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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If you step into any early learning space, you will witness educators engage with their little learners individually and uniquely. One teacher may show a toddler how to carefully pick up and stack blocks to help them build fine motor skills. Another might clap with a preschool-aged student as they practice sounding out a word on a whiteboard. At their core, these examples are developmentally appropriate practices (DAP), where teachers are adapting their instructional practices to match each child’s developmental level. 

To the untrained eye, this concept in action may seem intuitive and straightforward. While DAP is widely understood as a highly effective practice for supporting healthy development during a child’s early years, these teaching methods do not mature on their own. Quality professional development (PD) drives quality classroom practice, with DAP as well as other evidence-based models for student learning. 

Let’s explore why DAP and practice-based coaching work well together, and how modern technology can enhance both to support children’s optimal development.

Why Developmentally Appropriate Practices (DAP) Matter in Early Education

Adapted from the original definition created by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), The University of Maine defines DAP as follows:

 “[Developmentally appropriate practices are] an approach to education that guides early childhood professionals in everyday practice. It comes from more than 75 years of research on child development and early learning…and gives early childhood professionals information from which to make decisions.”

~The University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies

Three areas  in particular help educators determine the appropriateness of an everyday practice or interaction with a young child:

• Age appropriateness, or practices that support a child of a particular age and stage of growth;

• Individual appropriateness, or approaches that nurture a specific child’s development; and

• Cultural and social appropriateness, or practices that align with and respect each child and family’s identity as well as their community.

PennState Extension summarizes the intent of using DAP across these areas as meeting individual children where they are developmentally. In other words: “Teachers… get to know [children] well—and [enable] them to reach [individual] goals that are both challenging and achievable.”

Clearly, the right materials, learning space, observation cycles, and resources that reinforce staff knowledge support instructional practices tailored to a child’s developmental stage.

Challenges with Implementing Developmentally Appropriate Practices

As straightforward as developmentally appropriate best practices sound, this approach to teaching is not necessarily intuitive. Common challenges that programs face with implementing DAP include:

• A mismatch between an individual teacher’s personal beliefs about DAP and their self-reported or actual practices (Şahin-Sak, Tantekin-Erden & Pollard-Durodola, 2016)
• Partial or inconsistent use of DAP within a classroom
• Lack of ongoing support for educators with applying appropriate instructional practices in education settings

Every early childhood program and educator benefits from intentional practice, refinement, and ongoing continuous improvement around DAP in order to drive effective growth for young children. This is where quality professional development, paired with the right technology, comes into play.

High-Quality PD Yields High-Quality Practices

Many in the early childhood field already recognize that adult learning is an ongoing process; not a one-and-done effort. To improve teaching practices and drive positive outcomes for young children and their families, an early childhood educator needs continuous support to build individual skills and weave them into instructional practices. 

Quality PD is essential for early childhood education professionals to purposefully implement DAP. 

Research indicates certain professional learning models are particularly impactful with changes to teaching practices. One study found that targeted training provided via classes to early childhood teachers helped decrease teachers’ contrasting beliefs and practices that go against the principles of DAP, removing a key barrier to their adoption (Heisner & Lederberg, 2011).

Other effective professional development strategies include:

• Online courses designed for independent learning around particular topics
• Staff learning communities organized for peer collaboration in a supportive environment
• Practice-based coaching (PBC) tailored to individual practitioner needs

Coaching is most impactful in driving tangible shifts to teacher practices, whether it serves to help educators meet Head Start performance standards, embrace DAP best practices, or achieve other program priorities.

The power of coaching to improve DAP best practices

Strong relationships between coaches and mentees has proven effective in shifting developmentally appropriate instructional practices across a wide range of learning areas. Programs focused on social-emotional development via the Pyramid Model benefit just as much from practice-based coaching (PBC) as those concentrating on literacy development in the classroom.  

Part of the power behind PBC is helping staff recognize what specific DAP best practices look like in action and adapting them into their approaches. A high-quality coaching program allows teachers to self-reflect and receive targeted feedback from their coach, while also celebrating progress.

A few ways that an early childhood educator may set goals for coaching around DAP include:

• Refining their strategies for building relationships with families and learning about their cultural, linguistic, and personal backgrounds (key to “getting to know” each child)
• Shifting how they adapt the same teaching strategy for early numeracy skills (like recognizing and naming numbers) to children at different cognitive development stages
• Learning how to effectively and correctly use early childhood assessments to determine where a child is in their development

5 Ways Technology Supports Developmentally Appropriate Practices

No matter what learning goals a program sets with DAP, technology is quickly becoming a crucial part of effective practitioner growth. In particular, online learning platforms (OLPs) form the backbone for many successful adult learning models, including PBC.

