001[Music] All right. Well, welcome. We're so glad that you're joining us today. Um, we are here. We're going to dive into the Leadership and Instructional Foundations for Texas program or the Lyft program. We're also going to take a look at the add-on, which is the school improvement PLC support, which is also a part of Lasso Cycle 4. In this session, you will get a clear understanding of what Lyft is, why it matters, and how you can support your district in building strong instructional systems. Presenting today are myself, Amanda Galbin, district engagement specialists, and I also have on the call today, Laura Farber, which is our executive director of highquality instructional materials and implementation. We are here to walk you through the program details and answer any questions that you may have. Feel free to submit
002questions throughout the session using the Zoom Q&A feature. So, you're going to notice typically when you're in a Zoom, you have the chat feature. Today, we're going to use the Q&A feature. We anticipate several questions coming through. Um, so we're going to try our best to answer them as we go along. However, after all the webinars are completed and slides and recordings will be posted on the Lasso Cycle 4 website. So, you are going to have access to everything that you need. We're going to do our best, like I said, to answer questions that come in today. But in the event that a question is asked and we can't answer, please include your email address and we can follow up at a later time or you can grab that frequently asked questions document that will
003be on the Lassa website. If you have any follow-up questions that you think of after this webinar, you are always welcome to email us at lyfta.t texas.gov. So with that being said, let's get started and take a look at our agenda. We are going to start with a quick overview of lasso cycle 4. Then we're going to take a deeper look into Lyft. We're going to follow up by that school improvement PLC add-on grant for any um districts that joined us today that might have some campuses in school improvement and how we can support. We are we will close with key dates and how to apply. Just remember throughout this session to add any questions that you have in that Zoom Q&A session. Before we move into our two grants for today, let's take a
004quick overview of what Lasso is. Lasso stands for learning and acceleration support opportunities. Lasso is TA's consolidated application that bundles grants, aotments, and inind supports into a single process. It really simplifies access to key strategies that accelerate learning and enable innovation. So, as you can see, we have $500 million that are dedicated to those supports and services. This year we have 15 initiatives that support learning acceleration and innovation and one single application to apply for that funding. Lasso Lasso's portfolio organizes work around core strategies. Our focus for today is going to sit underneath that curriculum instruction umbrella because that's where the Lyft and the Lyft SI PLC add-on live. We will keep today's discussion in those two offers. So, I want to hone in just really quick on kind of where we are within that
005lasso portfolio. This table gives a highle overview of the 15 grant opportunities, but we are going to zone in right here onto these two um particular opportunities that we're looking at today. It's the Lyft and the Lyft add-on PLC support. So, let's take a deep dive into um what this grant opportunity is. Lyft or Leadership in Instructional Foundations for Texas is a three-year program designed to support Texas school systems in building instructional systems level capacity needed to deliver highquality learning experiences for all students. This program is built on three powerful TA initiatives. Strong foundations, Texas instructional leadership, and Texas lesson study. By bringing these together, Lyft provides a comprehensive support for districts. I hope some of those programs may have been something familiar to you. As I mentioned earlier, Lyft is built on the strengths
006of three proven proven TA programs. So, if you participated in any past TA initiatives, you may recognize some of these logos. They might be familiar to you. Lyft is in its inaugural year and represents a bold step forward, merging these three high-packed initiatives into one comprehensive program for Texas school systems. From strong foundation, Lyft brings rigorous planning and support for HQIM or highquality instructional materials adoption. From Texas instructional leadership, it adds leadership coaching, observation and feedback cycles, and performance management routines. And from Texas lesson study, it incorporates collaborative practices like lesson internalization and student work analysis. Together, we know these elements create a powerful foundation for sustainable instructional improvement across districts and campuses. This slide is going to give you just a quick snapshot of what Lyft is all about. First and foremost, it's a
007three-year program. That's kind of moving away from something that you may have done in Strong Foundations. This really means that districts receive sustained support over multiple years to create lasting instructional change. Second, Lyft uses aligned support models. Really tailoring assistance for district leaders, campus leaders, and teachers. So, everyone is working towards the same instructional vision. Finally, the program is d designed to take you from HQM vision to sustainability, guiding school systems from setting that vision all the way to building stronger sustainable instructional systems that last beyond just this grant. And that really hones in our why. Now that you've seen a quick snapshot of what Lyft is, let's talk about why the program was created. High quality instructional materials are essential for student success, but they're not enough on their own. To truly bring curriculum
