Substantial Launches SubSchool
Substantial, the leading organization focused on innovation in substitute teaching, has launched SubSchool, the first — and only — course and collaboration platform designed exclusively for substitute teachers. Students spend approximately a year of their K-12 education with substitute teachers (subs), and yet subs are rarely offered significant professional development or support in their roles.
SubSchool is a dynamic and modern competency-based professional development platform, aligned to the unique role that subs serve. The platform includes many ways to engage, including always-accessible content, like foundational self-paced courses and ready-to-use resources, and live, facilitated experiences and communities. SubSchool offers subs a place where they can engage with other subs and build skills and knowledge to thrive in their roles.
After a year of uncertainty, sub pools have been depleted to record lows as subs who didn’t want to teach during the pandemic sought other opportunities. SubSchool is being released at a critical time, as schools prepare for an influx of substitute teachers during the 2021-2022 school year.
SubSchool offers districts a way to quickly, efficiently, and effectively prepare substitute teachers with foundational knowledge and a common language around basic substitute functions, such as managing classrooms and facilitating instruction. Drawing on best practices from teacher PD, it also provides subs with opportunities to continue learning and growing throughout their subbing careers. This ongoing PD gives subs the chance to hone their teaching practice over time, making them more effective in the classroom and more likely to continue as educators.
In the words of Jennifer Kitchen, substitute teacher and SubSchool member, SubSchool “has helped me improve and critically think about my practice. I also really wish it had been available when I was starting out subbing — it would have eliminated a lot of self-doubt and helped me avoid a few pitfalls.”
Additionally, SubSchool offers a space where subs feel like they are a part of a community. In the words Kristina Weaver, another sub and SubSchool member, “It gives subs the opportunity to feel connected to other subs and not as isolated. It shows that the district values what subs do.”
To celebrate SubSchool’s launch and support substitute teachers, SubSchool is offering free back-to-school webinars. The webinars will provide an opportunity for subs to connect with peers, reflect on the key competencies that subs need to thrive, and set goals for the 2021-2022 school year. More information, and the registration link, are available here.
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About Substantial
Substantial is a nonprofit dedicated to unlocking the potential of substitute teaching. Substantial emerged from Co-Founder Jill Vialet’s fellowship at Stanford’s d.school and is an alum of AT&T’s Aspire Edtech Accelerator. Substantial utilizes human-centered design principles to develop tools and strategies that improve and transform substitute teaching systems. Co-Founders Amanda von Moos and Jill Vialet recently published Substantial Classrooms: Redesigning the Substitute Teaching Experience, which illuminates the problematic reality of the current legacy system for substitute teaching, and the possibilities for innovation and change.
To learn more and book a demo, visit: www.substantialclassrooms.org/subschool.