NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, UNITED STATES, August 5, 2024 — TORSH, Inc., a leading educational technology provider, is proud to announce its newest partnership in Florida with the Early Learning Coalition of Osceola County (ELCOC). This collaboration will enable ELCOC to centralize and streamline its coaching services provided to early childhood educators across the county, increasing coaches’ efficiency and impact on instructional practices to drive positive child and family outcomes.

ELCOC’s vision is that every child enters school healthy and ready to learn. As part of their strategy to bring this vision to life, the organization’s team of Early Learning Specialists will partner with over 800 teachers at early education centers. Amanda Kelkenberg, CEO of ELCOC, stated, “Not only will TORSH increase the number of teachers our organization can support, it will increase the quality of instruction for over 4,500 young children and their families in Osceola County.” ELCOC selected the innovative TORSH Talent platform to aid in expanding their coaching team’s capacity to support more early learning providers more effectively.

Courtney Williams, CEO & Founder of TORSH, shared, “Supporting the program’s coaching practices and processes is a huge opportunity to also improve the lives of thousands of Florida families and their young children. TORSH is humbled to be part of this important work.”

TORSH Talent facilitates anytime, anywhere coaching, training, and collaboration among early childhood educators and their coaches. The platform will integrate well within ELCOC’s existing monthly and quarterly mentorship processes, and enhance the quality of collaboration between teachers and coaches. Video features with time-stamped commenting capabilities allow teachers to record and self-reflect on instructional practices ahead of coaching touchpoints. In turn, coaches can provide structured feedback on recorded practices and guide educators’ development with customizable rubrics and goal tracking features. These functionalities also support peer-to-peer feedback cycles between teaching staff.

Lastly, ELCOC leadership can leverage configurable data forms and extensive analytics within the TORSH Talent platform to examine overall efficacy and efficiency of the coaching program as a whole, identifying opportunities for continuous improvement and areas of celebration. “Developing a highly qualified early learning workforce is one of our key strategic goals,” explained Amanda Kelkenberg, CEO of ELCOC. “With TORSH Talent, our team will have the right infrastructure to maximize our coaches’ impact on instructional practices and teachers’ growth — all within our program’s resources.”

ELCOC joins over 40,000 users across 35 states who utilize TORSH Talent to empower early learning providers, coaches, and administrators dedicated to improving student learning and development in the earliest years. Together, these organizations will set the stage for every child and every family to thrive.

For more information about TORSH, visit torsh.co.

About TORSH, Inc.
TORSH, a New Orleans-based education technology company, is dedicated to improving childhood outcomes by increasing educator instructional effectiveness. TORSH Talent, an online coaching and professional learning platform, enables organizations to support educator growth through the entire development cycle of observation, assessment, goal setting, feedback, and coaching. Learn more by visiting torsh.co.

About the Early Learning Coalition of Osceola County
Established in 1999, the Early Learning Coalition of Osceola County, Inc. (Coalition) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. The mission of the Coalition is to facilitate access to high quality early education and child care through an integrated system of services including linkages to health care and parenting supports. The Coalition provides services to more than 4,500 children through its two early learning programs, School Readiness and Voluntary Prekindergarten. Learn more by visiting elcosceola.org.

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NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, UNITED STATES, August 5, 2024 — TORSH, Inc., a leading educational technology provider, is thrilled to announce a new collaboration with the Early Learning Center of Northwest Florida (ELCNWF). Through this partnership, ELCNWF will streamline their coaching processes in child care centers, focusing the mentor-mentee relationship on effective classroom strategies, access to resources, and quick and effective information sharing. By investing in improving this process, the coalition moves closer to achieving its vision to ensure all children receive world-class early education preparing them for kindergarten.  

ELCNWF selected TORSH Talent, an innovative professional development and coaching platform for early learning professionals, in order to improve the efficiency and impact of their early learning educator coaching process. 

