Elmira City School District: Advancing Student-Centered Instruction

In January 2022, Elmira City School District launched a partnership with BetterLesson focused on student-centered instructional practices. Our partnership started with Beecher Elementary, a school within the Elmira district.

Year 1: 2021-2022 school year

Balancing district-aligned professional development with differentiated learning for a lead learner cohort of teachers

Educators participate in workshops aligned with the district’s vision for high-quality instruction, and then have the autonomy to select a workshop topic on which they will focus and receive on-going coaching support.

Our partnership with Beecher Elementary School started halfway through the school year. A professional learning partnership launching at this time of year has to be structured well, as teachers are in a groove and bringing in new ideas and practices can feel inspiring or overwhelming depending on how it’s done.

Recognizing and honoring where teachers are at this point in the year, we worked with Beecher leadership to create a flexible professional development plan that remained grounded in their goal of student-centered classrooms.

Educators had a choice in selecting learning outcomes that aligned with their own passions.

• To start, 34 educators were matched with expert BetterLesson instructional coaches to begin supporting these initiatives with a Try-Measure-Learn framework.
• Four workshops were offered throughout the spring aligned with the district’s vision for high-quality, student-centered instruction.
• After each workshop, educators had the option to start their coaching cycle on that particular topic or wait for a subsequent workshop that more closely aligned with their personal goals and interests. 

During the Try-Measure-Learn coaching cycle, educators selected specific instructional strategies to implement with the support of their BetterLesson coach. Throughout the process, educators reflected on the impact of those strategies and their learnings through the process. In addition to coaching, teachers also have access to the BL Lab containing a huge library of self-directed professional learning courses. 

End-of-year reflection and planning 

At the end of that first school year, we engaged in deep reflection on our work with ECSD. Informally, this happened with Beecher teachers enthusiastically sharing their successes and artifacts of progress. Formally, we analyzed survey data to measure progress toward the district’s goals and outcomes. 

This reflection was affirming and encouraging, demonstrating the hard work and intentionality of Beecher’s educators. We found, for example, high levels of teacher confidence and satisfaction with implementing learnings from Workshops.

Reflecting on this success, Elmira City School District decided to open up access to coaching for teachers across the entire district at the start of the 2022-2023 school year. This deep commitment to investing in responsive and inclusive practices is what can transform districts toward equity.

Year 2: 2022-2023 school year

Expanding to a districtwide professional learning program

This school year, ECSD expanded professional learning opportunities to teachers across the district, following the same structure from the previous year at Beecher Elementary: teachers participate in Workshops, identify a topic of focus, and receive 1:1 Coaching for successful implementation.

By expanding Workshop delivery to the entire district, together we were able to create targeted plans aligned with each building’s needs. 

So far this school year, BetterLesson has provided 1:1 Coaching to 64 teachers throughout the 7 buildings in the district, and over 100 educators have utilized our asynchronous instructional resources through the BL Lab. These aren’t just numbers. These are individual teachers who are demonstrating a commitment to equity and inclusion in their classrooms!

Additionally, all new teachers in Elmira now have access to BL Connect on-demand professional learning courses and are required to take all Teachership courses as part of their new teacher probationary period – an impactful approach to support a culture of learning in the district from day one!

Looking forward to continuing to build on instructional practices and student learning outcomes

We cannot expect educators to integrate student-centered instructional practices with a one-and-done PD approach. ECSD recognizes this and is committed to providing educators with professional learning that is nuanced, context-specific, and recurring. This level of commitment honors the importance and difficulty of practicing equity.

ECSD plans to continue and grow its equity initiatives in the coming years. During the 2023-2024 school year, the district will expand its partnership with BetterLesson into more schools and with more teachers, ultimately improving the educational experiences of more students. We are delighted and committed to support and witness ECSD build on their successes and continue to provide their students with the learning environments that they deserve.