We know that building a thriving business as an entrepreneur takes time, dedication, and a passion for success. In response to your feedback, the Outschool team has focused on innovating new ways to showcase educators and organizations who have demonstrated this dedication to the Outschool community.
With this goal in mind, we’re excited to introduce you to brand-new educator profile badges. In late summer 2023, we’ll launch an experiment where educators and organizations that meet certain class quality and enrollment criteria will be awarded public badges that families will see when viewing classes and educator profiles.
These badges are a recognition of your hard work and a marker of success that new and up-and-coming educators can strive toward. Of course, leading a fantastic class and supporting your learners is the best marker of success for any educator.
Any badge you may earn is an extra boost to your business’s appearance on Outschool and a way to stand out to our community.
What are the badges, and how do educators earn them?
Educators and organizations can earn badges as soon as they meet certain criteria, and badges will be automatically removed from profiles if criteria is no longer met. Because some of the requirements for these badges could naturally shift for your business over time (like number of bookings or enrollments received), you may see a badge added or removed more than once — and that’s expected! Badges will be added or removed from profiles on a monthly cadence.
When this experiment launches, we will be awarding two types of badges:
Star Educator
Star Educator will be the new name for what has previously been known as Featured Educator.
Criteria for independent educators:
- Holds ACE Educator status, achieved by completing certain learning opportunities
- Has had ≥ 100 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 at least one section in the next 30 days
Criteria for organizations:
- The organization administrator holds ACE Educator status, achieved by completing certain 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 Educator
The Rising Star Educator badge will be granted in a manner similar to that of the Star Educator Badge. However, there are distinct thresholds for each. Rising Star Educators showcase the robust potential for growth and are actively making significant progress to potentially become a Star Educator on Outschool. We view this particular cohort of educators as highly likely to sustain their excellence and eventually attain the status of a Star Educator.
- 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
The Popular Educator badge will be awarded to educators and organizations who 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 at the same time!
New on Outschool
This badge is not new, but we made updates to the badge and set more defined clear criteria for the badge. New educators joining Outschool will be awarded this badge to indicate their status on the platform to potential families. The criteria for receiving the “New on Outschool” badge are as follows:
- You are eligible to teach on Outschool
- Has received fewer than 5-star ratings
- Has received your first enrollment in the last 3 months
- Has taught fewer than 10 group class sections or fewer than 15 one-time/1-on-1 sections
It’s important to note that as soon as one of the above criteria is met, the “New on Outschool” badge will be removed. As you navigate your way through Outschool and work towards earning your next badge, read more at the bottom of this blog on what you can do to earn the next badge.
How will the experiment testing these badges work?
As we describe in this article about platform updates happening this year, the Outschool team prioritizes testing many new features ahead of a full launch to ensure they accomplish our shared goal of enhancing the Outschool experience. Educators will see badges appear on their profiles (if they are eligible). At or around the same time, a portion of parent accounts will be able to see profile badges as they search for and enroll in classes.
Because we are initially testing these badges as an experiment, you might notice badges appearing in search results or other sections of the platform.
After a period of performance analysis and feedback, the portion of parents who can see educator profile badges may be adjusted and based on the results, we will determine whether badges should be displayed in specific areas of the platform or not. Keep your eyes on your inbox and the Educator Library for updates on the status of educator badges as we approach Fall 2023!
What should educators do to prepare?
Keep up the great work! If you meet the criteria above, earning an educator badge will be a feather in your cap and an additional promotional tool for your business.
If you think you’re close to meeting these criteria but not quite there yet, use the next few weeks to boost your metrics!
- Start by becoming an ACE Educator if you haven’t yet—this is the first step toward the Star Educator badge and the Rising Star Educator badge.
- If any of your other metrics are lower than you’d like, try asking your current families to leave a review or schedule additional sections if you have the bandwidth and want to boost your enrollment numbers.
If you have any questions about this update or any other platform changes, make sure to register for the following live Q&As with the Outschool team:
As always, our support team is also here to help and can be reached at support@outschool.com. Happy teaching!
