Building & Sustaining Teacher and Student Digital Proficiency
How Boardworks helped a district build and sustain teacher and student proficiency during remote learning and the transition back to the classroom
Case Study Background
The Aztec Municipal School District (AMSD) is a part of a rural community in in the northwest corner of New Mexico in the beautiful San Juan River Basin. It is located in the “Four Corners Area” where New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona meet. AMSD serves students in preschool through grade 12. The district has a diverse student population of approximately 63% Anglo students, 22% Hispanic students, and 13% Native American students.
Kevin Summers, Superintendent
Kevin Summers, the superintendent of Aztec Municipal School District, leads a family-oriented district that is grounded in professional learning communities where everyone may have a different job title but all have the same goal – to improve learning for all students. He states, “Our students come to us with different skills and backgrounds but they are full of energy, dreams, and potential. They are our most important stakeholders, and we take our mission seriously to ensure all students develop a strong educational foundation.”
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The Challenge
Aztec Municipal School District needed a virtual learning process for all students, with technology and new teacher and student digital skills that would also work with the transition back to in-person learning.
“With the COVID-19 pandemic, we were forced to do something never imaginable – build and implement virtual learning processes for all students. In doing so, schools became places of learning, but also purveyors of technology and, in some instances, even internet service providers. Teachers and administrators found themselves truly building the proverbial plane while attempting to fly it.”
“While infrastructure continues to remain an obstacle in rural Northwest New Mexico – home to the Navajo Nation, a sovereign country within the Four Corners region of the United States – schools faced an even greater challenge: exercising the digital muscles of our teachers and students as we transitioned back into in-person instruction not to lose the skills learned and be able to integrate these skills into the traditional classroom environment.”
— Kevin Summers, Superintendent
The Solution
Using Boardworks, the district created a library of standards-aligned instructional materials – combined with curriculum documents and teacher-refined interim assessments infrastructure – that give teachers and students alike practice to exercise their digital muscles while experiencing in-person learning.
“Educators face many obstacles as we work together each day to ensure that we meet the basic needs of our students. The district works to provide teachers, in all content areas, with timesaving lessons, resources, and tools to increase time spent working to address student needs.”
“The district now has the means to incorporate Boardworks materials into their curriculum documents and provide teachers with easily accessible materials anywhere the internet is available. Teachers and students can hone their 21st century skills, and the district can easily transition from one format of instruction to another without any lost time or materials.“
— Lauren Laws, Associate Superintendent of Teaching and Learning
“The district now has the means to incorporate Boardworks materials into their curriculum documents and provide teachers with easily accessible materials anywhere the internet is available.”
“Teachers and students can hone their 21st century skills, and the district can easily transition from one format of instruction to another without any lost time or materials.”
Lauren Laws, Associate Superintendent of Teaching and Learning
Implementation
Boardworks team members trained teachers to ensure implementation success and effective use
Boardworks provided teachers with valuable training to ensure implementation success and ongoing, effective ease of use. Boardworks team members offered demonstrations, tools, and step-by-step guidance through various lessons while answering questions across content areas and grade levels.
Students look forward to engaging with Boardworks interactive lessons
“When teachers are searching for an engaging way to introduce a concept or intervene with a concept, I often refer them to Boardworks as a resource to engage students in lessons in an interactive manner. Students at all levels look forward to navigating the interactive lessons teachers assign in Boardworks.”
New teachers have embraced Boardworks to enhance instruction
“Our new classroom teachers have embraced this resource and are working to implement lessons and utilize available program tools to expand learning and enhance instruction.”
The Results
With Boardworks, teachers and students can access relevant and meaningful lessons in an individualized and engaging format.
Boardworks has proven to be an effective resource when designing intervention strategies, expanding thinking, and providing opportunities for additional practice.
“Boardworks enhances and supplements lessons in ways that allow students to utilize interactive features, captivating visuals, and standards-aligned tasks to increase understanding and advance learning.”
“Using Boardworks as a closing feature to various lessons has provided my students with a variety of enjoyable activities that provide a strong closing for the lesson.
When presented to the students, they were very excited to be part of the lesson rather than just listening to a lecture. They were really invested in the activities Boardworks has to offer. Boardworks gives my students a different kind of excitement when it comes to learning, and this is a tool that I will continue to utilize.”
— Jessica Martinez, 5th grade teacher, Park Avenue Elementary School