Empowering Educators to Excel

One of 14 projects funded by the Teacher and School Leader Incentive Program (TSL) Grant from the U.S. Department of Education in 2017, Empowering Educators to Excel (E3) is an exciting partnership bringing much-needed support and growth opportunities for teachers and school leaders in 47 relatively small and/or rural schools in Delaware, Indiana, South Carolina, and Texas by creating a networked improvement community.

Participating districts include:

• Colonial School District (New Castle, DE)
• Gainesville Independent School District (Gainesville, TX)
• Marion County School District (Marion, SC)
• Marlboro County School District (Marlboro, SC)
• Metropolitan School District of Decatur Township (Indianapolis, IN)

Scroll down to explore the project's components.

• Video Overview
• The Levers for Improvement & Educator Retention
• Recruiting the Educators Students Need Most
• National Education Leaders' Workshop
• The Educator Exchange
• E3 Advisory Councils
• 2020 Research Brief

• E3 Project Team

Rigorous academic standards, as well as the levers and wrap-around supports within the "develop" column above, are the core of each partner districts efforts to improve teaching by leveraging current human capital. 

The levers include:

• networked improvement communities for school leadership teams and teachers to learn from one another by sharing resources as well as leveraging educators' expertise inside and among districts
• instructional leadership teams through TRACTION for School Improvement
• creating a career ladder continuum at E3 schools for teachers
• leadership academies for aspiring and current leaders
• PLCs using an evidence-based asset-based model, Supporting Teacher Effectiveness Project, that identifies bright spots to replicate in local schools and across NICs
• job-embedded individual and peer coaching in-person and by video using Insight's Coaching for Change model and a video-based observation and coaching platform
• building year-long recruitment and retention systems to attract educators schools need most

With the goal of increasing the number of applications of high-quality teaching candidates and ensuring all vacancies are filled by Day 1 of each school year, the E3 districts are putting in place the essential elements for building 21st century recruitment systems—with the leadership of cross-departmental working teams—including the use of the latest digital communication channels, video, and best practices for candidate screening and selection.

Highlight: Teacher Recruitment Videos
Each district has created a library of videos to attract candidates, including teachers sharing their experience, showcasing the location (since many candidates may not be familiar with them) and highlighting their bright spots.

Here's one video from each district.

• Top 5 Reasons Why You Need to Bring Your Journey to Marion County School District, SC
• Teach With Us (MSD of Decatur Township, Indiana)
• Meet Lead Teacher Jason Bracey (Teacher Leadership in Marlboro County, SC)
• We Need You More: Teach with Us in Gainesville ISD (North Texas)
• A Novice Teacher who is Learning and Growing in Colonial School District, DE

Insight's annual National Education Leaders' Workshop is E3's annual gathering of district and school leaders that focuses on the most important levers for school improvement.

Join us on February 28-29, 2020 as hundreds of education leaders from 15+ states gather in Atlanta for #NELW2020 with the goal of working together to create bold change in their classrooms, schools, and districts.

Sign up for #NELW2020 >

Partnering to Recruit More Teachers of Color

In January 2019 and again in November 2019, the Educator Exchange focused on convening strategic educators and administrators from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) with leaders from the E3 school districts.

Together, these two critical parties in the recruitment and retention of teachers of color, worked to establish district-university partnerships to begin addressing the shortage in this teacher demographic.

The Exchange, in conjunction with the historic venue–the International Civil Rights Center and Museum in Greensboro, NC, set the stage for honest and vulnerable discussions around being a teacher, particularly of color, in rural/suburban districts as well as the retention and support challenges faced.

To ensure strong implementation of E3, each district has an Advisory Council comprised of district-level leaders, principals, higher education partners, and teachers to serve as the governing body for TSL implementation.

In addition, we have a grant-wide Advisory Council that meets regularly with representatives from each district, including (pictured):

• Stephanie Hofer, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction, MSD of Decatur Township (IN)
• Dr. Pete Leida, Assistant Superintendent, Colonial School District (DE)
• Kakela Robinson, Chief Human Resources Officer, Marlboro County School District (SC)
• Dr. DesMontes Stewart, Superintendent, Gainesville ISD (TX)
• Deborah Wimberly, Special Projects & Public Relations, Marion County School District (SC)

Additional participants in E3 advisory council meetings (pictured):

Dr. Matthew J. Prusiecki, Superintendent, MSD of Decatur Township (IN);  Jill Nyhus, VP of Communications & Public Policy, Insight Education Group; Jason Stricker, Founder, Insight Education Group; Lisa Novotney, Project Coach, Insight Education Group; Kim Day, Project Coach, Insight Education Group; Dana Dudenhoeffer, Project Coach, Insight Education Group; Yozmin Draper, Project Coach, Insight Education Group; Jason Culbertson, CEO, Insight Education Group; Steve Cantrell, External Evaluator; and Austin Long, External Evaluator team.

