Introduction to Implementation Plan
In this section, I outline the implementation phase for the course, detailing my recommendations for its rollout, the necessary staff support, and strategies for learner engagement. I also highlight how the course can be scaled and adapted to meet the evolving needs of different districts. My plan is designed to ensure effective delivery and sustainability, focusing on practical solutions for long-term success.
Platform Selection
I chose Eduphoria Strive as the platform for hosting and managing professional development courses because it is already used by the district, ensuring seamless integration and consistency for educators.
Strive tracks required PD hours efficiently, features a course catalog with district and regional offerings, and generates completion certificates to simplify record-keeping. It also allows educators to log external training, ensuring all professional development hours are recorded in one place.
Beyond tracking, Strive supports goal setting and appraisals, with progress monitored throughout the year and evaluations consistently recorded. Integration with other Eduphoria tools, like Aware, enhances data analysis by combining PD data with student information, making it easier to analyze district-level data and student outcomes. This comprehensive integration supports informed decision-making and targeted improvements.
Staff and Resources Needed
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During the implementation phase, the Instructional Designer is responsible for ensuring that the course is effectively deployed and meets the intended learning objectives. This includes collaborating with the Professional Development Coordinator and DAEP staff to facilitate a smooth rollout. The Instructional Designer oversees the final integration of interactive elements and verifies that the content adheres to district branding and accessibility standards. They play a crucial role in conducting usability testing, gathering feedback from early users, and making necessary adjustments to enhance the course's user experience and engagement. Additionally, the Instructional Designer monitors initial learner interactions to identify potential areas for improvement and support continuous optimization of the course.
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The Professional Development Coordinator ensures that the course aligns with the district’s professional development goals and standards. They are responsible for scheduling, promoting, and managing professional development opportunities within the district, making sure that educators are aware of and can access the course.
A key responsibility of this role is assigning teachers to the appropriate courses based on their needs. For example, when a teacher is flagged or a trigger is created through PEIMS (Public Education Information Management System) indicating that they have a student placed in DAEP, the Professional Development Coordinator assigns the necessary courses to ensure the teacher is equipped with the relevant skills and knowledge.
This role also involves coordinating feedback and evaluations to ensure that the course effectively meets the needs of educators and contributes to their ongoing professional growth.
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The Systems Administrator is a key player in ensuring the smooth operation of all technical systems across the district. While they manage the integration and operation of Eduphoria Strive, their role is much broader. They oversee the setup and maintenance of various systems, ensuring everything from user access to data security runs seamlessly. During the initial rollout of the course, the Systems Administrator is especially crucial, as they ensure that all technical components are properly configured and optimized to support a smooth launch. Their work behind the scenes allows teachers and staff to focus on the course content without encountering any technical issues.
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The dedicated IT/Tech Support team offers continuous technical aid to both the course development team and end users. This critical role serves to resolve any technological challenges that teachers may face while utilizing or navigating the course. IT/Tech Support works to ensure the smooth functioning of all technological elements, such as multimedia features and integrations, to provide a seamless user experience and prevent any interruptions.
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The Communications Specialist plays a key role in getting the word out about the course and ensuring that everyone involved is on the same page. They create and carry out a communication plan that includes email campaigns, newsletters, and other materials to make sure educators know about the course and how it can benefit them. A big part of their job is making sure assistant principals and other school leaders are informed about the course launch, what’s expected of teachers, and how the course supports district goals. The Communications Specialist works closely with the Professional Development Coordinator to boost engagement and prepares welcoming messages for teachers as they get started. They also keep key stakeholders, like the Assistant Superintendent and Director of Curriculum, updated on how the course is progressing and the impact it’s having, making sure that communication is clear, consistent, and supportive throughout the district.
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During the implementation phase, the DAEP admin and staff play a vital role in evaluating the course’s impact and ensuring its effective application. As Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), they provide ongoing feedback on teacher behavior changes and student preparation, helping to assess whether the course achieves its objectives. Their insights are essential for identifying areas that may require adjustments to better align with the evolving needs of educators and students. Additionally, the DAEP staff actively participate in grading the educational support plans using a standardized rubric, offering practical feedback to teachers and ensuring consistency in evaluation. By being present in the classroom, they monitor how well the course content translates into practice and support teachers in implementing strategies effectively. This hands-on involvement ensures the course remains relevant, responsive, and beneficial to both educators and students.
Proposed Course Rollout Plan
To support the effective implementation of the course, I developed a detailed course rollout plan in Trello, designed to accommodate a rolling enrollment structure. This ensures that educators are enrolled as needed when a student is assigned to DAEP. The Trello board consists of six main lists:
Four milestone-focused lists outlining critical steps in the course preparation and deployment.
Two post-launch lists dedicated to ongoing tasks related to testing and quality assurance.
Each list is populated with individual task cards that outline specific actions required to meet milestones. These task cards are labeled/color-coded for easy filtering based on the person or team responsible for each task, enhancing collaboration and clarity.
Key Features of the Task Cards:
Detailed Descriptions: Each card includes a concise explanation of the task to ensure clarity.
Checklists: A checklist within each card helps track progress and ensures all necessary steps are completed.
Embedded Resources: Where applicable, cards provide links to essential resources or downloads, such as accessibility checkers, WAVE testing tools, and information about WCAG standards, supporting thorough and compliant course development.
