Last year, we were proud to partner with 19 non-public schools across Massachusetts utilizing the DESE ESSA State-Level Equitable Services funding opportunity.

We are excited to continue serving existing partners and to expand services to newly participating private schools this year. Applications are due on Monday, November 16 at 5pm. After awards are granted, services must be delivered by June 30, 2027.

Instructional Coaching We offer 1:1 and group coaching to novice teachers and experienced teachers as well as to teacher teams. Instructional coaching supports high quality instruction and the creation of safe and supportive learning environments.

What does this look like in action? One of our coaches comes to the school building, observes classes and debriefs with teachers. Before leaving, the coach debriefs with the school leader. Then, the coach shares a notes document to capture the goals and strategies discussed, as well as celebrations, observations, and notes from the meeting. Coaching observations can range from 10-45 minutes and debriefs range from 15-45 minutes, depending on the goals of the coaching and the number of teachers being coached. 

Leadership Coaching We offer 1:1 leadership coaching to school leaders or leadership teams. Coaching emphasizes building sustainable instructional systems, inclusive practices, and safe and supportive school cultures that enable growth and success for students and educators alike. Team coaching topics have included the development and strengthening of leadership teams, teacher leadership teams, and student support teams.

What does this look like in action? One of our coaches meets with the leader to create goals and discuss problems of practice. The coach creates an agenda, meets with the leader for 90-120 minutes, and captures notes in a shared document. Products of the coaching depend on the goals but might include meeting agendas, professional development plans, policies, or communications.

Workshop Series/Courses We offer workshops and series as well as courses to promote excellence in teaching and leading and to foster safe and supportive learning environments. All workshops are customizable and grounded in culturally responsive, curriculum-aligned, and evidence-based practices that can be implemented immediately by educators.

What does this look like in action? One of our facilitators meets with school leaders to identify the goals and create an agenda. The facilitator then attends the school in person on a professional development day, such as an early release day for students, and facilitates the session. After the session, the facilitator shares a folder with slides and resources for participants. Topics for workshops include:

Learning Walks We lead learning-walk programs for faculty and/or school leaders to improve instruction, assessment, and school climate. Learning walks are structured to build shared understanding of effective practices while strengthening professional trust and collaboration.

What does this look like in action? A facilitator meets with the school leadership to establish goals and for the learning walk and develop or internalize an observation “looks-fors” tool and feedback protocol. The facilitator runs a half-day professional development session to support the educators involved to prepare for the process by understanding the goals and rationale, preparing for feedback rounds, and practicing the observation and feedback protocol. On Learning Walks days, the partner leads the walkthrough team through classes, facilitates a debrief, and offers feedback to teachers observed. The Facilitator debriefs with the school leader before leaving and, if desired, leaves notes.

Consulting School partners can extend the progress and impact of the work above through the engagement of hourly consulting work. 

What does this look like in action? As an extension of coaching partnerships, a consultant creates products for use by the school community based on the goals of the client and the mission of the school. Examples of products include curriculum planning templates, curriculum guidebooks, school policies and handbooks, portraits of a learner, and instructional playbooks.

Classroom Reset In this interactive workshop, educators prepare to reset their classroom culture by collaborating with their students to increase learner motivation and engagement, minimize maladaptive behaviors, and reconnect with the joys of teaching and learning. Participants start by assessing their classroom conditions, setting an improvement goal, and selecting an instructional strategy for achieving this goal. They then make plans to go through the same protocol with their students. Using a script template, they prepare to lead a class conversation focused on collaboratively addressing issues, setting goals, and experimenting with improvement strategies. The result is a classroom culture that feels positive and productive for everyone in the room. 

Realizing your Portrait of a  Learner Many Portraits of a Learner articulate desired student competencies. How can districts strategically scale effective educator practices to ensure that all students realize this vision of engagement and growth? In this interactive session, participants explore a three-phase approach that includes assessing conditions, setting Portrait-aligned goals, and assembling faculty-led workgroups to pilot engagement strategies, disseminate best practices, and support fellow educators to adopt these practices. After reviewing case studies and other resources, participants make practical plans for scaling student engagement strategies in their districts. 

Student Engagement Strategies In this workshop, educators explore interactive pedagogy strategies, aligned to the practices in their Curriculum Frameworks, for increasing the motivation, engagement, and achievement of all students in their classes. Participants practice high-engagement routines for teaching and assessing the communication and collaboration skills that students require for academic success. They then make concrete plans for embedding these routines in their lessons. 

