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Host Sonja Grant talks to a principal, teacher, and scholars from Alliance College-Ready Middle Academy 4, in South L.A./Watts, to learn how the Reimagining the Alliance Educator pilot program is contributing to greater sustainability for teachers, and how in just the first year of piloting the program, we're already seeing better outcomes for our scholars.

Through the pilot program, Middle 4 implemented a 4+1 model, where teachers have one full day of structured planning time, as well as 2 or 3 separate planning blocks with clear deliverables, each week. In total, all teachers have roughly 11 hours of weekly planning time. To support the school’s goals of continuing to grow math outcomes, Middle 4 also launched an expanded math intervention program.

This pilot program is about so much more than scholars getting an A or B on their report card. It's about preventing teacher burnout and giving them the time to do their job from a more refreshed position. Knowing that in the wake of the pandemic, there's been an increased need in our most vulnerable populations, the additional planning and collaboration time is helping teachers to be more effective in the classroom. Reimagining the Alliance Educator is making a real difference in the well-being of teachers AND scholars!

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In this episode we talk to the staff and scholars at Alliance Dr. Olga Mohan High School, the first high school to join the Reimagining the Alliance Educator pilot program. Starting in the school year 2024-25, Mohan will give their teachers not just one, but two planning periods daily, increasing planning time to 11 hours weekly.

To make this redesigned schedule work, the school has to be intentional in every step, including hiring more teachers to make the shift work and to offset the balance in class size. They’re also expanding on-campus dual enrollment, giving their scholars the incredible opportunity to earn college credits while still in high school.

As Principal Andrew King raves about the program, "It's going to give teachers the time to plan during the workday, and not feel compelled to have to sacrifice their loved ones, their time with their children, and their friends at home." He's also excited that, "we have the time to design more engaging classroom conversations and collaboration opportunities."

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In this episode, we talk to the staff at Valera Middle Academy. Thanks to the Reimagining the Alliance Educator pilot, they can give their teachers double the planning time of past years.

Erik Carlstone and Jonathan Tiongco, Principal and Executive Director of Valera, learned that the program's success wouldn't be as simple as telling teachers they have more time, and expecting everything to work out on its own. They've had to adjust their approach and put structure around the additional time. They also learned that their school needs to walk teachers through targeted training and intellectual prep that they provide.

Now their teachers can complete their core responsibilities while not feeling rushed. Teachers report that they can prepare more engaging instructions and collaborate with their peers, to better address the needs of their scholars. As teacher Cynthia Cassandra, one of Valera’s math and integrated science teachers remarks, they can now, “Navigate this profession a lot easier, because they have support from their admin and from their teammates.”

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In this episode, we learn how teachers don’t just need more time. It's equally important they have strong planning, observation, and feedback coaching systems in place.

We’re back with the staff of Alliance College-Ready Middle Academy 4. After testing a few different prototypes, they now give all their teachers a full remote planning day, every single week. They learned, through trial and error, that their planning time needs to have more structure than it did in the first semester they were piloting the program. Since then, their design team has made adjustments, changed how morning meetings are run, and give specific times for in-person collaboration. The staff continues to learn and pivot as needed, leveraging and refining everything from their planning time, to intellectual prep and student work analysis, always with a special focus on their most vulnerable scholars.

They also learned, as Principal Flores-Koops tells us, that co-planning helps ensure teachers are clear on how they’re going to co-facilitate a lesson, and that supporting new teachers through mentorship has been a useful strategy. It’s allowing educators to lead with greater intentionality, and collaborate closer with one another, allowing teachers to, feel “less rushed by time constraints, and more focused in the classroom."

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This week, we talk about how giving teachers expanded planning time gives schools an opportunity to add enrichment programs for their scholars. That’s exactly what Valera Middle Academy is doing.

Now, Valera’s teachers are now able dig deeper into lessons without having to worry about also teaching an elective course with a whole different set of scholars. Yes, this meant hiring additional teachers, but as Executive Director “JT” Tiongco states, “That just led to greater benefits for our kids.”

Valera’s goal is to get kids excited about coming back to school. No small feat, but the added enrichment and elective opportunities like art, STEM, health, robotics, as well as the camaraderie and connection of sports, is helping those kids, who may not be traditionally inspired by English or math, get excited about school. As Principal Erik Carlstone reminded us, "We often focus on academic rigor, but at the end of the day, what else is there and what else can the kid get excited about?”

In the first year of piloting the program, Valera has created a school environment where scholars feel more connected and that they belong. It's working not only socio-emotionally, but academically as well, as their initial iReady reports are showing their English language learners have already exceeded typical growth for the year.

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We’re back at Middle Academy 4 discussing how the Reimagining the Alliance Educator pilot program is not just about academic outcomes. Importantly, it’s interconnected with the school’s culture as well. Principal Flores-Koops recommends schools have strong planning, observation, feedback, and collaboration structures in place to aid in the success. In her experience, it’s had a significant impact on both empowering scholars academically and socio-emotionally, and it’s also empowered her team to be more engaged.

As teacher Caleb Klinger tells us, having 11 hours of weekly planning time has given him and his coworkers the opportunity to check in and connect with each other. They're now able to model self-care for their scholars.

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We’re back at Valera Middle Academy diving into the details of the cost and budget of the Reimagining the Alliance Educator pilot program. Though it is expensive, and takes a lot of work, so far everyone we’ve spoken to agrees it’s well worth the investment. Our scholars are enjoying their time at school more, and this in-part is leading to them seeing better academic results. And our teachers are reporting finding more fulfillment and sustainability in their work as well!

As Executive Director “JT” Tiongco puts it, “If you have the enrollment, a strong budget and strong reserves, this is a no brainer.” For those schools still working on their budget, know that grants and other opportunities like Prop 28 are out there! Take a listen to episode 7 for more practical advice on how schools can afford these schedule and enrichment program changes.

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