Introducing Teacher Coaching with FACTS Ed and Vosaic

School resources are limited, which is an ache felt especially by individual schools and school systems already struggling with teacher retention or student enrollment. This perspective on available assets explains why professional development, including teacher coaching costs, land in the category “unnecessary.” This situation is compounded by the lack of time school and system leaders have to invest in teacher development and ongoing support.

The cost of a full-time coach can exceed $60,000. This figure turns off many from the start and is only exacerbated by the potential disruption that even the most subtle observer causes when they coach educators during live classroom observations. Despite these costs and the in-person approach, teacher coaching is like any form of professional development: an essential aspect of one’s career, a critical retention tool, and foundational to increasing student achievement.

Teacher Turnover and Disengaged Students

A Gallup study found that 60% of voluntary teacher turnover resulted from educators leaving for better career opportunities or development. Furthermore, the same study found that only 34% of teachers feel engaged in their current jobs. This idea that nearly two-thirds of educators are not engaged is concerning for schools. High turnover rates can ensue among disengaged teachers and lead to significant negative implications for students’ educational experiences. Disengaged students have increased negative perceptions of their academic capabilities, decreased ability to make friends, decreased self-esteem, and decreased level of academic expectation from their parents.

Teacher Retention and Student Success

Teacher reflection on classroom practices is essential in developing a reliably improving learning environment for students. Educators who don’t wish to habituate classroom practices that hinder student achievement must revisit past experiences for two primary reasons: first, to identify what actions encouraged student mastery, and secondly, to identify those actions that don’t engage students. Engaged employees in every field obtain and sustain better outcomes; this is another reason that teacher engagement requires ongoing supports and professional development, including coaching.

Affordable Teacher Coaching with FACTS Ed

We know that coaching is a primary tool in teacher development and a foundational driver of student success, but how do schools with limited resources invest in and afford coaching’s actual costs? The answer is FACTS Ed Coaching: a fully customizable professional development program.

Coaching through FACTS is the low-cost, high-value, flexible solution for teacher coaching that focuses on supporting student success in the classroom by developing educators through a collaborative relationship with their coach. By recognizing and leveraging teachers’ existing strengths and digging deep to discover and develop improvement areas, FACTS strives to improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning. All the while, FACTS coaching helps educators feel more fulfilled and confident in their abilities - driving teacher engagement. All of these outcomes are produced by partnering with educators and unpacking research-based strategies.

Our coaches utilize a proprietary Vosaic video platform to provide objective, useful feedback in a way that creates minimal interruption to the classroom environment and drives thoughtful reflection and meaningful teacher-coach conversations, all for one purpose: improving teaching and learning. Teachers record lessons. Coaches give feedback on the video platform. Then the teacher and coach meet virtually to further debrief and strategize for upcoming lessons.

For schools and school systems with limited resources and leaders with limited time, FACTS Ed is your ideal partner in the professional development of teachers. Your teachers will appreciate the investment made in them through the personalized support of their coach. Teachers receive kind, timely, specific, and actionable feedback based on actual lessons shared via the Vosaic platform; and, in coaching conversations, teachers engage in unpacking and lesson planning using evidence-based and best practice strategies. This process and positive experience leads to the achievement of teacher-designed goals and corresponding student outcomes and ultimately leads to greater teacher self-efficacy and improved student achievement.

And, we will help access Title funding to cover the cost of coaching. Get more information about FACTS Education Solutions at https://factsmgt.com/facts-ed/coaching

About FACTS

FACTS seeks to provide solutions that elevate the K-12 experience for school administrators, teachers, and families by improving school management through service and technology.

About Vosaic

Vosaic’s cloud-based video platform is used to help teachers, pre-service teachers, and professionals bridge the gap between theory and practice. Easy-to-use video recording, commenting, and sharing enables users to more effectively observe, coach, and mentor. Teachers and coaches can upload, record, and share videos for evaluations, feedback, self-reflection, and so much more.