Embarc (formerly BYOC) Success Story: Purposeful and Sustainable Curriculum Implementation
When the School District of West De Pere, located in northeastern Wisconsin, learned its curriculum management system would no longer be supported, district officials began the task of finding a replacement. With many initiatives already in progress, like Student Learning Objectives, Common Core implementation, and the Danielson Framework, the curriculum staff at West De Pere was concerned about the time needed to move and restructure their entire curriculum. As Curriculum Director Amy LaPierre began the search, she quickly became interested in Embarc (formerly BYOC). After hearing positive recommendations from surrounding school districts and experiencing Embarc's instructional design and ease of use, LaPierre and her staff found everything they needed in Embarc.
Intentional Implementation
Despite their enthusiasm about Embarc, the curriculum staff at West De Pere decided on a thoughtful, intentional approach to introducing and implementing the product. Rather than go all in and run the risk of overwhelming staff, LaPierre opted for a slow roll-out, planning for two to three departments to phase in each year. Although this meant a longer than normal implementation process for the district, the goal was to keep teachers interested and engaged with the product, allowing them plenty of time to collaborate, learn from each other, and work in the system. “We really wanted this to be sustainable,” explained LaPierre. “We did a few departments at a time, so we could fully support the system as the teachers first used it, rather than just adding it to their plate and expecting them to be successful with it.”
After the first year of implementation, LaPierre and her staff were extremely happy with the success of their process. The first departments to implement Embarc were Mathematics and Physical Education. LaPierre shared that the slow implementation strategy made the task more manageable. “I think with anything new there has to be professional development and support if we expect the teachers to be successful,” she shared. "I think our success came because we focused on a few departments at a time.” The 35 teachers who were trained in Embarc and piloted the product were also happy with the process. “They were surprised at how easy and intuitive the software was,” said LaPierre. “They also appreciated the collaboration piece where they could see other districts’ curriculum.” The search portion of Embarc allowed teachers in West De Pere to browse other Embarc districts, both locally and around the country, to provide a starting point. “It helped our teachers see the target and got them started when they were hesitant to begin,” explained LaPierre.
Added Benefits
As part of their implementation strategy, West De Pere focused on increasing curriculum conversations between curriculum staff and teachers, between teachers of the same course, and between teachers of different courses and different grades. According to LaPierre, “Embarc lends itself to a lot of good conversation among the departments about effective curriculum planning, unit design, assessment, and instructional pedagogy as they work on curriculum.” To reduce repetition and improve the vertical flow within their curriculum, the staff at West De Pere had all K-5 and 6-12 teachers gather for a large group collaboration meeting. This commitment to a collaborative process allowed West De Pere to maximize Embarc's ability to provide consistent, manageable curriculum across grades and schools.
“Embarc lends itself to a lot of good conversation among the departments about effective curriculum planning, unit design, assessment, and instructional pedagogy as they work on curriculum.”
The staff at West De Pere also appreciated the unmatched customer service provided by the Embarc support team. “Throughout the implementation process we were able to work with the software programmers to resolve any issues that came up,” commented LaPierre. According to West De Pere’s Curriculum Administrative Assistant Dorian Bennett, “The support team was very responsive, quick to get back to us when we had an issue or a question, and easy to work with.” The Embarc team of experts meets each district's unique needs by providing a solid foundation, as well as ongoing support, to ensure success at each step of the implementation journey.
Looking Ahead
As West De Pere looks forward, the main objective remains to develop a guaranteed and viable curriculum for all subject areas mapped and organized in one place. Embarc's insightful and practical design made that goal a reality. Embarc enabled West De Pere to collaboratively develop a curriculum that is easy to use daily in the classroom and easy to update for continuous improvement. “We really wanted our curriculum to be a framework for teachers and to provide consistency in what is delivered to our students regardless of the teacher they have,” said LaPierre. Unlike the old system for managing curriculum, which was cumbersome and impractical for the classroom, West De Pere’s curriculum in Embarc is valuable and useful for both veteran and inexperienced teachers. “We also want it to help new teachers,” explained LaPierre. “This is something we can give incoming teachers to serve as a starting point, so they know what is expected and they aren’t left without guidance.”
The Product
Embarc (formerly BYOC) is a widely awarded curriculum and learning management system technology connecting learning objectives to a continuous cycle of curriculum development, delivery, assessment, and refinement across teachers, classrooms and grade-levels in K-12 school districts. The collaborative nature of Embarc improves efficiencies by reducing duplication of effort and enabling teachers to seamlessly share best practices. With Embarc, educators can consistently keep curriculum aligned to evolving standards by allowing them to easily identify disconnects and emerging areas for improvement.