Cross-school collaboration seeks to empower small districts in 5 states [Education Dive]

Insight Education Group’s Empowering Educators to Excel (E3) initiative is working to connect five small school districts in five different states in a new networked improvement community to offer support for promoting school effectiveness.

How to retain great teachers: Start with leadership opportunities [eSchool News]

Dr. Peter Leida, an assistant superintendent for the E3 Colonial School District, shares his district’s multi-layer approach to developing and empowering teachers at the classroom, building, and district levels. 

How a Multi-State, Networked Improvement Community Empowers Educators to Excel [EdTech Digest]

In this panel discussion, E3 project director Jason Culbertson and three E3 district leaders share details and features of this new professional learning partnership designed to combat geographic isolation in smaller and rural schools.

Teachers turn to video for coaching [Smartbrief]

Dr. Kandace Bethea, superintendent of the E3 Marion County School District, a rural district in South Carolina, discusses how video coaching has given more flexibility and expanded her instruction coaches' support—allowing them to observe their mentee teachers after school, before the day begins, during their free period or whenever else it makes sense for them to fit it in. It gives them the time to better support their teachers, almost as if they’re able to be in two places at once.

Three ways small districts can go big on PD [eSchool News]

An instructional leader from the E3 district, MSD of Decatur Township, shares his district’s structured approach to improving teaching and learning, including using the levers from the E3 grant.

• Insight’s Andrea Thomas-Reynolds conducted webinar sessions with the Charter Support Network to share best practices and lessons learned from this E3 initiative. The topics focused on the Three Key Levers for School Improvement (November 7, 2019) and Coaching for Change (January 16, 2020).
• Insight’s Jason Culbertson and Colonial’s Assistant Superintendent Pete Leida presented on aspects of the E3 project at the Learning Forward conference on December 7-11, 2019 in St. Louis, MO.
• Insight and the team from Colonial School District led three presentation sessions on best practices on recruitment and retention based on learning through the E3 grant at the American Association of Employment in Education (AAEE) conference on October 22-23, 2019 in Norfolk, VA.
• Insight and Marion County’s Deborah Wimberly led a presentation on best practices for recruitment in rural districts learned through E3 grant at the National Rural Ed Conference on October 23-25, 2019 in Louisville, KY and at the South Carolina Association of School Administrators’s Innovative Ideas Institute conference on June 18, 2019 in Myrtle Beach, SC.
• Insight led two sessions with the Charter Support Network on E3's best practices and examples for building year-long, multi-channel recruitment systems (August 29, 2019).
• Insight's Jason Culbertson led a session at the 2019 Effective Educator Development (EED) Annual Grantee Summit (Arlington, VA) entitled "Poised to Transform: How Teacher Leaders Effectively Move Schools Forward" (August 2019).
• Insight led a session at the 2019 Effective Educator Development (EED) Annual Grantee Summit (Arlington, VA) entitled, "Why Teacher Recruitment Needs to Change and the Pathways Forward."
• Insight led a session at the TSL grantee's Youth Empowerment Services’ Summer Leadership Institute (Las Vegas, NV) entitled, "Effective Recruitment: How to Create a Year-Round, Multi-Channel Teacher Recruitment System" (June 2019).
• Teacher leaders from each of the E3 districts attended the Teach to Lead Conference 2019. At the conference, they worked together to identify a problem of practice and created a theory of action around implementing equitable practices to impact student achievement. This work has been incorporated into each district’s strategic plan.

Stay Interviews: Keeping Your Best Teachers—Even in the Time of Remote Working [Webinar Recording]
In the April 2020 session of the E3 Recruitment & Retention Leadership Academy, we discussed the incredible value that "stay interviews" can provide principals in keeping their best educators. Over 40 leaders from E3 districts attended.

Recruit Like a Rockstar [Webinar Recording]
In May 2020, Insight partnered with E3 district Colonial School District and Nimble K12 to share best practices in virtual teacher recruitment. Over 200 educators from across the US registered for the event.