The right technology can connect educators, streamline data collection, and drive improvements in developmentally appropriate practices in early childhood organizations.

Let’s explore five ways that technology cultivates a culture of continuous improvement and growth when it comes to DAP, as well as what features administrators should look for when choosing an OLP.

1. Creates visibility into teachers’ practices

OLPs must allow coaches and other professional learning practitioners to see teaching practices in action—without solely depending on live, in-person observations. While valuable, such observations are time- and resource-intensive, especially for early learning programs serving multiple sites or large regions.

This is where video technology can help reduce costs to programs and boost visibility into classroom practices. 

OLPs that have native video capabilities create flexible opportunities for:

• Teachers to record their practices for self-reflection or goal-setting
• Coaches to witness teachers’ instructional strategies anytime, anywhere—and provide specific feedback to teachers via time-stamped comments 
• Teachers and coaches to connect virtually for individual sessions, from any location at a time that works around their daily responsibilities
• Program leaders to curate videos demonstrating high-quality DAP in action for other educators to explore

TORSH Talent stands out with respect to these capabilities. Its mobile app allows teachers to record practices, even without internet access, and later upload videos when connectivity is restored. The platform provides programs with a digital library to gather exemplary videos and additional resources for collective learning purposes. Lastly, administrators, teachers, and coaches can fine-tune user permissions, ensuring that only those team members authorized to see a video can access it in the solution.

2. Centralizes program resources and guidelines for DAP

In addition to visibility into practice, an OLP must allow programs and practitioners to develop a repository of materials that guide any professional learning approach used to improve DAP. 

TORSH Talent’s Resource Library can include those videos of exemplary practices as mentioned above, but it can also house:

• Standardized rubrics and frameworks to guide coaches with engaging mentees consistently in embracing DAP best practices
• Goal-setting templates to establish each teacher’s coaching goals in connection to program priorities around DAP
• Policies and requirements for educators related to utilizing DAP, participating in professional development efforts, and more

Learn more about this and other critical features available within our all-in-one professional learning platform, designed to support the unique needs of early learning programs.

3. Monitors key data to measure PD impact and DAP fidelity

Continuous data insights, reflection, and improvement are necessary for the ongoing cycle of DAP best practices.

At the individual level, the right OLP supports teachers and coaches by capturing metrics that pertain to their unique goals around DAP best practices. Data insights may include coaching session frequency, total coaching time, self-reported progress on goals, and more.

Moving up a level, OLPs can also help coaches explore patterns about their engagement across mentees, perhaps even surfacing areas of growth for a coach themselves in how they engage with teachers and drive their successes with DAP. 

At the highest level, program administrators need an OLP that synthesizes all these data and more—even from sources outside of the platform itself—to analyze the overall impact of professional learning efforts on critical priorities related to DAP. 

TORSH Talent supports all three layers of data analysis and collection. With configurable data collection forms, customizable insight reports, and multiple forms of data integration with other education platforms, staff at every level of an early learning program have the insights they need all in one central location.

4. Develops individual learning paths for independent growth

Even in an organization that emphasizes a practice-based coaching model, educators benefit from independent resources and learning opportunities. OLPs that not only support coach-mentee relationships but also facilitate self-learning offer a winning combination to early childhood education programs.

In addition to TORSH Talent’s virtual coaching features, your program can utilize customizable Learning Paths to cultivate professional growth. Learning Paths offer self-paced modules and courses that target specific training areas based on program data, coaching observations, and individual educator needs including:

• Targeted professional development to focus on specific areas for growth or skills, helping teachers continuously improve their practice.
• Courses structured to meet specific certification or recertification needs, making it especially useful for early-career educators.
• Flexible, asynchronous learning opportunities for educators to upskill on their own time, which is critical for those balancing heavy workloads.

The best part? The Learning Paths modules can point directly to those exemplary resources curated in the Resource Library, making it easy for educators to access a wide variety of learning tools at the click of a button.

5. Cultivates collaborative learning in hybrid or virtual environments

Last but not least, the right OLP creates space for easy collaboration. These features are especially handy for programs that utilize a peer-to-peer mentorship model or otherwise wish to facilitate collective learning among their staff. 

For instance, professional learning communities (PLCs) empower teachers to share reflections, ask for colleagues’ input, or keep up to date with the latest insights related to DAP best practices in the classroom. When exploring technologies to support a PLC, program administrators should look for OLPs that flexibly adapt to a virtual, hybrid, and in-person version of this collaboration model.

