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What is a cycle?

Creating supportive and equitable conditions for learning isn’t easy: it requires time, practice, and formative feedback. Ascend and Elevate are designed to provide educators with student feedback so they can master their craft and cultivate the conditions necessary for students to thrive. Catalyze is designed to provide educators with an opportunity to share their feedback with education leaders so those leaders can optimize organizational conditions and lay a strong foundation for student learning and development.


When individuals use Ascend, Catalyze, or Elevate, they engage in multiple cycles of inquiry and action. Each cycle typically consists of the following stages:

  1. Gather feedback about student or educator experiences via a PERTS survey.

    1. Ascend is designed to gather feedback from college students. 

    2. Elevate is designed to gather feedback from K-12 students. 

    3. Catalyze is designed to gather feedback from educators or various stakeholders.

  2. Review feedback compiled in a confidential report

  3. Develop and implement a plan for improvement (like trying a new practice) with PERTS’ practice guides.

Then individuals start a new cycle to understand if their plan had the intended impact and so they can keep improving. A cycle typically lasts 6-8 weeks, depending on preferences and synergistic opportunities.


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