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The following professional development providers have been certified to provide Investigating History professional development. Certified providers have received training in the Investigating History curriculum and instructional approach and received DESE approval on their professional development offerings.
All certified providers have a statewide master service agreement designed to streamline the procurement process for schools and districts choosing to work with them. Please contact InvestigatingHistory@mass.gov for more information about how to use this agreement.
Each certified provider has a unique suite of professional development offerings available to schools, districts, and/or individuals. The table below provides an "at a glance" overview of the services each vendor has been approved to provide; please note that some vendors also have additional professional learning offerings that are not included in this table. Additional information about each vendor, including a complete list of their services, can be found in the directory below.
Overview
Academic Discoveries is a dynamic team of seasoned educators who are passionate about transforming professional development and educational best practices. Our diverse team comprises former elementary, middle school, and high school teachers, as well as principals, special education directors, superintendents, and curriculum supervisors, all with a deep commitment to enhancing the social studies curriculum in Massachusetts.
With a collective experience spanning over two centuries in the education sector, our consultants bring unparalleled expertise in curriculum alignment and implementation. We are at the forefront of innovative educational approaches, specializing in inquiry-based practices, Universal Design for Learning, integrated instructional strategies, and differentiation. These approaches ensure that we effectively cater to the diverse needs of all students, including those with disabilities and multilingual learners.
Learn more at the Academic Discoveries website.
Programming
Sample Pricing
Contact
Nadine Ekstrom
References
This vendor has provided references, available upon request by emailing DESE .
Cor Creative Partners is a Massachusetts-based team of DESE-certified educators with deep experience as classroom teachers, school leaders, and facilitators of professional learning, led by Maureen Chapman and James Simons. We partner with district and school leaders to design implementation programs matched to their contexts and goals, setting them up for long-term success with Investigating History. We then deliver custom professional learning experiences including workshops, PLCs, and instructional coaching, and create custom materials including assessments and locally aligned project-based units.
Additionally, we offer leadership partnership through learning walks and coaching. Our customizable, in-person workshop services support teachers to build the four instructional practices of the curriculum: history inquiry and investigation, historical empathy and human connection, civic engagement and current world relevance, and culturally sustaining pedagogies.
Our workshops are tailored to local needs, but often including the following topics:
Maureen and James are experts in student voice and leadership and the integration of SEL and academics. They are authors of the books Leaders of the Class and Classroom Reset and regular contributors to educational publications, including Edutopia.
Maureen Chapman Interest Form
As DESE's founding professional learning partner for the Investigating History project, Educurious (now Educurious by NCEE) has led professional learning for grades 5–7 and is developing curriculum for grades 3–4. Our team brings deep expertise in Massachusetts' History and Social Science Framework and curriculum-based professional learning.
Blake Konrady, partnerships@ncee.org
Educators deserve professional learning that makes a lasting impact. As a former instructional coach, classroom teacher, and reading specialist, I help resolve challenges with practical, sustainable solutions.
In addition to typical offerings, I provide three unique services:
Please contact me at kara@karapranikoff.com or schedule a time to connect .
Lindsay Lyons is an educational justice coach, student voice scholar, and former teacher of emerging multilingual students and students with IEPs. She specializes in implementation coaching and figuring out how to make the curriculum come to life in your classrooms.
New to the curriculum? Take the self-paced course to learn the structure, essential content understandings, skills, and pedagogical routines.
Leveling up your pedagogy in Year 2+? Deepen pedagogical practice around the 3 inquiry routines and 4 key instructional practices and accelerate student learning and excitement with the comprehensive implementation package. Make connections to present-day issues. Review student work to inform instructional decisions. Build capacity for student-led discourse, criticality, and inquiry. We'll tackle specific implementation challenges such as effectively supporting for multilingual learners and students with IEPs.
Note: For any of the above services, I'm happy to partner with other certified providers to combine our skills to meet your community's needs.
Learn more at Lindsay Lyons's website .
