Frequently Asked Questions

Our partnered districts provide paraprofessionals, known as Classroom Coaches, who work hand-in-hand with our LIVE teachers to offer on-the-ground support. Many of our partner districts use paraprofessionals, long-term substitutes, international teachers, or other staff members to serve as classroom coaches.

Yes! LIVE classes are full of in-flight checks for understanding, as well as benchmark graded assessments to make sure students stay on track with their peers. In one district, students who took 10th-grade Biology in an Elevate LIVE classroom achieved the same outcomes as students in a traditional in-person classroom taught by one of the district’s best teachers.

Our teachers get to know your students’ academic and social-emotional needs through both a relationship-centric, data-driven approach. LIVE teachers will regularly use QZs (ie, formative assessments) to capture real-time data about students’ mastery and comprehension of class topics. We coach LIVE Teachers and train Classroom Coaches to use these insights to make on-the-fly changes to the pace of instruction and identify students needing more targeted support or greater enrichment opportunities to be challenged.

We know that in any given general education classroom, there are likely students with disabilities who have an IEP or 504 plan participating in an inclusive setting. While our LIVE Teachers don’t formally get involved in administering or monitoring IEPs/504s, we take several steps to make each LIVE class accessible to diverse student needs:

• use assessment data and checks for understanding to differentiate instruction;
• incorporate accessibility features into the Elevate LIVE Classroom to provide a supportive and cohesive digital experience;
• leverage inclusive and SEL-centric strategies to foster a safe and respectful learning environment, and more.

Your staff can work with the Classroom Coach and LIVE Teacher to capture the data you need to inform your students’ IEPs and 504s.

Elevate’s LIVE curriculum is written and designed by our in-house Academic Team to align with state and national standards. In fact, we take this so seriously that we partner with an independent third- party organization to audit each LIVE course for alignment, and we work directly with your Local Education Agency to review and approve our entire curriculum (where available).

Yes! LIVE Teachers use standards-aligned benchmark assessments throughout the semester to check for comprehension and make sure learning stays on pace.

Elevate LIVE classes are built using research-backed, industry-leading instructional strategies — and we bring that approach to every aspect of the LIVE class experience.

• Our curricula and lesson plans incorporate features of Universal Design for Learning, Understanding by Design, Bloom’s Cognitive Domains of Learning, and the CASEL Framework for Social Emotional Learning.
• Our LIVE Teachers are trained to leverage instructional strategies like Gradual Release of Responsibility and Visible Learning.
• Our Instructional Coaches follow the Danielson Framework for Remote Teaching during formal LIVE Teacher evaluations (which occur at least 1x per semester).
• Finally, we use best practices from the Technology Integration Matrix to connect each of these pieces into a seamless, hybrid, and synchronous LIVE learning experience.

We measure grade-level mastery and comprehension through regular checks for understanding and end-of-unit assessments. Our summative unit tests and benchmark assessments assess growth to ensure pacing matches students’ needs.

Nope – we’ve designed all our curricula with flexibility in mind! The Elevate team works directly with you to fit the pacing and sequences unique to your school or district. Units from any of our 100+ LIVE classes can be rearranged, added, excluded, or even combined to make a whole new class.

Yes! You may work with your Customer Success Manager at any point in the semester to adjust the pacing of a LIVE class. Your LIVE Teacher will also regularly monitor students’ comprehension and may even suggest certain pacing adjustments to better reflect students’ progress.

With thousands of teachers in the Elevate LIVE network, we’re fortunate to work with people from all different backgrounds and all corners of the country. For most of our teachers, LIVE teaching gives them the flexibility they need to continue pursuing their passion for teaching and shaping the lives of students — even if they can’t work full time or commute day-to-day.

Elevate breaks down zip code barriers to bring teachers from across the US into the classrooms that need them most.

Now, with LIVE teaching, we can find the best math teacher for your students without needing them to be within commuting distance of your district or school.

Elevate is highly selective in selecting and placing our teachers: every LIVE Teacher has been vetted through multiple behavioral and role-related interviews, including a “mock class” interview. We also vet our teachers upon placement into a classroom to make sure they fully meet your district’s needs and are ready to excel in LIVE teaching on day one.

Our teacher onboarding and training programs transform amazing teachers into amazing LIVE Teachers. Upon joining the Elevate LIVE network, teachers learn techniques and best practices for LIVE instruction, and build fluency in culturally-responsive teaching practices. LIVE Teachers are also paired with a dedicated Elevate Instructional Coach, who shares near daily feedback and meets regularly to provide individualized training and professional development throughout the year.

