Case Study: Kent ISD achieves accessible teacher professional development with Arist

How Kent ISD is equipping teachers, one text at a time

Kent ISD, a Michigan-based educational services agency, needed a more accessible way to support teachers during the abrupt shift to online learning. With educators overwhelmed by the demands of remote instruction, the team looked for a flexible professional development approach that could help teachers improve virtual engagement and assessment without adding more burden. They turned to Arist and its text message learning format.

Arist helped Kent ISD launch two pilot text-based PD courses: one on creating engaging video lessons and another on conducting virtual assessments. The courses were rolled out to more than 60 K-12 educators across the state, earning enthusiastic feedback for being short, manageable, and actionable. Kent ISD has since continued refining the courses and exploring additional uses for Arist, seeing text message learning as a strong future model for professional development.

Kent ISD

Keith Tramper

Educational Technology Consultant