Lindsay Lyons
Local Civics is an award-winning civics and social studies provider dedicated to supporting educators and schools in bringing inquiry-based learning and experiential learning to students. We support schools that are adopting the Investigating History curriculum across Grades 3–7, and we design various implementation models from classroom pilots to district-wide adoption. Local Civics supports schools and districts across multiple states in launching new inquiry-based and project-based curricula, in aligning new curricula to state standards, and in preparing educators for success.
Local Civics has been a proud partner with DESE for Investigating History and for Civic Learning since 2021. For Investigating History, Local Civics partners with educators for district-wide trainings, professional learning communities, online learning modules, and curricular coaching sessions. They customize professional development services based on the needs of districts, schools, and educators.
Learn more at the Local Civics website.
John Mueller, john@localcivics.io
Primary Source, the organization that authored Investigating History Grades 5–7, has multiple professional development opportunities to support Investigating History implementation. Primary Source has been serving Massachusetts History and Social Studies Teachers since their founding in 1989. As the authors of Investigating History grades 5–7, Primary Source can provide professional learning that is nuanced, differentiated, and gives teachers the confidence and knowledge to implement Investigating History effectively.
Primary Source offers many learning opportunities for districts and teachers in person and online. Teachers and administrators can take courses or modules, and we offer custom workshops, coaching, and support. Reach out, we are here to help!
Learn more at the Primary Source website.
info@primarysource.org
Interest Form
Shed Education offers comprehensive support to k–12 schools and districts as well as higher education institutions across the nation. Shed Education recognizes and expands teacher expertise. We seek to advance inquiry, equity, disciplinary literacy, and student engagement in social studies classrooms and support all educators to teach controversial and charged issues. We support a variety of schools, but we are especially focused on districts where the majority of students receive free or reduced lunch and/or are below grade-level proficiency in ELA.
The lead PD provider for Shed Education is Dr. Eric Soto-Shed. Soto-Shed is a former history teacher, a founding member of Stanford History Education Group (SHEG), and currently a teacher educator at Harvard University. He has offered nationwide teacher training through the National Council of Social Studies and the Library of Congress. He has supported curriculum development and implementation in Massachusetts at the district level and state level.
Learn more in this informational flyer .
Eric Soto-Shed
TNTP is one of the nation's leading research, policy, and consulting organizations dedicated to transforming America's public education system, so that every generation thrives. Today, we work side-by-side with educators, system leaders, and communities across 39 states and over 6,000 districts nationwide to reach ambitious goals for student success.
TNTP has a clear vision of how schools can begin closing the opportunity gap and we know that high-quality instructional materials are a powerful catalyst within a system to improve instruction and address systemic disparity and racial inequity. Significant professional learning and support with change management and instructional improvement is needed for teachers and leaders to fundamentally shift the way they are preparing for and delivering instruction. Additionally, because TNTP works across content areas and brings demonstrated expertise with multilingual learners and students with thinking and learning differences, we are well positioned to ensure Investigating History is implemented in ways that align with district priorities and promote coherent knowledge-building across subjects, particularly between social studies and ELA.
TNTP designs its support to bring a vision of strong instruction to life with a focus on understanding district, student, and classroom context, including what assets educators are bringing to the work. We offer a variety of different types of support and can customize to meet the needs of each district. We are happy to work with partnerships or groups of districts looking to share costs, and can differentiate support based on whether teachers are newly adopting curriculum or have participated in the pilot of Investigating History.
All of TNTP's services are customized for districts, and prices are based on staff time and travel costs. If a district is partnered with TNTP for support for another content area or strategy, significant cost savings are possible. The example costs are rough estimates, and every package includes strategic advising designed to ensure leaders and teachers implement Investigating History in ways that improve student outcomes. Significant cost savings are available for groups of districts offering professional development together.
Sara Flyer
DESE periodically opens bid opportunities for vendors interested in becoming certified professional development providers. Any upcoming such opportunities will be posted on this web page. Please contact InvestigatingHistory@mass.gov with any questions.
Reference in this website to any specific commercial products, processes, or services, or the use of any trade, firm, or corporation name is for the information and convenience of the public and does not constitute endorsement or recommendation by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). Our office is not responsible for and does not in any way guarantee the accuracy of information in other sites accessible through links herein. DESE may supplement this list with other services and products that meet the specified criteria.