TORSH Talent has initiatives specifically targeting early learning through their technology solutions, aiming to improve educational outcomes for young children and can be particularly beneficial for early learning environments in several ways:

1. Observation and Feedback: Early childhood educators can record their interactions with children and receive feedback from ELCNWF mentors and coaches. This helps in refining teaching strategies to better support the developmental needs of young children.
2. Professional Development: The platform provides access to professional development resources tailored for early childhood educators. This includes training modules, best practices, and instructional strategies that are essential for fostering a high-quality early learning environment.
3. Collaboration: TORSH Talent facilitates collaboration among early learning educators. Teachers can share videos and resources with their peers, participate in discussions, and learn from each other’s experiences.
4. Documentation and Assessment: The platform allows early learning educators to document and assess children’s progress over time. This can be particularly useful for early childhood education where continuous observation and assessment are crucial for understanding and supporting each child’s development.
5. Parental Involvement: Torsh’s solutions can also enhance parental involvement by sharing selected classroom videos and progress reports with parents, helping them stay informed about their child’s learning journey.

“The ELCNWF offers coaching to early learning educators which is a key element of high-quality professional development,” said Suzan Gage, Executive Director of ELCNWF. “By streamlining our internal processes, our coaches are able to shift their collective focus to in-class instruction, which helps to positively impact child outcomes.”  

Courtney Williams, Founder & CEO of TORSH, expressed, “Our team is honored to serve such an important mission in partnership with the Early Learning Coalition of Northwest Florida. Modern technology and data analysis offers so much potential to improve children’s lives, by improving the quality and impact of the educators who serve them.”

By using TORSH’s technology, early learning centers and educators can create a more effective and collaborative environment, ultimately improving the quality of early childhood education.

About TORSH, Inc.
TORSH, a New Orleans-based education technology company, is dedicated to improving childhood outcomes by increasing educator instructional effectiveness. TORSH Talent, an online coaching and professional learning platform, enables organizations to support educator growth through the entire development cycle of observation, assessment, goal setting, feedback, and coaching. Learn more by visiting torsh.co.

About the Early Learning Coalition of Northwest Florida
The Early Learning Coalition of Northwest Florida are the behind-the-scenes team ensuring young children in Northwest Florida have access to affordable, high-quality early learning experiences. We envision a Northwest Florida where all children receive world-class early education and care, thereby being fully prepared to learn upon entering kindergarten. We offer a variety of programs and supports, including Voluntary PreKindergarten (VPK), Mental Health Services, Child Development Screenings, and more. Learn more by visiting elcnwf.org.

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NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, UNITED STATES, June 13, 2024 — TORSH, Inc., a leading educational technology provider, is thrilled to announce its new strategic partnership with the Early Learning Coalition of Pasco and Hernando Counties, Inc. (ELCPH) to enhance the organization’s coaching initiatives. Through this collaboration, ELCPH will streamline coaching and professional development for the region’s early learning professionals, driving high-quality education to enable young children and their families to thrive.

ELCPH selected TORSH Talent, an innovative online learning platform, to standardize their coaching processes and deepen the impact of coaching activities on teacher effectiveness. The platform offers an extensive suite of professional learning tools for individual coaching, mentoring, observation, feedback, and collaborative learning. Features such as the exemplar library, video recording functionality, rubrics, and more will empower ELC coaches to seamlessly share exemplary resources with educators, continuously monitor teachers’ progress toward their professional learning goals, and streamline coaching processes using standardized CLASS rubrics.

“Early education programs benefit from a streamlined process that generates clear data on coaching effectiveness for continuous improvement,” said Courtney Williams, Founder & CEO of TORSH. “TORSH Talent will aid ELCPH in achieving this synchronicity for their staff.”