Igniting Student Motivation Explore strategies to help all students experience motivation and engage productively in your class. Through these strategies, support students to process how their emotions and their sense of self connect to their academic work. Strategies include speaking motivationally about academic work; incorporating reflection and goal-setting; building emotional awareness; supporting students to connect the academic work to their own experiences, interests and goals; and engaging in effective teacher-student coaching conversations.

Teaching Perseverance Skills There is nothing more rewarding for us as educators than to see our students achieve success on complex, meaningful work. In this session, participants collaborate to answer the following question: How can I teach and assess the SEL skills of perseverance needed for student success in my classroom in ways that are manageable and logically connected to my academic curricular goals? Participants learn and practice specific strategies for teaching and assessing perseverance skills that can be applied to units, lessons, and daily routines. Finally, participants reflect upon how they might utilize these strategies in their own classroom contexts. 

Practicing + Promoting Self-Regulation Skills In this interactive session, participants learn how to recognize and understand dysregulation in both themselves and their students. They unpack common root causes of dysregulation and then explore a suite of strategies for teaching young students the skills of self-regulation. These strengths-based, Tier 1 practices can be embedded in their preexisting curriculum and classroom routines. Educators leave having co-constructed a menu of strategies and a plan for teaching and modeling self-regulation in developmentally appropriate ways.

Teaching Effective + Appropriate Communication For students to build strong relationships and grow their academic skills, they must communicate appropriately and effectively. In this interactive session, educators explore tools and routines to activate students’ communication skills and ensure that they have the confidence and competence needed to receive feedback, share their own perspectives and experiences, and engage in academic discourse.

Teaching the Skills of Collaboration In this interactive session, participants engage in collaborative group work with the goal of preparing to support students to do the same. Participants adopt group roles as they engage in collaborative experiences that can be replicated with students, such as constructing a group contract, using stations, and engaging in a Jigsaw. Participants then share about their experiences facilitating student collaboration, and work together to strategize and make plans for successful student collaboration in their classrooms.

From Summative to Showcase Participants in this interactive session use straightforward protocols and field-tested models to redesign one of their summative assessments in order to increase authenticity and relevance to students. They engage with tools that support student agency and collaboration and then have time to work independently and collaboratively to use these tools to adapt a summative assessment to create an authentic task aligned to the goals of the unit that students would be proud to showcase.

Curriculum Design Curriculum design is one of the most challenging and important aspects of teaching. In this program, educators build their skill and confidence as designers for engagement. Participants engage in the principles of Backward Design and the revised guidelines for Universal Design for Learning in order to design learning experiences that are aligned with high standards and responsive to their students’ needs. They identify desired results for their learners, determine acceptable evidence to measure student progress, and create opportunities for students to practice target skills. By the end, educators walk away with renewed energy and a unit or lesson plan that they can implement right away.

Inquiry-Based Teaching Student-led classrooms are anchored in the routines of inquiry. Participants in this session unpack practical examples of how to support students of all ages to improve their skills in questioning, examine sources to answer their questions and generate more questions, and ultimately arrive at well-reasoned meaning. Example techniques explored include the Question Formulation Technique, Source Analysis tools, Discussion Diamond, and Spiderweb.

Assessment for Learning In this session, educators reflect on the assessment cycle to identify ways that they can utilize the act of assessment to drive students’ learning forward. They examine examples of formative and summative assessments and reflect on the variety of opportunities to respond to gaps in students’ knowledge, skills, and understandings. Finally, educators apply their thinking to a current unit, identifying opportunities to assess students for learning.

Designing for All Learners In this interactive workshop, educators explore tools and strategies for building lessons that anticipate learner variability and that include accessible, differentiated learning experiences. Guided by the principles of Universal Design for Learning, participants analyze examples of universally designed or differentiated instruction and make plans to adapt and apply their learning to a current unit. 

Returning to Rigor Participants in this interactive session examine ways to increase the rigor of their coursework while supporting all learners to reach their high standards. They examine the Depths of Knowledge framework and consider one or more of the elements of rigor laid out in Karin Hess anchor text, Rigor by Design, Not Chance: Ask probing questions of increasing complexity, build schema, consider ways to strategically scaffold learning, design complex tasks for transfer and evidence-based solutions, and engage students in metacognition and reflection throughout.

