Cohort Program

Ready to enact systemic change in your district? Enroll your team today.

We are accepting applications for schools and districts to participate in Cohort 6 Fall and Spring semesters of the 2023-24 school year. 

Our Cohort Program trains leadership teams to become change agents for equity-focused instructional practices at every level of the school system.

The program provides a collaborative and interactive space for school and district leaders to work on a problem of practice they identify related to equitable instructional practice.

Choose from two pathway options:

  • Option A: Observing for GLEAM™ Instructional Practices focuses on a deep understanding of GLEAM in order to shift mindsets and instructional practices
  • Option B: Galvanizing for GLEAM™ focuses on operationalizing GLEAM practices in your system.

Each four-month learning experience is for leaders within the central office and the school building who are focused on creating a culture where students, especially students of color, experience equitable ELA and mathematics instruction daily.

Who Should Attend the Cohort Program

Both Cohort pathway options are suitable for district-level system leaders (such as chief academic officers, executive-level district leaders, directors, etc.) and school-based instructional leaders (such as principals, assistant principals, instructional coaches, etc.) The ideal team consists of a range of instructional leaders who can work collaboratively on a problem of practice at various levels of the system. Our Client Engagement team will collaborate with program drivers to identify a problem of practice and the stakeholders who should be involved.

What to Expect in the Cohort Program

Participants will spend 20 hours learning with the goal of developing, implementing, and then assessing strategies for change. They will investigate the historical roots and legacies that influence present-day inequity in order to identify and articulate their duty to disrupt systemic bias and racism in their role. Participants will be empowered at the end of the Cohort Program to act more intentionally toward equitable and anti-racist practices that strengthen learning conditions for faculty, staff, and students.

Program Components:
Virtual Learning Experience, Cross-Pollination, Asynchronous Learning

  Cohort is:

  • a collaborative space for a district/network team to work on a problem of practice related to equitable instructional practice.
  • an interactive, four-month experience that includes virtual sessions, cross-pollination time with your district Cohort team, and asynchronous learning.

   Cohort is not: 

  • an individual learning experience.
  • a “sit and get” professional development space.
GLEAM Inventory

Learning Walks

Cohort districts can have an UnboundEd team conduct a Learning Walk, a three or four-day process that includes:

  • professional learning focused on deepening GLEAM™ knowledge.
  • data collection around your problem of practice by observing ELA and math classrooms using our Equitable Instruction Observation Tool.
  • a "Lesson Reconstruction Protocol" to understand GLEAM instructional and mindset shifts.
  • action planning, grounded in the data from the learning walk.
  • a follow-up report sharing the data, trends, and recommendations from the visit.
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This program is not just professional development, it is a lifestyle change.


District Leader
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Ever since I've been with UnboundEd, I have become such a learner...I do everything differently now because I realized it's about involving everyone, every stakeholder, in making change. The learning has been incredible."

District Leader
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The cohort year has provided ample learning space and tools to drive our high-leverage actions forward.


School Leader

Coast-to-Coast

UnboundEd's Cohort Program has served nearly 400 leaders from school districts in California, Connecticut, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Virginia, and Washington.
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