Teachers are passionate folks who love kids. LIVE Teachers are just the same — and they’re experts at channeling their passion through a livestreaming format. We love hearing the stories of LIVE Teachers participating in school spirit weeks or tuning in online to watch their students’ sports games on the weekend. Some have made such meaningful connections that they’ve even worked with the district or school to coordinate a surprise in-person visit!

As the in-person link between your LIVE class and broader school community, the Classroom Coach is the go-to for all questions, concerns, and more. Students and parents may contact the Classroom Coach, who will help get the information, data, and answers from your LIVE Teacher and the Elevate team. In some cases, however, you may work with your LIVE Teacher to have them participate in back-to-school nights or parent-teacher conferences.

Nope – this is one of the benefits of working with Elevate! The Instructional Coach assigned to your LIVE Teacher will regularly observe class sessions and, at least once per semester, conduct formal evaluations using the Danielson Framework (with additional criteria for student engagement, classroom procedures, and behavior management in a livestream learning context).

Your LIVE Teachers are welcome to participate in your school or district’s professional development program. In fact, if you are using you’re integrating your district-licensed curriculum, it’s recommended.

Otherwise, we do provide LIVE Teachers with regular coaching and professional development. All LIVE Teachers work with their dedicated Elevate Instructional Coach to design individualized “Personal Learning Pathways” for ongoing training and professional development throughout the school year. This allows district personnel and principals to focus on their in-person staff.

Most LIVE Teachers lead four classes per semester. While it’s not uncommon for one LIVE Teacher to teach multiple classes in the same school, the beauty of LIVE teaching is the ability to connect with students wherever they are, in any district, no travel required.

Your Classroom Coach and LIVE Teacher will meet regularly during the semester to review plans, surface student concerns, and calibrate the pace of learning. The Classroom Coach also serves as a point of contact for parents and other building staff, connecting the LIVE classroom and teacher with your school or district’s broader community.

Classroom Coaches are engaging, energetic, and passionate individuals who — above all — love to work with kids. While not required, it’s the perfect role for anyone interested in or actively working towards becoming a teacher. Student teachers, for example, often use the Classroom Coach role to fulfill their field experience requirements. International teachers can similarly use the role to get acclimated to teaching in your school or district.

The Classroom Coach is an in-person paraprofessional from your school or district. If you don’t have a paraprofessional who can fill this role, we can provide a job description to help you hire the right person.

From there, Elevate will provide all the training and support to make the most of the collaboration between the Coach and the LIVE Teacher – including on-demand guides and trainings through our Classroom Coach University, and a dedicated Elevate K-12 Program Coordinator, who provides virtual and in-person support and training throughout the program.

We’ve partnered with Otus to create a grading and assessments platform that integrates seamlessly with the LIVE learning experience. Students use Otus to complete graded assessments, and the LIVE Teacher gains immediate insight into progress and comprehension. Otus is easily accessible through the Elevate LIVE Classroom and doesn’t require a separate login.

All we ask from you is to provide at least one large TV, a reliable wifi connection to the classroom, and a laptop (or tablet / desktop) for each student. Elevate provides everything else you’ll need: speakers, cameras, microphones, etc.

The options are limitless when it comes to designing a classroom for LIVE teaching, and our Customer Success team will work with you to find the best layout for your school and space to create the ideal LIVE learning environment.

Students will use an Elevate K-12 login to access the Elevate LIVE Classroom and Otus. Classroom Coaches are trained to help students login at the start of every class. We’ve also begun piloting an SSO integration that allows students to use their district or school login to access Elevate systems, and we look forward to sharing this with all districts soon. Stay tuned!

The Elevate LIVE Classroom offers optional recording for class sessions and, in certain circumstances, we can also enable remote student access. Both features are OFF by default and must be enabled before your program begins. Please work with your Partnerships Manager or Regional Operations Manager to learn more.

Yes – and it’s 24/7! Our live customer support team is available to you, your LIVE Teacher, and Classroom Coach via email and chat whenever you need them. That’s right: real people, trained experts, on-demand.

The LIVE Teacher, Classroom Coach, and Program Coordinator are also trained to troubleshoot common tech issues.

