure out how we could coach our teacher leaders without having to have someone physically sitting there with them all the time,” Savoy described. 

“Where I live is nowhere near any of the work that I do… TORSH gives me that opportunity to affect change on a lot of teachers without having to be physically in those spaces.”  

Though Savoy is based out of Maryland, he and Teach Plus’s other remote coaches are able to utilize TORSH Talent to work effectively with teachers across the country.  This expansion of possibilities and increased accessibility was a driving motive behind the organization’s decision to partner with TORSH.  “Being able to do my work from my space, without having to physically be in DC, or LA, or Chicago – that was where we were headed.  Ultimately, we’re thinking that we could have a teacher leader in the middle of Kansas, and we would still be able to support them and their leadership role without having to spend the money to fly one, or two, or three people all over the place,” Savoy explained.  “TORSH Talent has made it much easier for us to continue to keep our coaches where they are, wherever it is that they are located, and still utilize their talents effectively for supporting our teacher leaders.”  

Supporting Coaches from Coast to Coast

Savoy stressed that this support is vital when it comes to improving the quality of education and educational outcomes. Today, the organization reaches coast to coast and has eleven regional state programs serving teachers in both rural and urban school districts, from high-population-density states like Massachusetts to low-population-density states like New Mexico.  The programs currently support 300 teacher leaders across the United States using TORSH Talent.  

Savoy emphasized just how convenient it is to have “all of the tools in one place” – including features such as video uploads with time-synced comments, coaching rubrics, feedback, observations, coaching logs, and goal setting.  “With TORSH, I have the evidence, I have the feedback – it’s all right there.  It’s time-stamped….You don’t have to sit there and try to remember what you said when you were in the middle of something. The platform allows us to really focus our coaching conversations and provide targeted feedback in a way that simply isn’t an option when relying on memory alone.”  Savoy underscored the ways in which TORSH Talent has been invaluable to Teach Plus.

Virtual Coaching Before it Was Cool

No massive COVID-related growing pains for Teach Plus.  Reflecting on the process of adjusting to the virtual platform four years prior, he emphasized the collaborative nature of their partnership with TORSH and the customizable features of Talent.  “Back then, TORSH Talent was still in the process of being built.  Anytime I needed anything, I could reach out to our customer success rep and say, hey, it would be really great if we could have this feature or that addition… and our contact would say, okay, well, let’s go talk to the developers, and then our request would be completed,” Savoy extolled. 

Looking to the future, Savoy hopes that “virtual coaching options for teachers will become more available.”  

We at TORSH are continually honored to partner with innovative organizations such as Teach Plus, working to empower teachers to improve our educational landscape. 

Interested in learning how to expand the reach of your professional development offerings?

The post The Pre-Pandemic Virtual Coaching Solution That Positioned Teach Plus For Success appeared first on Torsh.

Prior to embarking on a career in education, Davis worked as a business analyst spending her days looking for ways to break models and programs, in an effort to make them better. She now applies those skills, coupled with her advanced researching prowess on her quest to constantly improve educators and mentors, while also pursuing her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction.

Ursula is constantly pushing the limits of learning and boundaries, all in pursuit of improving the teachers and peer-to-peer mentors within her district.

The soon-to-be Dr. Davis recently shared some of the resources that have inspired her during the buildout of the K-12 teacher induction program at RCPS, many of which will also be cited in her dissertation – “Impact of Video Coaching with Elementary Induction Teachers“, which will examine how elementary school induction teachers perceive video coaching as a job-embedded professional development strategy.

The Distance Learning Playbook, Grades K-12
By Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, & John Hattie

The pandemic teaching of mid-2020 was not really distance learning, but rather crisis teaching. But starting now, teachers have the opportunity to prepare for distance learning with purpose and intent – using what works best to accelerate students’ learning all the while maintaining an indelible focus on equity.

