Site Logo

Hello, you are using an old browser that's unsafe and no longer supported. Please consider updating your browser to a newer version, or downloading a modern browser.

Now accepting applications for 2024!

OnCourse Trailblazer Program

You are invited to join an exclusive cohort of extraordinary educators called OnCourse Trailblazers. Becoming a Trailblazer brings visibility to your best work, unlocks exciting perks, and gives you a chance to be the Trailblazer of the Year, an accomplishment that comes with a $1000 grant to attend an education conference of your choice.

What’s a Trailblazer?

An OnCourse Trailblazer uses technology in innovative ways to make a difference in their individual work or across their district.

Trailblazers forge their own paths inside the OnCourse ecosystem. They find shortcuts that save valuable time, discover high-impact ways to use data, or guide others in improving their practices.

Whether you are moving mountains or making things a little more streamlined in your district, we want to celebrate it!

How to Become a Trailblazer

Please review the below application and submit it by February 29th to be considered. Up to 6 applicants will be selected to join the 2024 cohort.

Open topics will be accepted to encourage users with a variety of skills to submit meaningful projects. Here are a few examples across different departments: 

  • Building a tech-enhanced assessment that improves the student experience 
  • Rebuilding a schedule to better meet student needs 
  • Using data to design effective interventions 

What to Expect

The purpose of the OnCourse Trailblazer is to inspire and guide others to be their most effective selves, supported by technology.

Each selected educator will be a featured speaker at a Trailblazer webinars hosted and promoted by OnCourse. This webinar gives you a chance to showcase your work to a greater audience. This webinar will be recorded and shared in OnCourse’s training portal and on social media pages.

Perks:

  • Exclusive swag box
  • Digital badge
  • Recognition and profile on the OnCourse website
  • Chance to become the Trailblazer of the Year, which includes a scholarship to attend or present at a state or national conference (up to $1000 value)

 

Trailblazer of the Year 2022

Photo of Amy Ard, OnCourse Trailblazer, and sample of Multiple Measures dashboard.

Ms. Amy Ard

Instructional Technology Facilitator, Tangipahoa Parish Schools

Software: OnCourse Multiple Measures

Amy Ard had a vision for meeting district-wide goals around student data; teachers making progress monitoring data accessible, eliminating spreadsheets, increasing teacher use of data during collaboration, and achieving transparency of different data points across the district. She used Multiple Measures reports to bridge the gap often seen in education between technology departments and teachers.

“I understood the power of Multiple Measures and I started building reports with the data I thought would benefit my teachers,” said Ard.

Over a one year period, she created and distributed teacher-friendly dashboards that consolidated data from several sources, like scores from summative tests, benchmarks, grades, etc. This raised the usage of data across the entire district.

“It wasn’t until I pushed the reports out to teachers that I began to envision how we could use this tool to not only view data but also collect it. To provide in-class checkpoint data to Curriculum coaches, I added “Teacher Input Columns.”

Teacher Input Columns are an OnCourse feature that allows for a single column of data to be editable by teachers, leaving the rest of the scores for viewing only.

“As teachers input data, performance bands auto-populate, our data warehouse is updated, and they are progress monitoring as the data is entered.

Because we can deliver data district-wide via Multiple Measures, our teachers come to Collaboration with a full understanding of their data, and they now use that time to discuss data-driven actions to lead their students, and our district, in a more positive direction.

With this practice in place, progress monitoring data can now follow the student through grade levels or school transfers. We are building a full narrative of data for each student. District-level support is able to view district, school, and teacher data to identify strengths and weaknesses as we work to provide an equitable education for all.”

Why this Project was Selected

Amy’s work qualified her as an OnCourse Trailblazer due to several factors, such as:

  • Innovation in data curation
  • Supporting growth by providing on-demand data views for teachers
  • Sharing practices with nearby districts