Partnership Brings Best-Selling Author and Blended Learning Expert Heather Staker’s Expertise to K-12 Educators Through Competency-Based Program Amid COVID-19 Pandemic
Palo Alto, CA, June 9, 2020 — In response to education challenges brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, leading micro-credential provider BloomBoard has partnered with best-selling author, blended learning expert and Founder and President of Ready to Blend, Heather Staker to provide K-12 teachers a competency-based learning program that prepares educators across the nation for the challenges they face as school resumes in the fall.
“We salute educators and their schools and districts for their heroic efforts to finish the school year during such difficult circumstances,” said Sanford Kenyon, CEO of BloomBoard. “Looking forward to the fall, the education system faces a new and unprecedented set of challenges. Through our work with Heather and Ready to Blend, we intend to provide very practical and helpful support to educators and districts in the short term, while beginning to set the stage for the new future of K-12 education.”
In this partnership, Ready to Blend’s background addressing the growing need for skilled online educators, capable of meeting both students’ personal and instructional needs, guides the program creation. Staker also brings her unique expertise to help teachers create and implement student-centered environments, and this perspective informs the creation of BloomBoard’s new competency-based blended learning micro-endorsement, the central component of the fall readiness program. Using a unique implementation model created for this program and current needs, districts and schools will look to Blended Ambassadors– teachers who have earned their micro-endorsement via BloomBoard’s platform –and Blended Coaches provided by the program to deliver learning throughout the district.
“Whether teachers are fully online, completely face-to-face, or using a blended approach, we want to provide as many teachers as possible with the opportunity to be prepared with a flexible, learner-centered design before fall,” said Heather Staker from Ready to Blend. “Accounting for the personal needs of students and their teachers is often overlooked as schools shift some instruction online. This new program will help schools move confidently into the fall with a solid game plan for equipping their teachers with the skills, structures, and coaching they need to be successful.”
The fall readiness program allows teachers to learn-by-doing through a combination of micro-credentials, each based on foundational principles of effective blended learning. Teachers who earn their micro-endorsement in the program will have proven competency in assessing individual student needs, engaging parents to support blended learning, designing weekly blended learning “arcs,” and more.
Districts looking to prepare their teachers for the fall can learn more here.
About BloomBoard
Founded in 2010, BloomBoard is leading the shift from professional development to educator advancement via micro-certification. The company partners with states and districts to enable a unique online learning experience where educators improve their instructional practice and advance in their careers by earning micro-credentials. BloomBoard aims to help all organizations transition to meaningful, purpose-driven educator development and advancement based on measurable certification. For more information, visit bloomboard.com.
About Ready to Blend
Ready to Blend’s mission is to help the world create inspiring learning environments at school and home that improve the achievement and well-being of children. Through a team of over 150 facilitators worldwide, Ready to Blend brings in-person and virtual blended-learning experiences to adults to enable them, in turn, to bring inspiring, learner-centered environments to children. Best-selling author Heather Clayton Staker founded Ready to Blend in 2015. Follow her on the Ready to Blend podcast and by signing up to receive free educator tools at readytoblend.com.