008to life, districts need strong instructional leadership systems that support teachers. Lyft is designed to pair great materials with great systems so every student benefits from excellent instruction. Implementing high-quality instruction materials well requires alignment across every level of the system. This slide shows how Lyft impacts every level. At the classroom level, teachers learn research-based strategies align to instructional vision and engage in initial HQIM training. Moving on up, instructional leaders, principles, and coaches also play a critical role in supporting that vision. They communicate expectations, guide HQIM selection and ensure campus level support at the at the top. Superintendent and chief academic officers are also a part of this to define the vision, lead change management, and secure board approval for HQIM adoption. What's really important here is that all these roles are not siloed. Lyft creates alignment
009across all levels so that teachers, campus leaders and district leaders are working towards the same instructional goals. That is what makes Lyft comprehensive. It builds systems where every link in the chain supports strong instructional delivery. Now let's take a look at the instructional leadership realm. As we mentioned earlier, implementing highquality instructional materials alone is not enough. You need to have strong instructional systems to achieve sustainability. Instructional leadership is the backbone of strong implementation. Lyft ensures that every level of the system plays a role. At the classroom level, teachers internalize and prepare for HQM delivery, differentiate instruction, and analyze student work to close gaps. At the campus level, instructional leaders, principles, and coaches lead PLC's. They observe and coach teachers frequently and follow up with customized support to drive growth. At the district level, superintendent, chief
010academic officers set conditions for success by aligning systems, managing performance, and calibrating alongside leaders to build coaching capacity. The key takeaway on both of these is Lyft connects the roles. So teachers, campus leaders, district leaders are not working in isolation. Instead, they're part of a co coordinated system focused on consistent, high-quality instruction across every classroom. Now that we've had a quick glance at the Lyft grant and the why behind this powerful initiative, I'm going to turn it over to Laura Farber to give us some more indepth look at what Lyft entails. Wonderful. Thanks so much, Amanda, and good afternoon all. So, as we think about uh Lyft, we know that districts can enter Lyft at one of two entry points. The first is planning. This option is for school systems preparing to adopt a stateboard
011approved highquality instructional materials curriculum for the 2728 school year. Um, at this stage, systems have not committed to any product. Um, and if at the end of the planning year, the district adopts Blue Bonnet Learning, they will continue in the Lyft program. If they choose a different stateboard approved product, they will conclude participation in Lyft after that planning phase. The next entry point is implementation. This is for systems that have already adopted blue bonnet learning for the 2627 school year or plan to do so. These districts enter at the implementation phase and then continue through deeper implementation and sustainability. Um so again to move through implementation sustainability systems must adopt blue bonnet learning. Um, and we know that Lyft provides those three years of support that we think will lead to really good sustainability with
012the programming. Regardless of where you start, Lyft will begin with a needs assessment to understand your district's current state and priorities. This assessment helps identify what systems are in place and where support will have the greatest impact for your district. From there, Lyft will provide customized programming across those three phases we discussed, planning, implementation, and then into sustainability. So whether you're preparing to adopt an HQM for the first time or you're already implementing Blue Bonnet learning, Lyft will meet you and your district where you are and help you move towards that long-term sustainability for maximum impact. Let's think a little bit more about what this specifically entails. We'll start with the planning supports that would typically happen in a first year of engagement with Lyft. Um, so planning supports help our districts lay the groundwork
013for strong implementation. This includes the development of an instructional framework, selecting an HQIM, aligning calendars and staffing and other operational considerations, training leaders um on research-based instructional strategies, and more. These steps really create, as many of you know, the conditions for success when implementation begins. The needs assessment the district takes prior to the lift work will highlight if any of these areas are in need or if a district has already engaged and gone deep in these areas but still may need a little bit more support. The next phase is initial implementation. This is where districts begin putting their plans into action. Notice that Blue Bonnet learning is the instructional material that will be used starting at the implementation phase. This stage focuses on ensuring that Blue Bonnet learning materials are not only adopted but are
