To improve classroom outcomes, professional development must not only teach the right content, but in the right ways. Administrators offering  focused, curated content can enhance the effectiveness of professional development, reduce educator decision fatigue, and streamline lesson planning -  leading to improved student achievement.

Ellevation Strategies is designed with educators in mind, tailoring the Homepage to feature modules and activities that are most relevant to unique district needs. Read on to learn about three best practices for an effective PD program and how we’ve incorporated them into Ellevation Strategies:

Content directly related to instructional goals

There is no one-size-fits-all solution for instruction. Every district has a unique student and teacher population, and with this comes different strengths, growth opportunities, and instructional goals. For example,

• Some districts have a high newcomer population and want to provide more newcomer support
• Some districts want to foster classroom environments where ELs are supported to interact with peers 
• Some districts prioritize improving specific domain skills, such as writing

With Ellevation Strategies, a district home page can be curated to deliver a menu of resources targeted to address each of these areas of focus - and more. Educators can login and immediately view modules and activities that have been pre-selected for them, offering a structured approach rather than an overwhelming list of options. 

When educators can easily access the support they need when they need it, they are no longer overwhelmed by figuring out how to address their instructional needs and instead can build momentum towards accomplishing their goals.

Designed for efficiency

Teachers can spend a significant amount of time creating or searching for supplemental materials for their lessons, especially when differentiating to support subgroups of students such as English learners. The task for making or sourcing these materials often falls to the EL teacher or specialist at a school - which takes time away from these trained professionals working directly with EL students or coaching their teachers.

Even professional learning solutions brought in to address this problem can easily feel like “one more thing” added to teachers’ plates if it’s time-consuming to learn to use and it’s not directly addressing their needs.

Educators need a resource that not only provides the education and materials for effective EL instruction, but also reduces time spent learning to navigate a new program or searching for what they need.

Ellevation Strategies streamlines the process of finding resources so teachers can focus their time back with their students.

Consistency across district to increase collective impact

As an educator, it is easy to find yourself working in a silo; but cross-team alignment and collaboration are superior in terms of both individual and school- or district-wide outcomes. 

With Ellevation Strategies, classroom teachers at all grade levels, specialists, counselors, and administrators are aligned to focus on the same modules and activities with their students, which benefits both educators and students:

• Educators are more motivated when they work and collaborate alongside their peers, increasing engagement with the program and accountability
• Alignment across campuses on modules and activities creates opportunities for co-teaching, modeling lessons or strategies, reflecting as a group, resource sharing, and more
• It helps principals, coaches, and C&I team members also be aligned in the trainings and meetings they lead, coaching sessions, or what to look for in classroom walkthroughs.
• When students experience the same types of linguistic and instructional support across different classes, they'll have an easier time transitioning between content areas and grade levels.
• Consistent routines and instructional approaches can decrease overwhelm for ELs and increases opportunities for them to meaningfully engage with language and content

Classrooms are innovating to make content more relevant and easily accessible for individual students - it’s time for our PD to do the same. When teachers are provided with resources that center around a personalized, user-friendly experience, districts will experience a more collaborative and engaged team of educators and be better able to meet their instructional goals.