Over time, early learning teachers supported by ELCPH will use TORSH Talent to submit videos of teaching practices for coaches to review, who will then share time-stamped, evidence-based feedback on opportunities for improvement. ELCPH also plans to leverage the platform to facilitate direct communication with early learning site directors and providers, providing them with additional, valuable resources to support their staff and improve teaching effectiveness.

“Using TORSH Talent will improve the quality and impact of both in-person and hybrid coaching,” shared Steve Knobl, Ph.D., Executive Director of ELCPH. “It’s all about supporting teachers not only with targeted feedback but also with following through on clear and actionable next steps from their coaching conversations to advance instructional practices.”

Together with TORSH, ELCPH looks forward to deepening the benefits of their coaching for educators, standardizing coaching processes, and ultimately driving positive outcomes for the thousands of young children and families they serve.

About TORSH, Inc.
TORSH, a New Orleans-based education technology company, is dedicated to improving childhood outcomes by increasing educator instructional effectiveness. TORSH Talent, an online coaching and professional learning platform, enables organizations to support educator growth through the entire development cycle of observation, assessment, goal setting, feedback, and coaching. Learn more by visiting torsh.co.

About the Early Learning Coalition of Pasco and Hernando Counties
The Early Learning Coalition of Pasco and Hernando Counties, Inc. is a 501c3 organization and one of 30 Early Learning Coalitions in Florida. Florida’s Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) program is for all children who are four years old on or before September 1. School Readiness provides subsidized childcare for low-to-moderate-income working families. The nonprofit serves over 10,000 children between infancy and twelve years old, working with over 300 childcare providers in both counties. Learn more by visiting elcph.org.

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The Launch Network offers educators crucial resources to aid them in better serving their students and partnering with their families. Among these resources are coaches who serve kids, families, and teachers across multiple school sites and districts in Colorado. To facilitate greater collaboration and quality coaching among these sites, the Launch Network selected the innovative TORSH Talent platform, a secure web-based solution with a mobile application.

Justin Darnell, Co-Founder and Chief Navigator of the Launch Network, shared, “It’s time for better, and we are excited to partner with TORSH in creating a social network for kids, families, and teachers where they can share practice, learn together, and co-create better outcomes for everyone.”

TORSH Talent is well-positioned to support the Launch Network in nurturing personal and professional development by opening doors across learning environments. With the Communities feature, teachers and families can connect to share insights about their approaches and swap resources that further student growth. Time-stamped video feedback, a comprehensive resource library, and the ability to build Learning Paths tailored to each person’s needs for professional learning also set up Launch coaches for successful, individualized mentorship with each student, family, and teacher they serve.

“TORSH is beyond excited to collaborate with the Launch Network as their team innovates on ways to up-level collaboration and drive positive learning outcomes for all students, families, and educators through high-impact coaching,” said Courtney Williams, Founder and CEO of TORSH.

The Launch Network will roll out TORSH Talent across all currently supported locations and extend the social network service to as many K-12 classrooms as possible in the Rocky Mountain region. Through in-person and virtual coaching, as well as centralized teacher collaboration, Launch looks forward to promoting every child’s success and every family’s opportunity to thrive. Learn more by visiting launchnetwork.org.

About TORSH, Inc.
TORSH, a New Orleans-based education technology company, is dedicated to improving childhood outcomes by increasing educator instructional effectiveness. TORSH Talent, an online coaching and professional learning platform, enables organizations to support educator growth through the entire development cycle of observation, assessment, goal setting, feedback, and coaching. Learn more by visiting torsh.co.

About Launch Network
At Launch Network, we believe learning is beautiful. We believe every kid, every parent, every teacher, and every community member has unlimited capacity to launch their potential and realize transformational learning, together. That’s why Launch provides its partner educators with coaches for both teaching staff and families to guide greater collaboration and co-creation, leading to greater student and educator success, wellbeing, and unity. Learn more by visiting launchnetwork.org.