014also used effectively in classrooms. Supports include comprehensive product training for teachers and leaders and coaches. Guidance on aligning instructional product practices with Blue Bonnet learning. It also includes uh support to strengthen campus and district leaders capacity to observe and give feedback um so that the instructional practices are really consistent across classrooms and teachers are growing in their use of the curriculum. Another key component of implementation is strengthening or aligning performance management routines at the district level to help district leaders use data from classroom observations, student assessments, and more to make informed decisions. Um, the last piece I'll name is that this phase also includes refining assessment strategies so they align with instructional goals and give meaning meaningful insights into student learning. Overall, the goal is to create a strong foundation for instructional excellence that can
015be sustained and then scaled. Let's talk about the third phase of the Lyft program which is deeper implementation supports. Once uh for this uh deeper implementation focus, it is all about sustainability. At this stage, districts move beyond launching Blue Bonnet learning in classrooms to really embed strong instructional practices into daily routines. Supports for this phase include using data systems to monitor instructional quality, refining and strengthening observation and feedback cycles. Also aligning evaluation and incentive systems for teachers to the use of an HQIM. Districts will also go deeper at this stage on analyzing student work, planning for learners with different needs, and building systems that really go beyond the program and grant period. Um, so those are the three phases of Lyft. Now, let's talk a little bit about some different pathways districts might experience. Um,
016so let's imagine in this first pathway, a school system is interested in adopting HQIM, specifically Blue Bonnet learning, and applies to Lyft for the planning year. The Lyft needs assessment finds that A the system has engaged with RBS, research-based instructional strategies before, but they didn't develop an instructional framework and b there are some structures in place in the district for schoolwide routines um for still pathway one. Thanks, Amanda. For schoolwide routines, observation, feedback, and PLC's, but the school system is not yet consistent with those routines. They look different depending on the school. So then the focus in that first planning year would be change in performance management, getting an instructional framework established and adopting the right materials. But there would also be continued supports in that planning year to help the district create consistency across
017schools for things like schoolwide routines, observation, feedback cycles, and PLC's. And then from there, the district would move to the next phases of implementation. Let's talk about pathway two. Another example of a district is that um you can imagine a school system is preparing to implement blue bond learning K through5 math. So they are ready to implement next year for the first time blue bonnet math in 2627. According to the lift needs assessment the system is new to using HQIM but did previously engage with a one of the agency's programs Texas instructional leadership or TIL. So they've actually done some strong work on schoolwide routines and streamlining observation feedback across their campuses, but it's been a couple of years. There are new principles. There are new uh folks on their campuses. So that may look
018like starting with implementation because they're ready to implement blue bonnet learning, but still working on some change in performance management, ensuring operational alignment is present. They may need to build an instructional framework and still work with the research-based instructional strategies or RBs. Those pieces if they weren't previously done would still be a part of initial implementation. They would get continuing support to strengthen the work they did with from till a couple years ago around school ride routines as well as observations and feedback. Let's talk about one more pathway. Uh so some of you on the call may fall into this third pathway which is that um you've engaged in strong foundations implementation in the current school year for blue bonnet learning in this example K5 rla and u math instructional materials and you plan to
019continue implementation next year. So you're already using blue bonnet and you want to strengthen it. the needs assessment might find that while this district has engaged in SFI, they didn't actually do strong foundations planning or SFP nor till. So there are there's not an instructional framework. They haven't had consistent observation feedback cycles and they don't have schoolwide routines um implemented in a consistent way. That would mean the first year there on the left would focus on again change in performance management, research-based instructional strategies and the framework as well as getting those observation and feedback cycles grounded in blue bonnet learning really moving. Um, and then the programming would continue to support and hopefully build on what's already going well in that district around PLC's and internalization as well as operational alignment to using the curriculum.
