An item from a K-12 blended learning organization.

Read a recap of our experience at SXSW EDU

No images? Click here

Throughline Learning Goes to Austin!

On Monday, Throughline Learning co-hosted an event with Reinvention Lab, Catalyst:Ed, and The Learning Accelerator during the SXSW EDU 2024 conference. This was an exciting opportunity to network with friends old and new, celebrate our rebrand, and share more about our culturally responsive professional learning services and strategic staffing supports. In his remarks, Shawn Rubin shared the key learnings and strategy our team is focused on this year:

“There’s unfortunately way too many conversations we’re having at tables and conferences like this where the community, the families, the students, our ‘end users’ in education are excluded or are not able to be engaged. They’re often left out of the story sharing, the capacity-building, and the professional learning conversations. We’re working to harness their energy and ideas, and keep building bridges of support and partnership between school and community.”

Thank you to everyone who attended and shared the big questions they’re keeping front of mind related to our education space in 2024. Special thanks to Reinvention Lab for hosting us at their Future of Learning House!

Recognizing SEL Day

In honor of SEL Day, a nationwide celebration of the importance of social emotional learning, we’re sharing an update on our SEL Fellowship (SELF)! Last week, Stephanie Garcia and Malika Ali facilitated our second meeting with fellows. The cohort reflected on the need to differentiate SEL and academic supports across Tiers 1, 2, and 3 with some common themes:

• Tier 1: Use SEL strategies to gather information, increase psychological safety and trust, and engage the parasympathetic nervous system (Examples: morning and closing meeting routines to build connections; modeling flexibility; routines to promote equity and student ownership)
• Tier 2: Identify students who need more support to develop / internalize Tier 1 routines (Examples: Interventions to support students with anxiety; smaller group opportunities to practice routines; managing power struggles)
• Tier 3: Identify de-escalation strategies for individual students who present specific and targeted needs (Examples: Managing triggers, self-regulation procedures, restorative practices, strengthening student self-confidence and self-worth)​

Collaborating across schools, districts, and roles has been a powerful component of the fellowship experience. As Instructional Equity Partner Stephanie Garcia shared: “With a foundation of trust and psychological safety, we’re all learning from one another’s perspectives and honest reflections, as we model what we hope to be true for students in our classrooms.”

We are excited to launch a second SELF cohort later this year. Stay tuned for more information on how to apply!

SY23 Annual Report: Spotlight on Special Education

Across all elementary schools in Johnston, RI, Throughline Learning instructional coaches worked with special education teachers with a focus on strengthening academic mindsets and integrating data-driven differentiation practices.

According to coaching partner Heidi Vazquez,  the partnership was especially powerful because we co-planned and co-taught with both regular education and special education teachers while working side by side with Savvas as our curriculum partner. Tight alignment and collaboration enabled us to find more curricular access points for all students, and particularly those with IEPs.

In SY23, the percentage of students with IEPs in the high growth category on the STAR assessment increased by 16 points.

If you missed our Annual Report, be sure to check it out now!

Read the Report