Built by Ellevation. Delivered by you.
This toolkit puts training in the hands of the people who know your district, your staff, and your multilingual learners best. With ready-to-use materials, you can lead Ellevation training that fits your existing meetings and PD days, customize what you need, and keep it for next time.
How to Use This Toolkit
Whether you're leading a 20-minute staff meeting or a full PD session, this toolkit has what you need. Start with the checklist, pick your slide deck, and use the tips and resources to support you along the way. Everything is editable or can be used as-is. You don't have to use everything, just use what's relevant and make it your own.
Looking for something specific? Press Command/Cmd-F (Mac) or Control/Ctrl-F (Windows) to quickly find resources by your topic or need.
💡 Quick Tip
Want an offline copy to make notes or customizations? Grab the full Lead Ellevation Training in Your District toolkit as a document: Copy in Google Docs | Download Word. It's the same content as this article, just yours to keep and edit.
What's included in this toolkit:
- Checklist to Prepare for a Training
- Training Resources by Topic
- Start with the "Why" Before the "How"
- Editable Parking Lot for Attendee Questions
- Additional Tips for Trainers
- Email Templates to Notify or Remind Staff of Upcoming Training
Checklist to Prepare for a Training
Before your session, run through this checklist. A little preparation goes a long way toward a smooth, successful training, for you and your attendees.
- Make sure attendees can log in and see their data. Get them into Ellevation at least 1–2 times before the session.
- You may need to work with your district's Ellevation Administrator to confirm all attendees were invited to log into Ellevation, or that they can access it via SSO (watch this video to learn more).
- See the troubleshooting tips below. If login issues happen during a training, there won't be much you can do in the moment, which is why it's so important to confirm access beforehand.
- Make sure your materials are ready to present and share. Are your slides updated? Do you need to print anything?
- Work with your district's Ellevation Administrator to confirm account permissions and school access are set correctly for everyone in the room, so each person can see who they should see and do what they need to do in Ellevation.
- As with login issues, if permissions and school access are not set up correctly in advance, there will not be much you can do during a session to help.
- Do a dry run of any workflows you plan to demo in Ellevation. Even one run-through on your own will build confidence.
- Prepare your parking lot document and have it ready to share on the day.
- Make sure the room setup supports the training you plan to deliver. Will you have access to a projector? Will attendees need to be seated a certain way?
💡 Quick Tip
If you plan to demo workflows or have attendees practice hands-on in Ellevation, set up Training School students ahead of time so everyone works with safe practice records instead of real student data. See Use "Training School" to Present and Practice Using Fake Student Datafor the steps. Only an Ellevation Administrator can activate Training School students in bulk, so coordinate early if that isn't you.
Troubleshooting Options if Attendees Cannot Log In
- Ask them to reset their password and follow the prompts (for non-SSO districts using an email and password to log into Ellevation).
- Reach out to the district's Ellevation Administrator to activate their account, resend the invite, and so on.
- Reach out to Ellevation's Help Desk to troubleshoot.
Training Resources by Topic
Each topic below includes the resources available to support your training: a slide deck, a user guide, and/or short videos. Availability varies by topic.
Make a copy of any slide deck or user guide and edit it for your district. Update terminology, and remove or update slides based on your focus area or available time. You can even combine decks if you're covering more than one topic in a session.
Short on time? Just use the videos. They're ready to share with colleagues or play in a meeting, with no prep required.
Prefer not to present? Use the user guide and videos on their own, or link to them in your training notification, reminder, or follow-up emails.
Exploring Student Data · 20–40 min
Gets staff familiar with Ellevation and how to access and review their student data through hands-on exploration of Student Profiles and the Student List.
Slide deck: Copy in Google Slides | Download PowerPoint
User guide: Copy in Google Docs | Download Word. Can also be printed. Works with both the Exploring Student Data and Instructional Strategies decks; remove any sections you won't use.
PDF: Exploring Student Data printable worksheet
Short videos: Exploring Student Data video pathway
Getting Started with Ellevation for EL Teams · 30–60 min
Gets your EL team familiar with Ellevation and the core ways they might use it in their role, including sections on analyzing data in the Student List, creating custom dashboards, generating Reports or Parent Letters, and more. More advanced training content than Exploring Student Data.
Slide deck: Copy in Google Slides | Download PowerPoint
Short videos: Getting Started with Ellevation video pathway
Instructional Strategies · 20–30 min
Gets staff familiar with Ellevation's Strategies resources, primarily the classroom activities that can be embedded into lessons to help students access content and build academic language.