020Well, so I hope that was helpful to hear about three different pathways and different entry points uh for Lyft as well as how the path might be customized depending on what a district has already done versus what is new for them. We are going to shift now to talking about some of the benefits of Lyft. Um and I think there are several on the slide to highlight. We offer a robust sort uh robust set of benefits designed to build lasting capacity. You're going to hear us keep using that sustainability word. Uh first of all, districts will receive uh support from an approved provider of their choice and receive highquality professional learning from that approved provider. Um they'll receive instructional system support. They'll also get monthly classroom observations alongside the approved provider and sometimes more frequent
021as well as at least monthly leadership coaching with an approved provider um for various leadership levels in the district. And then finally, of course, customized technical assistance um to support uh with those areas. Now, let's take a look at funding. Lyft funding um is flexible but also sustained across three years with award amounts varying based on district size. Um this structure really ensures that districts have the resources they need to build and maintain strong instructional systems. Funds can be used from the grant for approved activities such as provider support training and other implementation needs which really gives districts the flexibility to address their unique context. To close out this section, um, how does Lyft benefit educators in my district? To reiterate something Amanda shared earlier, Lyft supports every level of the system from the central
022office to the classroom. For district leaders, it offers leadership coaching, strategic planning, and tools for monitoring implementation. For those campus-based leaders, whether they be principles or instructional coaches, it provides supports for observation and feedback, schoolwide routines, how to lead PLC's. And then for our teachers, Lyft delivers upfront and ongoing training, coaching, and planning support grounded in HQIM. This is all about building the capacity across the board and across roles so that everyone is equipped to support excellent instruction. Now that we've learned more about what Lyft is, I'm going to pass it back to Amanda to discuss Lyft eligibility. You've sat through a couple of slides with us and you might be interested in this product. So, let's talk more about eligibility. Um, if your district meets any of these two eligibility criterias, it's you're it's
023open to all Texas PTS I'm sorry, Texas school systems and you qualify in those two pathways that um Laura mentioned earlier. First, you're ready to select and implement an SBE approved HQM in the 2728 school year. So, you're kind of in that adoption phase. You maybe haven't selected exactly what it is, but you're prepared to adopt. or the other pathway you've committed to implementing a Blue Bonnet learning product in the 2627 school year. So if your district meets any of these criteria, we strongly encourage you to apply. Full details and guidance are going to be in the program guidelines which are available on the lasso website. So along with um our eligibility criteria, we do have several asurances as you're going through this grant um process. Districts awarded Lyft will commit to several key asurances.
024These include appointing a Lyft lead, securing a superintendent and CAO approval, contracting with an approved provider, and engaging leaders in training and coaching. We're really honing in on those leaders being in with the district data. Districts will also submit required deliverables and maintain communication with TEA. We want to ensure that the grant funds are used in alignment with the program goals. So, if you want to take a minute just to kind of look through these these um program guidelines, you can I'm sorry, asurances, you can also um take a look at the them in our program guidelines. Implementing LIP successfully requires a time commitment from key roles. Like we mentioned before, everybody at the school system is involved in this particular program. Superintendent will provide strategic oversight while district and campus leaders will engage in
025planning, coaching, and performance management activities. Teachers will participate in training and implement instructional practices aligned with HQIM. These commitments ensure the program delivers meaningful and lasting impact. I know on this call we may have um varying size in school district. So, if you look at the roles um over on the left hand side, if you have a school system that's a little bit smaller that doesn't have all of these roles, you can go ahead and just kind of take who would wear that hat and um put them into that particular role. The time commitments can be found on the lasso website for a more in-depth look. So, now that you um have applied and we're going into that awarding season, here is how the applications will be prioritized. Awards are made by product and districts
026are ranked in lowest to highest scar star scores within five priority tiers. Priority tier one includes system with commissionerappointed boy board of managers, monitor or conservator for academic performance. Tier 2 covers eleas with an F-rated campus based on the 24 through 25 accountability or campuses federally identified for school improvement. That's CSI, ATS or TSI. Tier three prioritizes districts implementing a blue bonnet learning product that did not access strong foundations implementation support in lasso 3. Tier four includes systems that previously participated in programs like SFP, SFI or Till are currently in text uh TSL or are in good standing or implemented a um OEAR product C OER product. Finally, tier four tier five focuses on rural districts defined by enrollment size and growth rate. one or more important factors. Districts with 165 instructional days or more