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NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, UNITED STATES, May 17, 2024 — TORSH is excited to announce its strategic collaboration with Indiana University’s Special Education program. Their partnership will implement a five-year research project investigating a framework of systematic support to early intervention providers who serve families of toddlers with autism and its effects on provider, parent, and toddler outcomes.

The research team behind this project selected TORSH Talent, a HIPAA-secure web-based platform with a mobile app, to centralize collaboration between the university’s team of intervention consultants and study participants, made up of early intervention providers selected from across multiple states. Kathryn Horn, Intervention Coordinator with Building Interactive Social Communication (BISC) at Indiana University, said, “Using TORSH Talent will make participation in this research project seamless and easy for all participants, storing and transmitting our data to allow for analysis of BISC’s impact on provider, parent, and child learning.”

TORSH’s innovative platform is a useful resource that enables providers to collaborate with the research team. The free mobile app and video recording features allow providers to capture parent-child interactions remotely by seamlessly uploading data and video clips into the platform. The app stores curated resource collections for providers’ easy access to needed tools for weekly sessions with families and allows them to submit self-reflection notes. Secure user permission management maintains the integrity of the study, protecting the “double-blind” nature of data collection and analysis.

“TORSH embraces this unique opportunity to enable critical research on ways to empower the early interventionists who provide essential early intervention services to children with specific developmental needs,” said Courtney Williams, Founder and CEO of TORSH.

About TORSH, Inc.
TORSH, a New Orleans-based education technology company, is dedicated to improving childhood outcomes by increasing educator instructional effectiveness. TORSH Talent, an online coaching and professional learning platform, enables organizations to support educator growth through the entire development cycle of observation, assessment, goal setting, feedback, and coaching. Learn more by visiting torsh.co.

About Indiana University Graduate School of Education, Special Education
Indiana University’s Special Education program prepares teachers and researchers to work with all kinds of learners. The faculty and staff of the School of Education embrace an ambitious mission “to improve teaching, learning, and human development in a global, diverse, rapidly changing, and increasingly technological society.” Through fieldwork, collaborative coursework, and research experiences, students gain knowledge and confidence to pursue educational careers. More information is available by visiting education.indiana.edu and the PI’s faculty profile.

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Teaching Lab aims to increase student achievement by building systems of support for high-quality teaching practices through hybrid and virtual coaching and educator training, each designed with careful attention to crafting teacher-led learning communities. Through the innovative TORSH Talent platform, coaches will support partner school districts across the country to observe teaching practices for improvement, mentor aspiring teacher leaders, and facilitate cross-district collaborations for shared learning. 

With their expertise and background in professional learning and coaching, TORSH is a partner well-positioned to help Teaching Lab ensure the success of these support systems for educators. “By using TORSH Talent across our organization and partners, Teaching Lab will merge the best research on teacher coaching with modern tools for collaborating, innovating, and improving teaching practices,” said Dr. Sarah Johnson, CEO of Teaching Lab.

TORSH Talent is a secure web-based solution with a mobile application, built to seamlessly support the implementation of those elements of professional learning that research shows lead to improved student outcomes. Through features like time-stamped feedback on coaching videos, in-platform video conferencing, goal setting and tracking, discussion forums, and a resource and exemplar library, TORSH Talent offers a robust toolkit for Teaching Lab to drive its mission forward. 

“TORSH looks forward to partnering with Teaching Lab on this vital effort to improve teaching practices for the benefit of all students,” said Courtney Williams, Founder and CEO of TORSH.

Together, Teaching Lab and TORSH will create a model for future district and school partners to successfully implement teacher-led continuous improvement through virtual and hybrid coaching and training. 

For more information about TORSH, visit torsh.co.

About TORSH, Inc.

TORSH, a New Orleans-based education technology company, is dedicated to improving childhood outcomes by increasing educator instructional effectiveness. TORSH Talent, an online coaching and professional learning platform, enables organizations to support educator growth through the entire development cycle of observation, assessment, goal setting, feedback, and coaching. Learn more by visiting torsh.co.