TORSH Talent’s Communities feature allows PLC members to connect asynchronously and access the curated Resource Library as part of their PLC engagement.. Educators aren’t limited by the bounds of their physical program sites, either. TORSH often sees its early learning partners use Communities to facilitate multi-site PLCs on key topics like DAP. 

Drive High-Quality, High-Impact DAP Best Practices With TORSH

Ready to up-level your early childhood educators’ developmentally appropriate instructional strategies? TORSH Talent is the ideal platform for your professional development needs. From designing targeted Learning Paths to facilitating high-quality virtual, hybrid, and in-person coaching, early childhood education programs benefit from the easy-to-use and secure tools built into TORSH Talent, including:

• Video-based observation
• Targeted, specific feedback to teachers on their interactions with children and families
• Synchronous and asynchronous collaboration with coaches and among peers
• On-demand training for professional learning and certification
• Individualized coaching tools for goal setting and tracking
• Insights to guide professional learning and training

Discover how TORSH Talent can support your practitioners to take DAP to the next level, ensuring they meet every child and family where they are to help them thrive.

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Take a look at our infographic to discover 7 ways you can use video in your professional learning coaching program.

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TORSH offers an innovative platform to support educator professional learning and coaching. Using TORSH Talent, educators can record their practice, upload the video securely, and then receive time-stamped feedback from a coach, administrator, or even fellow teacher. Interested in learning more about TORSH Talent? Reach out to schedule a conversation with one of our learning experts.

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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!

The post 4 Keys to Using Job-Embedded Professional Development to Develop a Highly Qualified Early Education Workforce appeared first on Torsh.

Watch this on-demand webinar to hear an enlightening conversation among members of the Central Region Educational Cooperative (CREC) who oversee coaching and professional learning for early childhood educators in school-based settings. During the webinar, they discuss:

• How Practice-Based Coaching is improving literacy practices, social-emotional practices, and individual student supports
• How TORSH Talent, an online learning platform, is being used by coaches and practitioners to set and track goals, ensure fidelity of practice, and support individualized coaching and self-reflection
• Lessons learned and practical advice for implementing practice-based coaching using TORSH Talent 

Whether you have been using Practice-Based Coaching for a while or are just considering the approach, this webinar will provide you and your team with insights and guidance to strengthen and streamline professional learning for your early childhood educators.

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

Webinar Presenters:

Amanda Rottman, M.Ed.
Early Childhood Instructional Coaching Coordinator, CREC

Amanda Rottman serves as the Instructional Coaching Coordinator for the Early Childhood Instructional Coaching team. Her background includes teaching experience in inclusive classrooms throughout NM. With a dedicated focus on Early Childhood Education, Amanda collaborates with stakeholders to ensure that all children have access to high-quality learning opportunities.

Ginger Towle, M.Ed.
Early Childhood Instructional Coaching Coordinator, CREC

Ginger Towle is an Early Childhood Instructional Coaching Coordinator for the Central Region Educational Cooperative, CREC. Her background includes years of teaching experience in preschool, elementary, and higher education. She currently supports coaches at the CREC in implementing Practice-Based Coaching for preschool teachers. Ginger also collaborates with stakeholders to ensure that all children have access to a high-quality education in New Mexico.

Terri Tapia, M.A.
Early Childhood Instructional Coaching Lead Coordinator, CREC

Terri Tapia is the Early Childhood/ECLIPSE Instructional Coaching Lead Coordinator with the Central Region Educational Cooperative. She is from Santa Fe, New Mexico. She received her master’s degree in educational leadership from New Mexico Highlands University, graduating summa cum laude. Her philosophy for early childhood education (birth through age 8) centers on ensuring that each and every young child in New Mexico’s classrooms is ready to learn by having a strong sense of self, and feeling competent and capable. She believes that Practice-Based Coaching supports early childhood and elementary teachers in enhancing their teaching practices, which in turn, creates high-quality educational experiences for young children and students.

For the past 20+ years, Terri has led several educational programs including NAEYC Accredited Preschools, Tribal Head Start Programs, New Mexico’s Tiered Quality Rating and Improvement System (FOCUS on Young Children’s Learning), and the development of the Early Childhood/ECLIPSE Instructional Coaching program, supporting over 800 early childhood and elementary educators across the state.

Katrina Gallegos, M.Ed.
ECLIPSE/ECIC Coordinator, CREC

Katrina Gallegos is an ECLIPSE/ECIC Coordinator for the Central Regional Educational Cooperative. She is from Albuquerque, New Mexico with a background in Early Childhood Education and a passion for supporting children, families, educators, and communities in New Mexico.

Katrina received her bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from Eastern New Mexico University. She also attended Lesley University where she obtained a master’s degree in Integrating the Arts Across the Curriculum. Katrina taught Special Education for eight years for 3–4 year olds.  During this time, she designed and taught a Learning to Learn class that supported children on the autism spectrum.