After working with our Partnerships Team to define your partnership with us and identify the LIVE courses you want, you’ll be assigned a dedicated Regional Operations Manager to coordinate onboarding and implementation with each school. We aim to complete all installations and preassessments as soon as possible, but the process typically takes at least two weeks from the date you sign the contract.

We have thousands of teachers in our LIVE Teacher network, and their schedules are filling up with each day! With at least two weeks of lead time, we’ll be able to make sure your LIVE class starts with a certified teacher on day one.

We’re always excited when districts are able to hire in-person teachers and will do our best to accommodate them! In these situations, please work directly with your Partnership Manager to discuss the best path forward.

Every district or school that works with Elevate benefits from an end-to-end, fully-supported partnership model. You’ll meet a lot of Elevate staff throughout your journey with us — but the three faces you’ll see most are your Partnerships Manager, Regional Operations Manager, and Program Coordinator.

• The Partnerships Manager is your first point of contact on the Elevate K-12 team. They work with your district or school leaders to scope the partnership and finalize contract details. They’ll also be in touch throughout the year to help with any mid-semester needs and to start planning for upcoming school years.
• The Regional Operations Manager (“ROM”) will be your main point of contact once your contract is signed and implementation kicks off. They work with your district and school leaders to make onboarding as seamless as possible. They’ll also meet with points of contact at each school prior to day one to review important details like grading, pacing, class expectations, and more.
• The Program Coordinator is the daily point of contact for your Classroom Coach. They help with things like roster changes, schedule changes, tech troubleshooting, and more. Most Program Coordinators are based locally near your district or school!

At this time we offer Special Ed LIVE for ELA & Math for grades 3-12. You can view the full list of available courses here.

1. Traditional Resource Pull Out – supplemental instruction to meet individualized needs of students enhancing skills and confidence to bring back to their core/inclusion classroom.
2. Core Instruction – taught by a certified special education teacher, Elevate can serve students in self-contained classrooms, alternate schools, and transitional learning centers.
3. Alleviate Caseloads – free up on-site special education teachers to focus on case management, 1:1 intervention with students, and parent meetings.

Elevate’s core general education content is adapted by Special Education Subject Matter Experts. These experienced Special Educators review each unit, lesson by lesson and reduce text on each page, remove ambiguity, add more checks-for-understanding, increase brain breaks within instruction, and ensure emphasis on major standard clusters at each grade level. Additionally, students are provided guided notes and visual reinforcement of key vocabulary.

Elevate’s Portal and Otus work platforms offer built in accommodations to support student learning and ensure accommodations are being met. The online tools provide accommodations such as built in extended time, alteration of text sizes text to speech support and recorded lessons. Students can also utilize the live instructor and Classroom Coach for additional support as needed.

Ahead of programming, an inclusive Learning Coordinator will collect students’ needs for each program roster. This Elevate team member empowers the teaching team with the details teachers need to tailor instruction for each student from day 1, including accommodations, modifications, behavior intervention plans, paraprofessional support, and physical needs.

Elevate’s Inclusive Learning Coordinator’s primary role is to ensure the success of each student in our Special Ed LIVE Teaching Classrooms. In addition to virtual observations of teaching and learning, the Inclusive Learning Coordinator will review and share data with on-site school leaders 2X per month. Data includes formative and summative assessments, attendance, participation, and engagement information. Through increased collaboration and regularly scheduled meetings, students’ progress will be monitored throughout.

Elevate’s certified Special Education teachers provide high quality, live instruction that meets the instructional needs of each student. This includes collaborating with on-site students support team, providing anecdotal notes and evidence of progress, or attending IEP meetings, as needed. Our Inclusive Learning Coordinator and learning management systems provide data including student attendance, student engagement, student participation, formative, and summative assessments scores that can be used by your district-employed case manager to update student’s progress regularly.

Along with Elevate’s Inclusive Learning Coordinator, Elevate’s special education teacher can attend IEP meetings. Elevate’s teacher or Inclusive Learning Coordinator can report on student data collected throughout classroom programming.

Like a traditional paraprofessional or teacher’s assistant, the Classroom Coach will be responsible for ensuring students log-in to class on time. In a Special Ed LIVE Teaching Classroom, they are also responsible for coordinating any physical accommodation needed. Additionally, they will print any guided notes and prepare learning materials in advance of a class period. During class, Classroom Coaches may need to redirect student behavior, model engagement, and generally nurture a positive classroom community. Classroom Coaches meet at least 1x per week with the Elevate Special Education teacher to review student needs and plan for instructional support.