About Teaching Lab

Teaching Lab is a nonprofit organization with a mission to fundamentally shift the paradigm of teacher professional learning for educational equity. We envision a teaching profession where educators own and drive a culture of learning and continuous improvement in their instructional practice, dramatically improving equitable student outcomes. Our approach is based on rigorous research, which we summarize as “Head, Heart, and Habits”, with educational equity as the end goal. 

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New Orleans, LA, January 22, 2024 — TORSH, Inc. is proud to announce its strategic partnership with the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) to expand access to its professional learning services for early childhood educators and child care providers across the state. This collaboration will significantly advance the mission of DECAL by strengthening early learning experiences through home and center-based child care.

DECAL selected TORSH’s innovative Talent platform, a secure web-based solution with a mobile application, to broaden access to a vast array of training, coaching, and technical assistance opportunities for Georgia child care providers and early childhood educators. By streamlining service delivery and increasing provider access to its professional learning support, DECAL will cultivate higher-quality early learning environments and better child-teacher interactions, setting children up for long-term success.

“TORSH Talent will provide us with a comprehensive, easy-to-use configurable platform that allows us to service the unique professional learning and coaching needs of our thousands of early childhood educators,” said Christi Moore, Ph.D., Director of Professional Learning with DECAL.

TORSH Talent offers an extensive suite of professional learning tools for individual coaching, mentoring, observation, feedback, and collaborative learning. Early childhood care providers working with DECAL will benefit immensely from the platform’s many features, including time-stamped feedback on practice videos from coaches, asynchronous professional learning groups, goal-setting and tracking tools, and a robust resource library for easy access to additional resources such as exemplar videos and rubrics.

“We are thrilled to collaborate with the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning,” said Courtney Williams, Founder and CEO of TORSH. “Through our partnership, DECAL will strengthen the implementation of their initiatives and ensure highly qualified educators deliver evidence-based instruction in early childhood classrooms.”

With TORSH’s experience and expertise in early childhood care, education, and intervention systems, DECAL gains a partner perfectly matched to expand and deepen the impact of its services for early childhood educators throughout Georgia.

For more information about TORSH, visit torsh.co.

About TORSH
TORSH Inc., a New Orleans-based education technology company, is dedicated to improving childhood outcomes by increasing educator and practitioner instructional effectiveness. TORSH Talent, an online coaching and professional learning platform, enables organizations to support educator growth through the entire development cycle of observation, assessment, goal setting, feedback, and coaching. Learn more by visiting torsh.co.

About Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning
The Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) is responsible for meeting the child care and early education needs of Georgia’s children and their families. It administers the nationally recognized Georgia’s Pre-K Program, licenses child care centers and home-based child care, administers Georgia’s Childcare and Parent Services (CAPS) program, federal nutrition programs, and manages Quality Rated, Georgia’s community-powered child care rating system. The department also houses the Head Start State Collaboration Office, distributes federal funding to enhance the quality and availability of child care, and works collaboratively with Georgia child care resource and referral agencies and organizations throughout the state to enhance early care and education.

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The Early Learning Coalition of Polk County selected TORSH’s innovative Talent Platform, a secure web-based solution with a mobile application, to support and streamline coaching and professional development for the county’s early education professionals. The ELC confirmed, “It is our hope that our partnership with TORSH and the adoption of the Talent Platform will help us achieve our goals of improving the quality and efficiency of our coaching conversations, increase follow through on next steps from coaching conversations, and strengthen our trainings.”

TORSH Talent facilitates anytime, anywhere coaching, training, and collaboration to support the use of evidence-based practices by early childhood educators in their work with children and families. The platform enables coaches to provide targeted feedback to improve educator practice, collect data to measure the impact of coaching on child outcomes, and coordinate training and professional learning for educators across many programs.