Slide deck: Copy in Google Slides | Download PowerPoint
User guide: Copy in Google Docs | Download Word. Can also be printed. Works with both the Exploring Student Data and Instructional Strategies decks; remove any sections you won't use.
Short videos: Strategies Resources for Classroom Educators video pathway
Short videos: Lesson Planning with Ellevation Strategies Activities video pathway
Monitoring with Forms (Teachers) · 20–30 min
Helps teachers understand why and how to monitor multilingual learners using Ellevation's digital Forms tool, covering the full process of accessing assigned forms, completing them with quality input, submitting responses, and reviewing completed forms.
Slide deck: Copy in Google Slides | Download PowerPoint
Short videos: Documenting Student Decisions with Forms video pathway
Managing the Forms Cycle (EL Teams) · 30–40 min
Trains EL teams to manage Ellevation's Forms tool, covering the full Forms Cycle workflow including accessing cycles, managing contributor assignments, and notifying teachers to complete forms.
Slide deck: Copy in Google Slides | Download PowerPoint
Short videos: Documenting Student Decisions with Forms video pathway
Benchmark Assessments (Full) · 20–30 min
Empowers EL Administrators and Specialists to assign and manage Ellevation Benchmark Assessments, from setting up testing windows and assigning domains to adjusting student tiers. Also covers creating the ideal testing environment and supporting students on assessment day.
Slide deck: Copy in Google Slides | Download PowerPoint
Short videos: Benchmark Assessment video pathway
Benchmark Assessments (Condensed) · 20–30 min
Empowers EL Administrators and Specialists to assign and manage Ellevation Benchmark Assessments, from setting up testing windows and assigning domains to adjusting student tiers. Also covers testing environment best practices.
Slide deck: Copy in Google Slides | Download PowerPoint
Short videos: Benchmark Assessment video pathway
Initial Review LPAC (Texas only) · 30–40 min
Walks Texas LPAC teams through managing the entire Initial Review LPAC process in Ellevation, from assigning contributors to batch-signing and printing documentation, to help meet TEA requirements. For Texas districts only.
Slide deck: Copy in Google Slides | Download PowerPoint
User guide: Copy in Google Docs | Download Word. Can also be printed.
Short videos: Initial LPAC for Specialists video pathway
Short videos: Documenting Student Decisions with Forms video pathway
PLC Data Reflection Protocol · 20–30 min
A flexible PLC protocol that guides educators through a data reflection using their Ellevation dashboards, helping them spot trends, identify student needs, and plan targeted next steps through structured sentence frames.
Protocol: Copy in Google Docs | Download Word
Ellevation for Teachers
A broad introduction to Ellevation from a teacher's perspective: student data, forms, and instructional strategies all in one place. Great to share before a training so attendees arrive with some baseline familiarity, and useful afterward for self-paced review.
Short videos: Ellevation for Teachers video pathway
Building Community Through Student Information
Shows how to use reports and parent letters to share student information with families and colleagues. Most useful to share before a training with specialists or coordinators who typically manage family communication.
Short videos: Building Community Through Student Information video pathway
Lesson Planning with Ellevation Strategies Activities
Shows how to find and incorporate Strategies activities into lesson plans to build academic language. Most useful to share with teachers after a Strategies training, so they can apply activities to their own lesson planning.
Short videos: Lesson Planning with Ellevation Strategies Activities video pathway
Start with the "Why" Before the "How"
Before you open Ellevation, take two minutes to remind your audience why it matters. What does this platform help them do for their students? What problem does it solve in their day? When people understand the purpose, the steps are easier to remember.
Taking a little time at the start of your session to establish that connection makes everything that follows easier to absorb. You can use one of the openers below or adapt them to fit your district's current context and priorities.
| Training Audience | Sample Framing |
|---|---|
| Lead with the student. Best for audiences who are mission-driven but skeptical of new tools. | "Before we get onto the platform, I want to start with why we're here. Every one of us has students whose language development we're responsible for tracking and supporting, and a lot of the time that information lives in different places, or it's hard to get to quickly. What we're going to look at today is how Ellevation brings that picture together in one place, so you spend less time hunting for information and more time actually using it." |
| Lead with time. Best for audiences who are overwhelmed or resistant to adding anything new. | "I know we're all stretched right now, so I want to be upfront about what this is and what it isn't. This isn't another thing to learn on top of everything else, it's a tool meant to replace some of the manual work you're already doing. Today we're going to focus on the two or three things that will actually save you time, and we'll skip the rest for now." |
| Lead with ownership. Best for audiences where ELD buy-in is low or where teachers feel EL support is someone else's job. | "I know 'EL support training' can sound like someone else's job, and for a long time systems were set up that way. But the students in Ellevation aren't a separate caseload. They're your students, in your classroom, working toward the same goals you're already working toward. Today is really just about making sure you have the full picture for the kids you're already showing up for." |
Editable Parking Lot for Attendee Questions
You don't need to have every answer in the moment, and your staff won't expect you to. What matters is that every question gets a thoughtful response, even if it comes after the session.