Click below to explore the Trello course rollout plan and see how it maps out the critical milestones for an effective course launch.
Learner Engagement Tactics
Weekly District Newsletter
Practical Takeaways
The assistant superintendent’s weekly newsletter serves as an essential platform for showcasing the course's positive impact through various impact metrics and teacher contributions. Highlighting DAEP teacher feedback, such as success stories of student performance improvements and anecdotes about smooth reintegrations, demonstrates the real-world effectiveness of the course. These stories, along with qualitative insights from teachers and students and quantitative data like reduced recidivism rates, motivate educators and reinforce the course’s relevance.
To ensure that educators can immediately apply what they learn, the course features a “lightbulb” button in the menu that reveals actionable strategies. This feature offers ready-to-use ideas tailored to the content on each page, supporting practical application in the classroom. The button’s use can be tracked with xAPI data to measure engagement, providing insight into how well the course meets the practical needs of teachers. This approach aligns with motivation theories that emphasize the importance of accessible, real-world applications to maintain learner interest and commitment.
Additionally, there are job aids embedded within the course such as a curriculum decision-making guide that help teachers make informed choices when adapting lessons for DAEP students. These resources are designed to simplify complex processes, provide clarity, and support teachers in making quick, effective decisions. By equipping educators with practical tools and immediate strategies, the course aims to enhance both teaching practices and student outcomes.
The third module of the course is exploratory, allowing teachers to engage at their own pace and select the best practices and tools most relevant to their classroom needs. This self-guided approach fosters intrinsic motivation, as educators can explore content that aligns with their specific teaching contexts and challenges. The module includes a technology integration component where teachers can navigate through different apps and websites that have been curated to enhance teaching and learning.
By providing this flexible, choice-driven learning experience, the course encourages active participation and deeper engagement. Teachers can identify and experiment with the tools that resonate most with their teaching style and student needs, supporting both differentiated instruction and personalized professional development. This approach not only makes the learning more relevant but also aligns with Self-Determination Theory, promoting autonomy and competence, which are essential for sustained engagement and effective learning.
Social Learning and Resource Sharing
The course incorporates social learning to foster collaboration and support among educators, inspired by Bandura’s Social Learning Theory, which emphasizes the importance of observing and interacting with peers to reinforce learning. The embedded Padlet on the Beyond the Classroom website encourages teachers to participate in discussions, share strategies, and engage in polls on topics like empathy and exclusionary discipline, creating a space for continuous learning and resource sharing that extends beyond the course itself.
An example of one of the practical takeaways that learners would be able to access with the lightbulb button
Click image to explore website, Beyond the Classroom
To further enhance engagement, professional development (PD) hours are offered for teacher contributions and collaboration. I designed a form for teachers to submit resources they created for review by Talent Development to be considered for PD hours. Once the form is submitted, HR is notified, ensuring proper acknowledgment and tracking of the teacher’s contribution, as well as inclusion in the resources section of the page to share with other teachers.
This approach is particularly valuable because there is currently no structured training for teachers who have a student assigned to DAEP (Disciplinary Alternative Education Program). While teachers often meet with their departments to form professional learning communities, there is no dedicated community for teachers with a student at DAEP, which can be isolating. Additionally, as students transition in and out of DAEP and teachers often change roles, maintaining consistent connections among educators becomes challenging. This lack of continuity can make collaboration difficult and lead to situations where teachers must reinvent the wheel despite existing resources and knowledge. By fostering a collaborative environment and sharing resources, teachers can better support students and streamline their efforts, making the course a dynamic and evolving resource for all.
Click the corresponding links to access the Teacher Resource Contribution Form and the Needs Assessment, which was designed to gather teacher input on their specific needs for the website.
Scalability and Adaptability
This course is meant to help address a critical issue in education that extends far beyond district boundaries but affects students nationwide. For this reason, while it was specifically designed for SBISD, it is adaptable to meet the needs of other districts and reflect changes in policy, administration, and other factors.
Intentional decisions were made to enhance the course’s scalability and flexibility. One key approach was designing district-specific information, such as contact details and curriculum options, to be easily editable. This ensures that most of the core content remains transferable, allowing districts to adopt the course with minimal adjustments. For example, Module 2, which contains district-specific information, can include links to district websites that stay consistent over time while the content on those sites can be updated as needed. This approach minimizes the need for course-wide changes when policies or best practices evolve.
Supplementary materials and job aids were designed to be editable, enabling updates to reflect new policies, changes in administration, or staffing modifications without extensive course overhauls. Additionally, incorporating videos or interactive elements that introduce teachers to the district’s specific alternative education program (DAEP) and contact points can be easily updated or swapped to maintain relevance.
To support long-term relevance and district-wide data-driven decision-making, a comprehensive data analysis plan was developed as part of the course. This plan can serve as a template for evaluating the course’s impact, helping districts measure outcomes and effectiveness. By customizing the data analysis framework, districts can assess their specific training needs and student outcomes, facilitating informed decisions and targeted improvements. This can be accessed at this link, but is described in more detail on the “Evaluation” page.
To further future-proof the course, leveraging built-in placeholders and template sections within the course design can streamline updates. This means that any district adopting the course can replace or update specific segments without needing to revise the entire module. Embedding links and resources that automatically redirect to current district policies or best practice documents can also maintain content relevance.
By taking these measures, the course maintains its value and applicability, supporting sustainable, long-term use across various districts.