With over 40,000 users across 35 states, TORSH Talent has been recognized for its ease of use, robust features, and technological innovations. “We’re excited to join forces with the Early Learning Coalition of Polk County to enhance early childhood education in the region,” said Courtney Williams, Founder and CEO of TORSH.

As the Early Learning Coalition of Polk County continues to serve the children and families of Polk County, their partnership with TORSH represents a significant milestone in their mission to ensure the success of the next generation.

For more information about TORSH, visit torsh.co.

About TORSH
TORSH Inc., a New Orleans-based education technology company, is dedicated to improving childhood outcomes by increasing educator and practitioner instructional effectiveness. TORSH Talent, an online coaching and professional learning platform, enables organizations to support educator growth through the entire development cycle of observation, assessment, goal setting, feedback, and coaching. Learn more by visiting torsh.co.

About the Early Learning Coalition of Polk County
The Early Learning Coalition of Polk County is a non-profit agency focused on early education and care. The Coalition’s School Readiness Program provides economically disadvantaged and at-risk children access to high-quality early education to help prepare them for success in school while supporting families to become self-sufficient. The Voluntary PreKindergarten Program (VPK) helps early learners build a strong foundation for kindergarten and beyond.

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New Orleans, LA, November 28, 2023 — TORSH Inc. and the Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children (DEC) proudly announce the launch of Your Coaches Corner. This collaborative online community provides early intervention and early childhood administrators with guidance, support, and resources to build scalable and impactful educator/practitioner coaching programs at the state, county, and regional levels. This partnership signifies the commitment of both organizations to advance evidence-based practices through high-quality coaching and professional learning.

“Much research has shown that coaching and professional learning increase the effectiveness of educators and practitioners,” shared Peggy Kemp, Ph.D., Executive Director of DEC. “Our members are seeking ways to support their staff and improve services and know that coaching is a key component in achieving those goals. Partnering with TORSH to provide this free online community that is focused on learning and collaborating in order to build strong coaching programs is a significant benefit for our members.”

Your Coaches Corner serves as a trusted source for expert insights, best practices, and useful tools to guide early intervention organizations as they develop effective and sustainable coaching programs. By providing a secure space for administrators and leaders to engage in discussions, share resources and experiences, and support one another, organizations at all stages and phases of building their coaching program will be able to avoid common pitfalls and roadblocks and accelerate the impact of coaching on practice and services.

“Our mission at TORSH is to provide the early education and intervention community with great tools and expertise that support their growth, learning, and progression, which in turn leads to positive change for young children,” commented Courtney Williams, CEO of TORSH Inc. “Your Coaches Corner is a way for us to advance our shared goal with DEC to ensure the use of evidence-based practices and develop the skills and talent of early education practitioners.”

Your Coaches Corner is built on the TORSH Talent coaching and professional learning platform. Hundreds of early intervention organizations across the country rely on the FERPA compliant and HIPAA secure online platform to facilitate anywhere, anytime coaching, training, and collaboration. With TORSH Talent, organizations have a 360° infrastructure, including actionable data, to support high-impact coaching and professional learning that improves practice.

The resources and community within Your Coaches Corner will be invaluable for Part C coordinators and other state and regional level early childhood and early intervention administrators as they address the challenge of attracting and retaining exceptional educators and practitioners and moving the needle on healthy outcomes for all children. Learn more at yourcoachescorner.com. The community is free for DEC members to join.

About DEC
The Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children (DEC) is the largest international professional organization dedicated to promoting policies and practices that result in enhanced outcomes for young children with disabilities ages birth to eight and their families. Learn more at dec-sped.org.

About TORSH
TORSH Inc., a New Orleans-based education technology company, is dedicated to improving childhood outcomes by increasing educator and practitioner instructional effectiveness. TORSH Talent, an online coaching and professional learning platform, enables organizations to support educator growth through the entire development cycle of observation, assessment, goal setting, feedback, and coaching. Learn more by visiting torsh.co.

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