At Outschool, our goal is to assist you in maximizing your potential so you can grow your online teaching business.
To do this, we recently introduced a series of educator badges that appear on educator or organization profiles and enhance their visibility across the platform. These badges serve as a way to spotlight educators and organizations who stand out in the eyes of our learner and parent community.
Understanding Outschool Badges
Educators and organizations can earn these badges by meeting specific criteria. Since the requirements for these badges may naturally evolve (e.g., the number of bookings or enrollments), it’s not unusual for educators or organizations to see badges added or removed periodically. As a result, if the criteria are no longer met, badges are removed automatically.
There are four primary types of badges you can earn:
How to earn a badge
Below are some suggestions on how to earn your first badge, keep a badge you’ve already earned, and how to earn the next one.
Get ACE qualified
If you are not yet ACE qualified, you can complete the ACE teaching framework by selecting professional learning opportunities from the three required pillars: agency, community, and expertise.
If you have previously completed professional learning elsewhere that aligns with the ACE program, you may submit it as evidence instead of doing something new. Scroll down to ACE Educator Learning Opportunities and select a pillar to complete or submit evidence for.
Take advantage of Outschool’s professional development programs
Participate in our numerous (free!) professional development opportunities designed for educators and organizations. These offerings include business coaching sessions where you can gain insights into Outschool from other experienced educators on the platform and receive guidance from our dedicated professional development specialist. Learn how to enhance your star rating and boost your business!
Improve your communication with families
Consider using an AI (Artificial Intelligence) tool to be able to copy and paste pre-written responses quickly. Communicate with families regarding their learners’ progress and in-class experience. For example, Feedback Fruits helps you generate feedback based on the criteria you create. Just remember to do your research on any AI tools you use.
Optimize your class listings
When new families look for classes, they also want to know more about the educator or organization teaching that class. Engage with families by including a profile video and creating compelling and clear class descriptions. Also, ensure that your profile photo is professional and meets our guidelines.
Your class’s availability is also important to families. We recommend offering a range of times and days of the week without opening too many empty sections at once, since that can be overwhelming for parents. You can review data regularly on your dashboard to help you determine what classes, times, and days of the week are selling fastest so you can open more sections for popular times
Improve experiences for learners
We suggest regularly asking for feedback to help improve the learner experience in your classrooms. Doing so can increase your chances of receiving positive reviews. We encourage you to proactively ask parents or guardians if there are any specific learning needs you should know about when a new learner enrolls in your class.
Sometimes, parents or guardians do not proactively communicate their learners’ needs or unique interests, but knowing this information ahead of class can ensure that the new learner feels engaged and supported from day one.
Unsure how to ask? Here is an excellent article about the best practices when requesting feedback!
Learn from current badge recipients
One of the best ways to gain knowledge is to learn from those who’ve succeeded before you. To do this, we suggest joining the Educator or Organization Facebook community groups to discover how fellow educators and organizations enhance their businesses to earn a badge.
Adhere and stay up-to-date on Outschool policies
Ensure that you follow Outschool’s content policies, enrollment management policies, and all Trust and Safety requirements. We send the policy newsletter bi-monthly, featuring crucial policy updates and reminders.
Want to know more? Find out additional detailed criteria for earning a seller badge.
Exploring opportunities as an ACE educator
Did you notice that being an ACE educator is the first suggestion for earning an educator badge?
That’s because, even if you don’t meet all the criteria for one of the badges mentioned above, you can still shine as an ACE Educator. Educators who have completed the ACE learning program are easily identifiable by their ACE profile frames. They possess knowledge and expertise in creating empowering and inclusive online classes, making them valuable contributors to the Outschool community.
You can read more about the ACE framework on the Educator Library!
Resources to help
As you navigate your journey on Outschool and work towards earning a badge, explore the many resources available to enhance your teaching and engage with the Outschool community. For more details on earning your first or next badge, refer to the resources available on our platform.
Thank you for being an integral part of the Outschool community, and we look forward to celebrating your achievements as an educator!
FAQ
Do you have a question about educator badges? We’ve got an answer. Keep reading for additional information regarding the educator badges.
How can I earn a seller badge?