Katrina is dedicated to supporting coaches and teachers with Practice-Based Coaching (PBC) to enhance teaching practices that support all students’ learning outcomes. Her strengths are in the areas of social emotional and literacy practices.  Katrina enjoys hosting the Connections: The Heart of Early Childhood Podcast.

The post [On-Demand Webinar] The Role of Practice-Based Coaching in Transforming Early Childhood Education in New Mexico appeared first on Torsh.

Seema Tejura, Founder and Managing Director of The Literacy Architects, first met George in 2003 while volunteering at an adult literacy center. After a quick diagnostic assessment, Tejura verified that he struggled to read most of the three-letter words presented to him. Right away, she set to work using explicit, systematic, multisensory phonics teaching strategies to develop his foundational literacy skills. 

One day during a tutoring session, George was progressing well with accurately decoding a list of new words. Suddenly, he stopped mid-word, looked directly at Tejura, and asked, “Why didn’t I learn any of this in school?”

George’s story reflects the experiences of the 93 million adults in the U.S. who struggle with reading. It’s these stories that underscore the importance of evidence-based literacy instruction in early childhood classrooms. That way, people like George become lifelong readers well before graduating from high school. 

Tejura and her colleague Caitlin Deckard, a Science of Reading Specialist with The Literacy Architects, recently joined TORSH to discuss the implications of the science of reading for early literacy support and how early learning programs can embrace these findings. This article offers a glimpse into the power of professional learning, a foundational pillar to strong instructional practices that cultivate literacy skills in our youngest learners.

Watch the full webinar recording here, or learn more about TORSH’s partnership with The Literacy Architects here. 

Table of Contents

• Why Evidence-Based Literacy Development Matters — Now More Than Ever
• Professional Learning & Impactful Instruction Go Hand-In-Hand
• 3 Coaching & PD Strategies To Shift Literacy Instruction for the Better
• Lay the Foundation for Excellent Literacy Instruction with TORSH

Why Evidence-Based Literacy Development Matters — Now More Than Ever

Oral language skills evolved in humans nearly 100,000 years ago, but reading and writing skills developed far more recently. This means that our brains have had time to localize oral language to use only one part of the brain, while literacy requires no less than four parts to do successfully. 

The result? Reading is not a natural process like spoken language development. While students may naturally learn how to speak through repeated exposure and immersion, they need much more explicit, systematic instruction to learn how to read their favorite books. 

[Image: The Reading Brain from The Literacy Architects]

Additionally, reading requires more cognitive load (or effort and energy by the brain) to understand written texts. Tejura stressed that this matters for high-quality instruction with young learners: “Instruction should help students spend less cognitive energy on [basic skills like] decoding and word recognition in written texts to learn and comprehend those texts.”

Understanding the Science of Reading

A body of empirical research commonly known as the science of reading highlights the critical building blocks for learning how to read and shifting this cognitive load. Though these findings are not new, they have recently been expanded and are improving educators’ knowledge of which evidence-based teaching strategies cultivate strong reading skills.

In short, the science of reading stipulates that students must develop the following foundational literacy skills, in explicitly and systematically structured ways: 

• Phonemic awareness
• Phonics knowledge, decoding, and encoding
• Vocabulary development
• Fluency
• Comprehension

As educators re-examine how to support literacy development in the classroom, they are increasingly recognizing the value of evidence-based reading strategies for young learners — strategies demonstrated through research to improve literacy in students. Research findings from the science of reading underpin the most effective instructional approaches. 

Learn more about the science of reading with The Reading League’s comprehensive overview. 

What the Science of Reading Tells Us About Early Literacy Support

This research is incredibly important for early learning programs to understand and embrace within early childhood classrooms.

Remember those five skills emerging from the science of reading (phonemic awareness, phonics knowledge, etc)? There’s a particular order in which students best learn them; each skill builds upon one another to unlock stronger reading abilities and higher reading levels. This order should inform literacy strategies to support instruction.

Young students must first develop their phonological awareness (recognizing sounds in spoken language) — specifically their phonemic awareness (manipulating the individual sounds in words). In turn, these skills are required for kids to become adept at alphabet awareness (recognizing written letters) and sound-spelling correspondence (understanding which letter(s) and letter combinations represent each sound).

Here’s an example of one instructional practice that brings this order of operations to life. Recent empirical literature suggests that linking phoneme awareness to letter-sound knowledge strengthens a student’s use of phoneme awareness, improving their reading and spelling performance (Brady 2020). Literacy support strategies that reflect this evidence may look this:

• First, students practice isolating phonemes (like /s/) as they read and spell them.
• Next, they blend phonemes (such as /s/ /a/ /t/) to form a word and read it (‘sat’).
• Last, they practice segmenting phonemes in words (such as segmenting ‘ship’ into /sh/ /i/ /p/) and spell words with segmented phonemes (s-h-i-p).

