Embarc (formerly BYOC) Success Story: Closing the Gap with Equity and Continuity

Special School District of St. Louis County (SSD) was formed in 1957 after voters approved a referendum establishing a countywide local school district to support the educational needs of children with disabilities. Today, more than 24,000 students in 265 public schools across St. Louis County receive special education services or technical education from SSD. Executive Director of Teaching, Learning, and Accountability Dr. Mollie Bolton says Embarc (formerly BYOC) helped SSD develop a formalized curriculum to close the gap and meet the diverse needs of its students across the county’s 22 school districts.

The Challenge

When Bolton accepted the role of curriculum coordinator in 2012, SSD did not have a formalized curriculum approach. "At that time, we basically used whatever our partner districts were using. Some of them had curriculum and some of them didn’t,” she shared. The lack of a formalized curriculum framework led to inconsistencies and a lack of continuity across the 265 schools served by SSD. "Everyone was doing their own thing,” said Bolton. "There was really no teaching of standards – it was more about what the teachers thought the students needed at that time.”

Because SSD's primary function is to provide special education services for all St. Louis County students with disabilities, many of the staff members regarded themselves as caregivers first and foremost. "For years some of our teachers’ focus was to take care of student needs and keep them happy and safe,” Bolton said. "It was a mind shift to expand that philosophy to include exposing our students to rich academics through scaffolding and standards-based curriculum.”  

"It was a mind shift to expand that philosophy to include exposing our students to rich academics through scaffolding and standards-based curriculum.”  

The lack of a user-friendly, centralized repository for curriculum and resources was another challenge for SSD. Prior to partnering with Embarc the district housed materials in large binders or in the student information system, a less than ideal situation according to Bolton. "Because every one of our partner districts used a different product, we used our student information system, which was not intuitive at all,” she said.  

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The Solution

Partnering with Embarc helped SSD evaluate resources, develop common goals, and align curriculum with standards. "Our students have complex needs and our goal is to provide effective instruction through a coordinated curriculum,” said Bolton. "Embarc helped us get everyone on the same page.” SSD began the process by developing a curriculum map in Embarc that provided for curriculum-driven instruction instead of lessons tied loosely to standards. This approach helped SSD better align instruction and minimize gaps as every activity, lesson, assignment and assessment was tied back to the curriculum.

Embarc also helped SSD streamline the curriculum process and provide a central repository for resources, reducing duplication of effort and allowing for seamless sharing of activities and lesson plans. The user-friendly interface allowed staff to easily make incremental changes at any time, which also provided continuous improvement opportunities and guaranteed ongoing and systematic growth. "It was so easy to go in and make changes as we were adapting and modifying the curriculum,” Bolton said. "And it made sense to teachers, which was critical to buy-in.”

"It was so easy to go in and make changes as we were adapting and modifying the curriculum."

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The Results

With Embarc, SSD was able to build a customized curriculum to meet the unique needs of its diverse student population. Embarc's flexible design provided guidance to input curriculum without hindering the creativity, needs or beliefs of the district. “We didn’t want textbook companies or assessment vendors saying what our students needed to know and what they’re able to do,” Bolton said. "We want to look at the opportunities available for our children in Missouri and in the world and say – here's what our students can do.”

"We want to look at the opportunities available for our children in Missouri and in the world and say – here's what our students can do.”

Bolton laughed as she shared a story about a collection of binders found when one of the schools served by SSD was undergoing renovation. “We had four-inch binders full of curriculum stuff that just sat on a shelf and gathered dust. No one ever even opened them,” she recalled. “Those binders are in the recycling bin now. Embarc has given us a one-stop-shop for curriculum.”

Bolton said Embarc also empowered SSD teachers, which has positively impacted student achievement. The unified curriculum SSD developed with the help of Embarc resulted in solid instruction that is differentiated to meet even the most complex student’s needs. "Our teachers have everything they need – pacing guides, curriculum, activities, assessments – all in one place. This has led to more self-efficacy and that is resulting in growth each year,” she said. "We’re partners for each student’s success. We’re providing equity across our schools and we’re closing the gap.”

"Our teachers have everything they need – pacing guides, curriculum, activities, assessments – all in one place. This has led to more self-efficacy and that is resulting in growth each year."

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The Product

Embarc (formerly BYOC) is a curriculum and instruction solution connecting learning objectives to a continuous cycle of development, delivery, assessment, and refinement across teachers, classrooms and grade-levels in K-12 school districts. Embarc's alignment with state and national standards allows districts to analyze curriculum and address issues raised in standards-based assessments. With Embarc, districts can house a customized, living curriculum in a format that guarantees ongoing and systematic growth, ensure rigorous curriculum is being used with fidelity. Embarc empowers educators to save time on curriculum management, enter a process of continuous improvement, and shift focus to their true passion—teaching.