Arthur Ashe Charter School: Improving Student Outcomes Through Teacher Coaching

Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
Website: Arthur Ashe Charter School
Enrollment: ~800
Demographics: NCES Data

Arthur Ashe Charter School in New Orleans, Louisiana, is a public charter school serving Pre-K through eighth-grade students. The school has a diverse student body and is committed to providing a high-quality education to all of its students. In recent years, the school has implemented Grow by Level Data, a teacher coaching, observation, and evaluation platform, to support teacher development and improve instructional practices.

The Need: A Comprehensive Teacher Development Program

The implementation of Grow began with the school leadership team’s decision to invest in a comprehensive teacher coaching platform that could provide targeted support to teachers at all levels of experience. The program was designed to be collaborative, research-based, and aligned with the school’s mission and values. Grow was used explicitly at Ashe to inform teacher development. Ashe’s instructional coaches used a data-driven approach to identify each teacher’s areas of strength and improvement. The data was then used to inform coaching sessions tailored to each teacher’s specific needs.

The Impact: A Shared Culture of Feedback

Grow’s impact on the school has been significant. Teachers who participate in the program report feeling more confident in their ability to deliver effective instruction, and they are better equipped to meet the needs of their students.

“Grow has helped me see my growth as a teacher, which is really nice to see,” said Neeve Turman, Lead Interventionist at Ashe. “This job is hard sometimes, but using Grow helps us keep what we do all about the kids.”

The program has also helped to create a culture of feedback among teachers, coaches, and administrators, who are encouraged to share feedback and learn from one another. By creating this culture in the school, teachers know the feedback is coming and are often awaiting it.

In recent years, the school has seen significant gains in student performance on standardized tests. This improvement is partly due to the high-quality instruction that teachers deliver as a result of the coaching, observation, and evaluation program.

Increased Teacher Retention Rates
In addition to improving student achievement, the program has also had a positive impact on teacher retention. Teachers at Ashe who use Grow by Level Data report feeling more supported and valued, which has led to increased job satisfaction and a lower turnover rate.

Grow by Level Data’s impact can be seen in the school’s teacher retention data. According to School Director Shanda Gentry, they have an 85% retention rate among their teachers. Those numbers are impressive in today’s educational landscape of teacher attrition and the teacher shortage.

Overall, several key factors contributed to the success of the teacher coaching, observation, and evaluation program at Arthur Ashe Charter School.

• The program is data-based, collaborative, and tailored to the specific needs of each teacher.
• It has also aligned well with the school’s mission and values of improving student outcomes and is supported by school leadership.

By providing targeted support to teachers and improving instructional practices, the program has significantly impacted student achievement and teacher retention at the school.