“The classroom implications of this [research] are significant,” Deckard underscored. “If teachers stack phonemic awareness and letter-knowledge instruction, they can maximize instructional time while making stronger connections for their students.”

But Tejura explained too that, despite the importance of adopting such practices for early literacy support, actually changing instructional approaches isn’t easy: “To improve school readiness, early education programs need to focus on early phonemic awareness with kids, yet many instructors across the U.S. may be struggling to make this seemingly simple shift in practice.”

What can administrators and program directors do to support staff to shift classroom practice and ensure all students experience positive literacy skills development in preparation for kindergarten?

Professional Learning & Impactful Instruction Go Hand-In-Hand

Any change in a classroom or across a program requires time and consistent support. Some research estimates that it may take up to four years for educators to successfully shift instructional practices to embrace evidence-based programs and strategies (Fixsen et al, 2009). 

With such a long runway for meaningful change, early education programs can’t make just one or two quick swaps in literacy curricula and instruction. Change for a positive impact on literacy requires time and effort, both granularly and systematically.

This means going beyond one-and-done training on early literacy instructional methods and instead embracing a model of ongoing support, thoughtful professional development, coaching, and feedback. These components are must-have ingredients to alchemize reading instruction to support literacy development. 

Research shows that both students and teachers benefit from deliberate practices in sharing feedback and ongoing support. But it’s coaching that generates the greatest effects when assessed against other strategies for instructional improvement, including pre-service training and merit-based pay incentives (Fryer, 2017).  

With two-thirds of teacher preparation programs failing to adequately address phonemic awareness instruction — a critical piece of the literacy puzzle — the urgency could not be greater (NCTQ, 2023). Early childhood education programs must invest in professional learning and coaching to help teachers implement evidence-based practices in literacy.

3 Coaching & PD Strategies To Shift Literacy Instruction for the Better

From our expertise in professional learning for early childhood educators, here are three strategies that early childhood programs can adopt right now to support a stronger, impactful approach to early literacy.

Create a Safe Space For Educators From the Start

Change management is a natural part of any shift to programming or practice. For many educators, adapting evidence-based literacy practices may easily qualify as second-order change, which involves not only shifting instruction in classrooms but also adjusting educators’ mindsets. 

Naturally, the scale of such change can feel daunting and may conjure many different emotions and reactions. At the same time, second-order changes are also necessary for educational reforms to be achieved and sustained.

A safe, supportive environment is essential to help educators navigate second-order change. When teachers and administrators feel safe to share their concerns, ask for support, and experiment with new and unfamiliar approaches, the entire program can better move forward. 

Here are a few tips to help you cultivate a safe and supportive space for your team as you prepare professional learning to drive major changes in literacy instruction:

• Start small. A huge list of new changes can quickly overwhelm even veteran staff members. Try focusing on one piece of the literacy puzzle at a time. For example, first spend time exploring how a child’s brain processes written texts and learns how to read. This gives you space to address teachers’ questions about the topic and gives teachers time to get comfortable with a new biological model for literacy development. 
• Focus on actionable steps as much as theory. As you design each professional learning opportunity, ask yourself: what small, tangible, and practical steps can teachers take TODAY to shift practice? Again, keep these steps focused — it greatly supports educators to make incremental shifts to teaching practices without trying to tackle everything all at once. 
• If exploring specific curricula or programs rooted in evidence-based literacy practices, assemble a diverse group of stakeholders for your selection committee. This means including the voices of teachers, administrators, and support staff in the review, discussion, and selection processes.

Prioritize Collaboration Among Teachers

Nothing builds positive camaraderie like collaboration. In adult learning, collaboration is often more effective than pure information sharing or solo practice. 

As a bonus, collaboration creates a spirit of shared learning and responsibility around major changes to literacy instruction. This experience can deepen staff’s buy-in for the changes themselves — IF collaboration is thoughtfully cultivated. 

Take a look at these suggestions to create collaboration opportunities centered on evidence-based literacy instruction:

• Create professional learning communities (PLCs) dedicated to teachers’ collective growth in reading instruction. PLCs are excellent spaces for staff to share their insights, ask for support or guidance when navigating challenges, and surface resources that may help colleagues with their practice improvement. PLCs can be conducted virtually or in hybrid settings to connect early childhood educators across multiple program sites. Many early learning programs use TORSH Talent’s Communities feature to build PLCs for asynchronous collaboration.
  