Star Educator
Criteria for independent educators:
- Holds ACE Educator status, achieved by completing learning opportunities
- Has had ≥ 100 enrollments or ≥ 250 enrollment payments in the last 6 months
- Has a star rating of at least 4.95 when measured over the past 6 months
- Responds to at least 65% of the messages received within 24 hrs
- Is currently in good standing in regards to Outschool policy compliance
- Is offering at least one section in the next 30 days
Criteria for organizations:
- The organization administrator holds ACE Educator status, achieved by completing learning opportunities
- Has had ≥ 250 enrollments in the last 6 months
- Has a star rating of at least 4.95 when measured over the past 6 months
- Responds to at least 65% of the messages received within 24 hrs
- Is currently in good standing in regards to Outschool policy compliance
- Is offering 3 or more sections in the next 30 days
Rising Star
- Holds ACE Educator status, achieved by completing certain learning opportunities
- Has had >= 60 enrollments or >= 175 enrollment payments in the last 6 months
- Star rating of at least 4.9 when measured in the last 6 months
- Responds to at least 50% of the messages received within 24 hrs
- Is currently in good standing in regards to Outschool policy compliance
- Is offering at least one section in the next 30 days
Popular Educator
Educators and organizations are awarded the Popular Educator badge if they are in the Top 10% of sellers on Outschool. This 10% metric is based on the revenue generated by each educator or organization over the past 6 months.
Since these educators and organizations are some of the strongest contributors to the Outschool marketplace, this badge will recognize their role in engaging families with the platform and aligning their businesses with the needs of our global community.
If you qualify for both of the above badges, you may receive both simultaneously!
How are enrollments counted for badges? What about ongoing classes?
Let’s say you have had 60 unique enrollments, but you have received 400 enrollment payments in the last 6 months via your ongoing classes. That’s good news. Your learners keep returning!
Our badge requirements account for these types of re-enrollments because we know how important retention is, as well as to account for the typical ongoing class experience.
For Star educators, we require 100 unique enrollments or 250 enrollment payments. Rising Star educators are required to have 60 unique enrollments or 175 enrollment payments.
When do badges refresh?
Badges refresh on the 1st of each month, although some educators and organizations may not see the changes until the 2nd of each month. If after the 2nd of the month, you do not see a badge on your profile and believe you meet the criteria for a badge, please refer to the insights page to confirm that you’ve reached all of the requirements.
Does having a badge affect class rankings in search results?
Badge status does impact search ranking for some families, but the changes may be subtle. Badge status is balanced in the search ranking algorithm with a lot of other data, including:
- How often a class is clicked on and purchased.
- The retention rate for learners in a class.
- How relevant the class is to the family’s search query.
- Whether the family has engaged with the class or educator before.
- How many available spaces are in each listed section.
- When the next class starts.
- And dozens of other factors.
Where are badges located on the website?
Badges are currently located on the following parts of the website:
- Independent educator or organization profile pages
- Class details page
- Badges will appear in search results if you search an exact educator or organization name
How is the message response rate threshold calculated?
For message responses, we only account for parent inquiries (not learner/classroom communication or transfer requests). This metric only looks at your first response from a parent inquiry, so you don’t have to worry about always being the last to respond to a thread.
Our research shows that families who receive prompt communication from a first-time inquiry may be more likely to book a class on Outschool.
When is my profile being evaluated?
Our badges are designed to “refresh” every month and to only look at the last 6 months of data to get a more recent picture. If your ratings or enrollment numbers fluctuate, for example, you will be able to quickly re-qualify for a badge as older data “drops off” from our calculation.
How can I track my progress to know if I will qualify?
At this time, you can see most of the data you’ll need on your insights page. We hope to update the Insights page to provide greater clarity for educators and organizations soon. Stay tuned!
Can I earn more than one badge at a time? And will both badges appear on my profile?
An educator can be both a “Star Educator” and “Popular on Outschool” or an educator can be both a “Rising Star” and “Popular on Outschool.” No other badges will overlap in this way.
So, what are you waiting for? Start your path towards earning an educator badge to show off on your profile! For additional information on growing your online teaching business, check out the Educator Library.