We recommend using a Virtual Parking Lot to capture questions as they come up. It's a simple spreadsheet for you or your attendees to park questions until they can be answered. Revisit them after training with your District EL Administrator, or reach out directly to the Ellevation Help Desk at support@ellevationeducation.com. No question goes unanswered, it just might take a day or two.
Sample Language for When You Don't Know the Answer
Saying "I don't know, but I'll find out" is one of the most credible things you can do. It shows your staff that accuracy matters more than performance, and it models the kind of learning culture you're trying to build. Drop one of these into your session naturally and move on with confidence:
- "That's a great question. Let me make sure I get you the right answer rather than guessing. I'll add it to our parking lot and follow up with you directly."
- "I want to make sure I give you accurate information on that one. I'll add it to our parking lot and we'll get back to you."
- "I don't have that answer off the top of my head, and I'd rather look it up than steer you wrong. I'll add it to our parking lot and try to follow up before the end of the week."
- "That's one for the experts. I'll connect with our Ellevation contact and get you a real answer."
Additional Tips for Trainers
You were chosen to lead this training because you know your school, your colleagues, and your EL program. Your experience and deep context is your greatest asset, no outside trainer has it. These tips are here to help you use it well.
You Don't Need to Be an Ellevation Expert. You Need to Be a Guide.
Your job isn't to know everything about the platform, it's to help your colleagues take their first confident steps. Focus on the most important workflows for your team, and resist the urge to cover everything at once. A staff member who leaves knowing how to do three things well is better prepared than one who sat through ten things too quickly.
Use Your District's Language, Not Ours.
If your district calls something by a different name than what appears in Ellevation, say so out loud. "You'll see this called a 'form' in the platform; we usually call it the progress check." Small translations like this go a long way toward making the training feel relevant. You can also update the editable slide decks to match your district's language.
Slow Down, and Make It Hands-On as Early as Possible.
Most trainers move too fast because the material feels familiar to them. What takes you two seconds may take a colleague twenty. Get attendees clicking through Ellevation as soon as you can. Even a simple scavenger-hunt task ("Find a student in your class and open their profile") builds confidence faster than any slide can.
You're Not Alone in This.
Ellevation is here throughout the process: before your training, during it, and after. If a question stumps you, if something in the materials needs clarifying, or if you just want to talk through your plan before the session, reach out. This toolkit is the starting point, not the ceiling.
ℹ️ Note
Questions? Contact the Ellevation Help Desk at support@ellevationeducation.com.
Email Templates to Notify or Remind Staff of Upcoming Training
Use these email templates to share details about upcoming Ellevation trainings. Edit, add, or remove copy as needed, especially where highlighted. Don't forget to also send a follow-up email with any important tasks or next steps after your training, so attendees know exactly what's expected of them. Include links to training resources to give attendees basic familiarity before a training or as self-paced review afterward.
Initial Training Notification Email Template
Hello [teachers and staff],
We are excited to announce an upcoming Ellevation Training. Ellevation is a comprehensive EL program management platform that organizes EL student data, supports critical meeting and monitoring processes, enables accurate reporting, and supports instructional planning for multilingual students. This training will focus on [add training focus areas here].
Please note:
- When: [share the date and time]
- Where: [share the location]
- Please bring your charged devices. [Add any other key details if needed.]
What's next?
- [If staff will self-register for an Ellevation account] If you haven't yet, please use this registration link to register for an Ellevation account: [insert your district's unique self-registration link].
- [If staff will access their Ellevation account via Clever or ClassLink] Access Ellevation via [Clever / ClassLink]. Make sure you log in at least once before the training.
Additional questions? Please reach out to [insert contact name and number or email address].
Thank you for your time, service, and commitment to all students. We look forward to making this a year of instructional success.
Sincerely,
[your name]
Reminder Email Template
Hello [teachers and staff],
I am looking forward to our upcoming Ellevation training. We will continue to learn how to leverage Ellevation to support multilingual learners. Ellevation will support our [district focus here].
As a reminder:
- When: [share the date and time]
- Where: [share the location]
- Please bring your charged devices.
Please reach out to [insert contact name and number or email address] with questions.
Thank you for your time, service, and commitment to all students. We look forward to making this a year of instructional success.
Sincerely,
[your name]