027or those committed to moving to 165 days are prioritized. And I'm going to talk a bit more about that on the next slide. So why does 165 instructional days matter? The Blue Bonnet learning scope and sequence is built on a 165day calendar. Districts with more than 165 days are prioritized because that extra time ensures full implementation in alignment with the curriculum. If your district is committing to moving towards 165day um calendar or is already implementing that in your district in the 2627 school year, you are prioritized. This is all about giving teachers and students the time that they need to fully internalize and deliver highquality instruction. Like we mentioned before, approved providers are big part of this process. So our approved providers include our education service centers and selected v vendors that have been fully
028vetted. The full list will be posted on Alaska website and districts will choose from the list when contracting for services. We want to ensure that the stand that all supports meet the TA standards for quality and alignment. So like I've mentioned before, they've gone through a very a good vetting process. If your district is awarded Lyft and you contract with an approved provider, you have to include specific language required by the state of law and TA guidelines. These provisions ensure compliance with state and federal regulations. Take a look at this slide a moment just to kind of read it over and you can also um get this whenever you start more of that contracting um support process. We can we can make sure that you have this Now that we've had a really deep overview
029of Lyft, we're going to talk about that second grant opportunity that we mentioned earlier, the Lyft add-on school improvement PLC support. This is an optional one-year grant designated for campuses and school improvement. So, I'm going to turn it over to Laura that's going to give us a more in-depth look on what this grant is. Wonderful. Thanks, Amanda. So, thinking about uh the Lyft add-on, the school improvement PLC support, um this is an optional one-year grant design for campuses in school improvement that are already participating in Lyft. It provides additional resources for PLC facilitation, but also observation and coaching cycles to strengthen instructional practices and really accelerate improvement at those schools. the Lyft add-on school improvement PLC um is really focused on supporting those campuses that are school improvement within a district and are needing that
030additional acceleration. To be specific for how this add-on works in comparison with the overall grant is that a district will apply for this grant for a select number of schools. Let's imagine a district decides to apply for eight elementaryaries at their district to participate in Lyft overall and that two of those elementaryaries are in school improvement status. They would then apply for the second grant if interested, the Lyft add-on SIPC for those two specific campuses that are a part of the larger Lyft application but are in school improvement and want to access these additional supports to accelerate student learning and teacher and leader support. to overlap this with a couple of the slides we looked at earlier. The SIPC add-on would not be a part of the planning year because a district or a campus
031would have to be in implementation mode to apply to that part of the grant. But within initial implementation, you can see here um that there are really two areas that they would get additional supports and more frequent supports to accelerate progress. um and that is the additional coaching and observation cycles as well as additional PLC's um to just support a stronger implementation of HQIM from the start. Moving to deeper implementation, the SI SILC add-on continues to provide targeted support. So, if a district is already in deeper implementation for that one year of the grant, um it would include sustaining and refining PLC structures. It would include um also strengthening and refining the observation and feedback cycles. Um and again, the goal for districts that would use this one-year grant uh at the deeper implementation stages
032to get to sustainability as much as possible. Let's go back to a couple of our pathway examples. I'm not going to share example pathway one from before because that was a planning example, but to go back to our example pathway 2, our school system that wants to start implementing Bluebond at learning K5 math. Now, let's imagine that district has three campuses in school improvement. Again, they would have a district application for Lyft where they would apply for a select number of schools, let's say eight or 10, but they would also then apply for this Lyft PLC add-on for just those three campuses in school improvement. So, the school improvement campuses would still get the same supports that all the schools that are a part of the Lyft programming and grant in that district are. They
033would just have these additional supports as well. Let's use one more example from pathway 3. Um again in this example, the district is already implementing HQIM and has um two campuses in school improvement. The PLC add-on would then provide those extra supports for just those two schools. Um but again, those two schools would still receive the overall lift programming focusing on assessment alignment and performance management and so forth. they would just get these extra touch points and supports around PLC's, observation, feedback, and really making sure that the leaders and teachers have strong coaching practices at the campus. All right, that uh concludes this part. I'm going to pass it back to Amanda to talk a little bit more about eligibility for this grant. Yes, thanks, Laura. So, this grant has a little different eligibility criteria.
