- NYC Department of Education
- StarTchr
- Education
- http://www.startchr.nyc
Challenge
In 2014 Brand Labs NY was approached by the NYC Department of Education with a unique challenge: to connect, involve and support the professional development of NYC’s arts teachers. The real problem was that teachers and students found the common core standards exceedingly challenging to implement. In an attempt to remedy the problem, the department implemented Danielson’s Framework for Teaching (FfT) which had proven to create an additional layer of challenges in interpretation. As a result, level of confusion among educators has escalated, morale was on a decline, and teacher effectiveness was suffering across all non-academic disciplines, especially in the arts disciplines where quantitative performance metrics are not applicable.
Strategy
We started by addressing the most challenging department – Arts Education. Working closely with NYC DOE’s Office of the Arts (OASP), we conducted an in-depth study on educator challenges and identified 8 vital components of effective arts education: Content & Teaching, Instruction Design, Classroom Environment, Student Behavior, Q&A Techniques, Learning Engagement, Assessment in Instruction and Professional Development. Findings revealed massive gaps in online collaboration and learning environment. We set to the task creating the first social learning platform and methodology for the educators’ professional development. The result was StarTchr – a centralized hub for teacher engagement and professional development for like-minded educators. Robust analytics provide the NYC DOE with insight on thought leadership and top-of-mind topics within the educator community.
Result
Leveraging our expertise in education technology and streamlined relationships with NYC Department of Education, we managed to launch Stage 1 a full year ahead of schedule. StarTchr’s early adoption and engagement numbers have surpassed all expectations; early registration target exceeded by over 300%, with average time on site 150% above average LMS platforms and organic platform engagement 250% over benchmark. Currently, the community grows 50-70% month over month. As a result, NYC DOE has engaged us for continued development, including a robust online academy and live conference series aimed at enhancing teacher effectiveness and most importantly – student outcomes!
- NYC Department of Education
- StarTchr
- Education
- http://www.startchr.nyc
Challenge
In 2014 Brand Labs NY was approached by the NYC Department of Education with a unique challenge: to connect, involve and support the professional development of NYC’s arts teachers. The real problem was that teachers and students found the common core standards exceedingly challenging to implement. In an attempt to remedy the problem, the department implemented Danielson’s Framework for Teaching (FfT) which had proven to create an additional layer of challenges in interpretation. As a result, level of confusion among educators has escalated, morale was on a decline, and teacher effectiveness was suffering across all non-academic disciplines, especially in the arts disciplines where quantitative performance metrics are not applicable.
Strategy
We started by addressing the most challenging department – Arts Education. Working closely with NYC DOE’s Office of the Arts (OASP), we conducted an in-depth study on educator challenges and identified 8 vital components of effective arts education: Content & Teaching, Instruction Design, Classroom Environment, Student Behavior, Q&A Techniques, Learning Engagement, Assessment in Instruction and Professional Development. Findings revealed massive gaps in online collaboration and learning environment. We set to the task creating the first social learning platform and methodology for the educators’ professional development. The result was StarTchr – a centralized hub for teacher engagement and professional development for like-minded educators. Robust analytics provide the NYC DOE with insight on thought leadership and top-of-mind topics within the educator community.
Result
Leveraging our expertise in education technology and streamlined relationships with NYC Department of Education, we managed to launch Stage 1 a full year ahead of schedule. StarTchr’s early adoption and engagement numbers have surpassed all expectations; early registration target exceeded by over 300%, with average time on site 150% above average LMS platforms and organic platform engagement 250% over benchmark. Currently, the community grows 50-70% month over month. As a result, NYC DOE has engaged us for continued development, including a robust online academy and live conference series aimed at enhancing teacher effectiveness and most importantly – student outcomes!
Call us
Email us
Directions