Harnessing the insights and experience of renowned educators Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, and John Hattie, The Distance Learning Playbook applies the wisdom and evidence of VISIBLE LEARNING® research to understand what works best with distance learning. Spanning topics from teacher-student relationships, teacher credibility and clarity, instructional design, assessments, and grading, this comprehensive playbook details the research- and evidence-based strategies teachers can mobilize to deliver high- impact learning in an online, virtual, and distributed environment

Hattie Model of Feedback
John Hattie – Visible Learning

Performance Feedback plays a critical role in the coaching cycle.  It is when the coach presents data on the teacher’s performance they obtained from the Observation they performed.  Feedback can be formal or informal and is thought to be so important to achieving a successful outcome from the coaching experience that some researchers consider it to be an evidence-based practice in and of itself.  Feedback is said to be most effective when it is specific, timely, positive, and corrective if necessary. There are a few ways a coach can deliver their feedback to the teacher; written, face-to-face, or via a video – all of which have their own advantages and disadvantages. 

Davis is currently digesting the wealth of knowledge that is this feedback structure. She is working on a way to deliver this information through a series of trainings for administrators, that they can then redeliver to teachers to apply it to the district’s peer-to-peer feedback model.

Get Better Faster: A 90-Day Plan for Coaching New Teachers
by Paul Bambrick-Santoyo

There are many different coaching models in existence, but most are based on similar principles and are applicable to teachers in Early Education, Early Intervention, K12, and Higher Education.  These models showcase the best practices for improving an individual teacher’s performance. There are 4 broad categories of an effective coaching cycle for teachers: Observation, Modeling, Performance Feedback, and Alliance Building Strategies.

The Beginning Teacher’s Field Guide: Embarking on your first year
By Tina Boogren

The joys and pains of starting a teaching career often go undiscussed. This field guide dives deep into the personal side of teaching, offering crucial advice, empathy, and new-teacher support. The author details six phases every new or first-year teacher goes through (anticipation, survival, disillusionment, rejuvenation, reflection, and second anticipation) and outlines targeted classroom strategies, teaching tips, and self-care practices for each.

* Ursala says: It is as important for administrators who are coaching and working with new teachers, as it is for new teachers to read.

Supporting Beginning Teachers: Classroom Strategies
By Tina Boogren

Give new teachers the time and professional guidance they need to become expert teachers. Investigate key research, and examine the four types of support-physical, emotional, instructional, and institutional-that are crucial during a teacher’s first year in the classroom. Discover essential strategies for K-12 mentors, coaches, and school leaders to develop an effective mentoring program schoolwide. 

Jim Knight, Founder of Instructional Coaching at Learning Forward 2017

Learning to integrate video into instructional coaching takes practice. One mistake that Jim Knight originally made in his own instructional coaching was not utilizing the video strategically and at the right time within the coaching process. Jim reveals his best practices and worst mistakes for instructional coaching with video. Read the entire blog from Edthena here.

* RCPS secured permission from Jim Knight’s Instructional Coaching to incorporate the Watch Yourself and Watch Your Students rubric into their program.

Teaching in the Online Classroom – Surviving and Thriving in the New Normal
By Doug Lemov

A timely guide to online teaching strategies – School closures in response to the covid-19 coronavirus pandemic resulted in an immediate and universal pivot to online teaching. More than 3.7 million teachers in the U.S. were suddenly asked to teach in an entirely new setting with little preparation and no advance notice. This has caused an unprecedented threat to children’s education, giving rise to an urgent need for resources and guidance. The New Normal is a just-in-time response to educators’ call for help. Teaching expert Doug Lemov and his colleagues spent weeks studying videos of online teaching and they now provide educators in the midst of this transition with a clear guide to engaging and educating their students online. 

Video in Teacher Learning: Through Their Own Eyes
By Laura Baecher

Video recording is the only feedback method that allows educators to view their teaching through their own eyes. Video in Teacher Learning provides guidance on how to get started and how to engage in nonjudgmental, descriptive analysis using this powerful tool.  Written for instructional coaches, administrators, supervisors, and individual teachers.