• If you seek support to facilitate targeted collaboration for early literacy instruction, explore the Literacy Masterminds program. This partnership between TORSH and The Literacy Architects offers a unique job-embedded professional learning approach for early learning professionals. 

Establish Ongoing, Varied Adult Learning Opportunities

Just as young students learn best through different methods, so too do adult learners. Offering a wide variety of ongoing learning opportunities is a powerful way to support your instructors in reshaping their mindsets and expanding their skill sets around literacy practices. 

Explore these tips for designing a comprehensive professional learning system that supports multiple learning styles and approaches among teaching staff:

• Offer coaching through virtual, hybrid, and/or in-person methods to maximize coaching time with teachers. TORSH Talent contains all the tools you’ll need to modernize job-embedded coaching. From easy-to-use video recording tools to capture teaching practices in action and provide targeted feedback to digital portfolios to support coaches with managing mentees’ goals and resources, TORSH Talent catalyzes and centralizes professional learning for early childhood educators and programs.

• Prioritize bite-sized learning sessions over marathons of training. For many learners, it’s easier to digest smaller chunks of new information repeatedly over time. TORSH Talent can support your program here with the innovative Learning Paths feature. Learning Paths allows administrators to craft customized journeys for their staff to layer information and skills practice through connected online courses linked to additional resources curated in your Exemplar Library. 

Lay the Foundation for Excellent Literacy Instruction with TORSH

Curious to learn more about the science of reading and how professional learning improves literacy instruction? Watch the webinar with TORSH and The Literacy Architects to dive deeper into the research and its implications. 

Ready to coach your educators through transformational change in early literacy support? Learn more about the Literacy Masterminds program or connect directly with one of our experts.

The post How to Support Literacy Development in the Classroom: Coaching & PD as the Foundation for Strong Instructional Practices appeared first on Torsh.

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.

The post [On-Demand Webinar] An Inside Look: How Georgia Created an Efficient and Effective Statewide Coaching and PD Program for Early Childhood Educators appeared first on Torsh.

In the world of educator development, an online learning platform (OLP) is quickly becoming a central asset for driving sustainable professional learning in early childhood education programs. 

In a best-case scenario, an OLP enables educational institutions to provide more coaching and training to teachers with greater efficiency, cultivating high-quality educators who improve developmental outcomes for the families and children they serve. The right OLP is the difference between modern, high-efficacy professional development opportunities with satisfied users — and one that wallows in outdated processes and frustrates users. 

Despite the increasingly important role they play in early childhood education, it can feel overwhelming to find the right OLP from the wide range of interactive learning platforms available. Each program is unique, and an online education platform must be able to support an organization’s specific professional development needs.

But the search for your ideal platform doesn’t have to be complicated!

From our team to yours, we will share five key questions that every early childhood program director should ask when assessing OLPs against their goals for professional development (PD): 

1. Does it provide opportunities for educators to apply and grow their skills?
2. Does it promote regular reflection on current teaching practices?
3. Does it cultivate ongoing support and coaching for educators to refine practice?
4. Does it enable differentiation in independent educator learning activities?
5. Does it facilitate anytime, anywhere collaboration among early childhood educators?

Let’s dive in!

Table of Contents

• 5 Considerations for Online Learning Platforms in Early Educator PD 
• #1: Does It Provide Opportunities for Educators to Apply and Grow Their Skills?
• #2: Does It Promote Regular Reflection on Current Teaching Practices?
• #3: Does it Cultivate Ongoing Support and Coaching for Educators to Refine Practice?
• #4: Does It Enable Differentiation in Independent Educator Learning Activities?
• #5: Does It Facilitate Anytime, Anywhere Collaboration Among Early Childhood Educators?
• Why the Right Online Learning Platform Matters For Early Education PD
• Streamline Early Childhood Professional Development & Certification With TORSH

5 Considerations for Online Learning Platforms in Early Educator PD

#1: Does It Provide Opportunities for Educators to Apply and Grow Their Skills?

This may seem obvious — but for an online educational platform to be effective in supporting professional growth, it needs to support educators to, well, grow! 

These days, many early education settings use practice-based coaching to support teachers in building a wide variety of skills. This methodology is effective because it encourages educators to be active participants and drivers of their own learning and career paths. An OLP is where modern technology meets coaching practices. 

Consider these factors when examining an OLP for its ability to cultivate professional development opportunities for teachers to apply their skills directly to student learning:

• Observations beyond in-person
• Time-stamped feedback

Customizable access to resources

Request Demo

Observations Beyond In-Person

Coaching practices are evolving beyond the days when in-person observation was the only option. To be sure, classroom visits still play a role in improving teacher practice — but these sessions are difficult to do frequently and at scale across an organization. OLPs help early childhood programs increase the dosage of coaching provided to educators through video-based observation tools. 

