Out Teach’s multi-year signature professional learning program empowers teachers at Title I elementary schools in metro Atlanta to infuse science and STEM/STEAM learning into core subjects across the curriculum using the outdoors, leading to increased student engagement and improved academic outcomes. Our experienced Instructional Coaches provide job-embedded, one-on-one training sessions over two academic years, working side-by-side with individual teachers to model how to use the Outdoor Learning Lab for engaging and effective academic instruction. Our model is aligned to established education research and federal guidelines that states that effective professional development should be sustained, intensive, and job-embedded. By facilitating outdoor, experiential learning, our program fosters key 21st-century skills in students like critical thinking, collaboration, communication and creativity—putting students on the path for the dynamic STEAM/STEM careers of tomorrow.

Out Teach enters into a three-year partnership. In the first year, we design and build a state-of-the-art Outdoor Learning Lab containing at least 12 distinct learning tools to encourage hands-on learning and the development of 21st century skills, such as earth-science stations, small animal and bird habitats, weather stations, and more, for schools without existing spaces for outdoor learning. The space also includes a covered outdoor classroom with whiteboard and seating for 25 students. Each Outdoor Learning Lab is built through a dynamic, one-day event—the Big Dig—uniting students, teachers, parents, and community partners around the new outdoor space and building support for students’ academic success. Following the Big Dig, partner schools enter our signature two-year professional learning program to ensure the impact and sustainability of the Learning Lab and empower teachers to use the outdoors for academic instruction, infusing science and experiential learning into the core subjects of Math and ELA and leading to increased student engagement and improved academic outcomes.

Each teacher at our partner schools in Georgia receives access to our Online Coaching Center, which provides standards-aligned lesson plans, training videos, and an online community for teachers to share their experiences and receive feedback from Out Teach Instructional Coaches. The Coaching Center, developed in collaboration with Google Workbench, amplifies the impact of our Professional Learning program by extending teacher-to-teacher communication and collaboration beyond the time spent during in-person training sessions.