Ursala Davis and the RCPS administration are constantly seeking ways to enhance their teacher induction program, exploring every opportunity to improve and support the educators within the district. We at Torsh are proud to be a part of those efforts, by providing a platform that is flexible enough to support their ever-evolving needs.

Hear what mentors within the RCPS have to say about the value of TORSH Talent to the program.

Interested in how Torsh could improve your school or district’s professional learning program? Click here to connect.

The post 8 Resource Recommendations for Improving K-12 Teacher Retention appeared first on Torsh.

The role that video can play in bringing about this awareness is incredible. When combined with self-reflective tools, coaches can harness the power that comes from watching ourselves through a different lens. So, here are some tips for helping teachers become focused, objective viewers of themselves and their practice as a part of reflective teaching:

1. Have a clear purpose for the viewing. Just as establishing a purpose for reading helps to direct our mind to find the details that most support that purpose, the same is true for viewing. It is helpful to present a question for the teachers to have in their minds as they watch their videos. For example, giving guidance such as “Watch your video and notice what lesson components you see reflected in your lesson.” or “As you watch your video, note what types of questions you ask the most?” helps the teachers focus on one aspect of their practice to observe. This can help clear the critical lens for the teachers that tend to notice all the things they do “wrong”. 
2. Create a checklist of objective behaviors to notice. Since instructional coaching is focused on building teacher capacity in applying best practices, having a checklist of clear behaviors to notice can be helpful in shifting from a critical or unaware lens to a more objective one. Create a checklist that outlines specifically what the teachers listen for or look for in the video? Teachers can use this to comment on their videos when they see an element reflected or upload the checklist as a separate document. Their video reflection can give a coach valuable insight into the lens through which the teacher is viewing their own practice. Click here for an example checklist on conducting reading and writing conferences with students. 
3. Ask them to rate themselves and use evidence from their video to support their rating. Rubrics are a great way to help teachers gauge their progress toward a goal. Prior to introducing a practice, have teachers rate their knowledge and comfort with each aspect that will be explored in the coaching. As they upload a video and use a checklist to reflect, have them review the rubric and note places in the videos that reflect growth. They can use rubric tags to timestamp exact places that they feel show progress.
4. Include “next step” thinking as a part of the reflection. In every coaching engagement, the goal is forward movement. Asking teachers to set a goal or a next step action based on their reflection allows them to lead their own learning. I have found that teachers often set far more insightful goals for themselves after having a chance to do some purposeful and strategic self-reflection.

Coaching a teacher toward reflective practice takes time, but when teachers become comfortable viewing videos of themselves through a reflective lens, it has a massive impact.

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Robyn Hartzell has served in education since 1998 and has experience in a variety of roles: teacher, instructional coach, interventionist, trainer, consultant, and program coordinator at the campus and regional levels. Currently, she works as an independent consultant and coach promoting effective instructional and leadership practices and championing the need for quality professional learning. Robyn takes privilege in coaching professionals in their craft and is passionate about helping organizations develop leaders who make a lasting, positive impact on the programs and people they serve.

Be sure to follow Robyn on Twitter @robynhartzellpd and check out her website at www.hartzellpd.com

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During this casual Q&A with Dr. Jackson, we look back at the unlikely path that guided her to become an educator and evolution (thanks to her technical aptitude) into the Instructional Technology Coordinator (ITC) for Newton County Schools, and ultimately on to become the Regional Education Development Specialist for Audience Enhancement.

Jackson was at the forefront of bringing video into the classroom. During her time with Newton County Schools, the district was the first in the United States to implement cameras in every classroom in 2014. This experience, along with other highlights shared from her career as an educator throughout this episode, shows the role coaching, mentorship, and professional development has played for her. It is also recognized in her passion for inspiring other teachers today.

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