Look for platforms like TORSH Talent that make it seamless for teachers to record high-quality videos of themselves utilizing specific skills, and easy to share those videos directly with their coaches for reflection.

 Be sure to consider how an online education platform supports staff who teach in or may travel to remote locations without consistent access to the internet, too! TORSH Talent’s mobile app does not require connectivity to record and store videos, which automatically upload to the platform as soon as a teacher’s connection to a network is restored. 

Time-Stamped Feedback

Online learning programs and platforms should also build on these video-based coaching tools by enabling two-way communication and feedback within its digital environment. But few platforms allow the level of precision with feedback granted by an in-person activity or observation — where coaches can, in near real-time, make a note of a positive student-teacher interaction or flag soft skills that may need refinement to manage student behaviors.

TORSH Talent is the exception among interactive learning platforms: coaches can leave time-stamped feedback on their mentee’s classroom video recordings. This specificity is important; it ensures a coach can provide highly targeted support without physically being in the classroom. By pinpointing bright spots and opportunities for growth between coaching sessions, coaches can tee up more effective conversations with teachers when they next gather. 

Customizable Access to Resources

A foundational feature of many OLPs is the resource library, where programs can curate specific documentation, templates, lesson plans, exemplary practices, and more in one central location for all staff to access with ease. Most solutions will also enable administrators to create libraries of courses on a variety of topics for teachers to complete on their own time. 

TORSH Talent takes the self-guided approach to professional development opportunities to the next level. Teachers who receive the PD or coaching each have different learning styles, needs, and experience levels. Learning Paths in TORSH Talent allow PD to be fully differentiated to reach audiences with vast styles and experiences. The observation, self-assessment, data forms, goals, and video tools provide a unique set of learning modalities to reach the preferences, needs, and experience levels of organizations.

The key here is customization. Administrators can craft single courses and other interactive online learning opportunities from that very same resource library, and then string them together into curated, in-depth learning journeys. The possibilities for content creators are limitless, from offering teachers hands-on learning exercises for specific instructional practices to individual courses on broader topics.

TORSH sees education institutions use Learning Paths to create a specific range of courses on a variety of topics, sometimes granting staff access to courses without individualization. They also develop targeted online courses intended to support focused learning in one area, then enroll those teachers with that area of need to complete these in-depth learning paths. Many TORSH partners also leverage this functionality to build certification courses that allow staff to fulfill important requirements around their busy teaching schedules. 

The beauty of TORSH Talent’s customization — from micro-learning doses to full-blown online learning programs — is that early childhood teams can create their own unique library of courses that meets their needs.

#2: Does It Promote Regular Reflection on Current Teaching Practices?

Another crucial consideration is teachers’ self-reflection. Remember, coaching best practices emphasize a teacher’s active engagement and ownership of their career path and learning. Strong self-reflection practices are essential muscles to build here — after all, adults are always learning and growing, too!

Coaches serve as facilitators of these reflective strategies to improve a teacher’s ability to notice their own behaviors, thought patterns, and approaches to instruction. OLPs should also support these practices by creating space for self-reflection that both teachers and coaches can easily revisit. 

Here again, TORSH Talent’s video tooling is an excellent resource to cultivate these soft skills for teachers by allowing them to record and watch themselves teaching in action. Many educators on the platform find it useful to reflect on their practices with high-quality videos just before a live coaching session. That way, they are prepared with specific bright spots to celebrate and opportunities for growth on which to seek additional support.

Educators can also collaborate with their coach to set and track progress toward achieving their goals, turning their self-reflections as well as coaches’ input on these video recordings into tangible action steps.

#3: Does it Cultivate Ongoing Support and Coaching for Educators to Refine Practice?

With this inquiry, ongoing is the word of note. Educator professional development isn’t limited to discrete windows of time as they once were. Now, early learning programs can lean on modern technology to ensure that services are available year-round and even on demand. 

This matters especially in the world of early childhood education, where teaching tools such as early childhood assessments depend on effective PD, coaching, and training to correctly and equitably implement. TORSH Talent is an ideal platform for scaling up access to professional learning, coaching, and technical services in early childhood education programs. 

Perhaps just as important as the groundwork of ongoing support is the higher-level visibility that administrators and program leaders need around these activities. When planning how to allocate funding, staffing, coaches, and other resources, early learning directors must be able to see the impact of these strategies.