Deeper Learning In this session, educators consider ways to sequence lessons within a unit to intentionally support students to access higher depths of knowledge. They unpack examples of a unit in their content area, analyzing the progression of skill development and identifying opportunities for deeper learning. They then apply this work to a current unit of their own, and consider ways to revise their plan in order to allow for students to engage in deeper learning.

Teaching for Transfer In this session, educators unpack a current unit to increase opportunities for students to engage in transfer. Using the Michael McDowell text Teaching for Transfer as an anchor, educators identify opportunities for students to compare context or create analogous problems, generate and test hypotheses, and/or engage with experts and audiences to deliver products, performances, or portfolios. They then build a sequence of learning experiences designed to support students to succeed on these tasks.

Differentiated Instruction Differentiated instruction honors each of our diverse learners by providing them with the rich, relevant learning experiences required to reach their full potential. In this interactive workshop, educators build and apply the skills needed to create these learning experiences. Participants analyze examples of differentiated instruction for process, product and content, experience differentiated instruction, process their experiences together, and make plans to adapt and apply their learning to their own instruction in the upcoming year. This workshop can be anchored in the language of the UDL framework, allowing participants the opportunity to practice blending and applying UDL practices to address common barriers to learning for students. 

Building Independent Learners In this session, educators consider how to increase learner independence in their classrooms. Participants build their capacity for supporting students to become more aware of how they are learning (metacognition), increasing access to learn-to-learn strategies, and using scaffolding strategically.  Educators then apply their learning to a current unit and plan a conversation to discuss this approach with students. 

Building Academic Discourse Students in all subject areas are asked to engage in academic discourse. Participants in this session have the opportunity to process their current experiences with building academic discourse in their classrooms, experience a structured academic discourse, reflect on their experiences, and plan for implementing structures and routines to improve the quality of discourse in their classrooms. Structures include a variety of discussion formats and tools for goal setting, reflection, and assessment. 

Transformational Leadership In this workshop, we invite district leaders to join in community, leverage the expertise of their peers, and engage with researched-informed tools for increasing self-awareness and social awareness and for growing their leadership capacity. Participants leave with tools and skills they can immediately apply to their contexts, as well as renewed confidence in their ability to sustain themselves and communities at their sites.

Building and Strengthening Student Support Teams Participants will explore effective systems and collaborative practices that support thriving school communities. They will examine models of effective systems and practices for supporting students, assess and share their own systems and practices, and make plans for implementing practical strategies to improve student support systems in their school.

Building Teacher Leadership In this series, teachers gain skills and confidence to lead a team of peers. They engage in learning experiences designed to support them to navigate the dual roles of teacher and leader , lead productive professional conversations, facilitate data-informed decision making, guide teams through instructional change, and foster educator ownership of school improvement goals. Participants leave with an individualized teacher leader playbook.

Investigating History + Civics We are DESE-certified to support the Investigating History curriculum in grades 3-7. We offer sessions focused on curriculum adoption, unit launches, and curriculum internationalization as well as sessions on revising the curriculum to meet particular needs. These needs may include building skill progressions, embedding project-based or place-based learning, and pacing. Additionally, we provide support for districts with grade 8 or high school civics and capstone projects.

MyCAP: Promoting Student-Centered Postsecondary Planning We partner with districts to facilitate MyCAP teams in order to define, codify, and support the implementation of MyCAP. This work is customized based on any partner’s current MyCAP status and goals. Sessions could be designed to facilitate progress of a MyCAP team or to build awareness and enthusiasm of the districts’ MyCAP work with a broader audience of potential MyCAP ambassadors.

We are happy to offer access to the asynchronous course 

Elevating Strengths: Supporting Multilingual Learners Facing Adversity with Dr. Debbie Zacarian This course equips educators with research-based insights, tools, and strategies drawn from Teaching to Strengths: Supporting Students Living with Trauma, Violence, and Chronic Stress by Zacarian et al. Through real-world examples, reflective exercises, and implementation planning, participants will learn to create strengths-based, responsive learning environments that promote safety, belonging, value, and competence both in school and beyond.

Registry of the MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education approves this course and participants earn a certificate of PDP upon completion. Course participants will be responsible for purchasing the accompanying book, Teaching to Strengths.

Upon request, for eligible programs, we are happy to award PDP certificates in any of our areas of DESE certification: 

• Curriculum and Instruction
• Leadership/Administration
• History/Social Science
• College and Career Readiness
• Comprehensive Health