034As we mentioned before, it is a grant for for campus specific schools and school improvements. So, you're going to notice the yellow arrow kind of at the top. Kind of use some caution as you're thinking about this grant. To qualify for the Lyft add-on, a campus must be identified for school improvement under federal accountability. That's CSI, ATS, or TSI and be part of a district that has been awarded the lift grant. So, you're kind of like the whole district has the GOP grant and then those specific campuses that are in school improvement can um be can qualify for the add-on. This ensures that the add-on builds the foundation established through Lyft and provides targeted support where it's needed most. So, looking at scoring, applications for the SIPC add-on will be prioritized based on federal accountability
035designations. Campuses identified as comprehensive support improvement CSI will receive the highest priority, followed by ATS and then TSI. This ensures that resources are directed to campuses with the greatest need. Here's again a flag at our um approved providers. They are also education service centers and um other um outside vendors. However, I will note that they are the same as Lyft because districts who choose from you must choose from this list. You must have the same exact approved provider for both Lyft and this add-on grant. So, I'm going to flag that again and stamp it over and over again. The Lyft add-on PLC court grant must have the same approved provider for Lyft. This really ensures consistency and alignment across the program components. Again, going to just um take a look at this slide. Any of
036the um approved provider contracts that you put together has to have this particular language. It is a state law and TA guidelines. So, as you consider applying for Lyft or the Lyft add-on grant, let's start by reviewing the pro start by reviewing the program guidelines and aligning your internal team. really think about your instructional priority priorities and confir and confirm leadership commitment to begin the planning for provider selection. Taking these steps now will ensure a smooth application process and successful implementation. So now that we've looked at both grants, let's kind of think about this what's going on with Lasso. So taking a look at this lasso timeline, we're right here in the October realm where applications are open. I want to note that applications are going to open on December 3rd at 5:00 p.m. Key
037date to remember because you want to make sure your application's in before then. After applications close, then it's going to move to scoring and interviews. Those will run through January and awards are anticipated on February 2nd. Again, I'm going to stamp it over and over again. December 3rd at 5:00 p.m., your application must be in. Um, TA did email a unique link to superintendent on October the 3rd. If your district needs a new link, they can you can go to the lasso website and go to the request form and request a new um application link through the Qualric form. If you need to request a new application link, please find that request in the last website. Like I mentioned before, I do want to note that superintendent must um sign our applications before they're submitted.
038If you have any questions, we encourage you to attend our office hours for one-on-one support. Um, updated frequently asked questions from the questions that were asked today in the webinar um will be posted on the Lasso website in November. You can also email [email protected] texas.gov for application requ related questions, but if you have some specific program related questions, please email us at tea.t texas.gov. A quick note that LASO is operating is a competitive grant process. So change requests and declines are not typical and will only be considered on a case- by case basis. Here's another quick overview of the timeline. As I mentioned prior, we're in the application windows. So go and apply if this um you feel like these grants fit your needs. Um, next steps is to visit the LASO4 website. Familiarize yourself
039with this grant and all the other um, grant applica grant opportunities that we have um, underneath the LASO umbrella. Um, register for any upcoming webinars that you feel are necessary. We do have this one running again um, in October towards the end. We have lots of resources available on the lasso website that includes initiative webpagers, eligibility and prioritization guides, initiative selection tools, and roles and responsibility insight tools. So all of those can be found on the lasso website. Again, I'm going to stamp our email as well as the lasso email. You can email us if you have any programmatic related questions, lift.ex.gov. And if you have some application related questions, lasso tea.ex.gov. We are always always here to help. So, I'm going to put this closing on here with our email. Um, thank you so
040much for joining us today. We're so glad um to kick off this grant with you and hopefully see you in this next um awarding process.