TORSH Talent creates this insight for top-level program staff through robust reporting on active users, popular courses, coaching activities, and more on the platform. The solution also integrates with many LTI-compliant platforms, allowing directors and other administrators to triangulate patterns across multiple data sources and make more informed decisions. 

Request Demo

#4: Does It Enable Differentiation in Independent Educator Learning Activities?

Just as every young child has their own journey of growth, so too does each educator who supports them. And yet individualized professional learning requires a lot of effort, time, and staff — which may not be feasible for an early childhood program. An OLP is an excellent resource to help a program balance staff’s unique growth opportunities for support with their available resources to meet that wide variety of learning needs.

Remember the Learning Paths module in TORSH Talent? We’ve already explored the customization options that this function offers for right-sizing individual courses and focused learning opportunities for educators. Now picture how a range of courses can be strung together into in-depth learning paths for staff to follow — at their own pace. Now scale these customized, high-quality courses across an entire program! 

TORSH Talent designed its Learning Paths module to be easy for everyone involved, no matter the size or nature of a program. From accessible authoring tools for admins to simple enrollment for staff, this functionality helps programs create that balance between efficiency and individual growth. With its friendly learning interface, the platform ensures teachers and administrators are all satisfied users!

When a program cultivates differentiated learning opportunities within an OLP, it must also identify key factors universal to all opportunities to evaluate their impact. This is why TORSH Talent again is the ideal platform, as it includes detailed reporting on learners’ progress toward lesson goals through competency-based assessments, aligned resources, discussion groups, and learning completion rates. 

#5: Does It Facilitate Anytime, Anywhere Collaboration Among Early Childhood Educators?

Collaborative efforts to drive continuous improvement can make a huge difference in early education settings. Common models like professional learning communities (PLCs) bring educators together to share insights from their practices, reflect as a team on their efforts to support student learning and iterate on programming to incrementally create more positive outcomes. 

An OLP can become a valuable hub for learning within PLCs. In TORSH Talent, for instance, educators from the same program (or better still, from across multiple programs using the platform) can form groups in the Communities feature. Some teams may create groups based on teaching experience, pairing newer staff with veterans for guidance. Others may form PLCs around particular priorities within an organization, while others further focus instead on a range of topics tied to professional growth goals and current industry practices in those areas. 

And of course, coaches and educators benefit from having access to asynchronous tools and customizable workflows within the platform to connect between their individual video or in-person sessions together. TORSH Talent is also an excellent resource for peer-to-peer coaching opportunities. 

Request Demo

Why the Right Online Learning Platform Matters For Early Education PD

Early childhood educators benefit from guidance to refine their knowledge, soft skills, instructional practices, etc. And every program leader knows that offering a wide range of PD opportunities, from certification courses to video-based coaching, is the key to unlocking every teacher’s potential.

Effective PD is inextricably linked to positive child learning outcomes, including improved school readiness, increased educator engagement and satisfaction, and improvements in meeting specific program requirements such as Head Start performance standards. These trends all impact the learning experience for students and their families. 

It comes as no surprise that modern technology can either help or hinder professional learning strategies in early education institutions. The most important benefit that OLPs offer is efficiency. Self-paced online courses, resource libraries with high-quality videos and documentation, community features, and more enable lean program teams to more effectively support more educators on a wide range of topics with fewer resources consumed. 

This matters! The goal of any professional learning strategy is to support a high-quality early childhood workforce that improves developmental outcomes for children, and OLPs create a hub of learning that drives the PD behind these gains.

In addition, the best interactive learning platforms also provide:

• Key data, insights, and reporting into all facets of a professional strategy to support informed decisions
• Mechanisms to reinforce consistency with coaching or instructional practices
• Centralized resources such as digital coaching rubrics, documentation of core protocols, exemplary lesson plans or videos of classroom activities, etc.
• Features to streamline and expand coaching services using either virtual, hybrid, or in-person models, such as video-recording options, goal-setting and tracking tools, etc.

Streamline Early Childhood Professional Development & Certification With TORSH

From building a comprehensive training resource library to driving high-impact virtual coaching, TORSH Talent is the ideal platform for your professional development needs. Early childhood education programs can take full advantage of the easy-to-use and secure tools built into TORSH Talent, including tools for:

• Video-based observation
• Providing targeted, specific feedback to teachers on their interactions with children and families
• Synchronous and asynchronous collaboration with coaches and among peers
• On-demand training for professional learning and certification
• Individualized coaching tools for goal setting and tracking
• Insights to guide professional learning and training
  

Take a look at how your early education program can leverage TORSH Talent to nurture high-quality early childhood learning and ensure every family you serve can thrive.

The post 5 Questions to Ask When Choosing an Online Learning Platform for Early Childhood Professional Development appeared first on Torsh.

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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