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. While DESE-developed agendas and materials for Investigating History professional development are posted free of charge alongside the materials, we strongly recommend that districts partner with a certified professional development provider in order to leverage these providers' existing expertise in Investigating History's content, pedagogy, and design.
Most certified providers (except where otherwise noted) 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.
Schools or districts can explore a comprehensive yearlong partnership to address their unique requirements; pricing varies.
Part-Day/Full-Day/Multi-Day Training: Professional learning sessions intended for a group of teachers from a school or district and lasting for a partial day, full day, or multiple days. Comprehensive Partnerships: A yearlong package of supports for a school or district including some combination of professional learning sessions for teachers and/or administrators, coaching, professional learning community support, and/or customized consultation and services.
Multi-Day Institute: Multiple-day, synchronous and/or hybrid learning opportunities open to individual teachers Online Courses: Asynchronous, self-paced courses open to individual teachers Individual Coaching: One-on-one sessions for teachers and/or administrators intended to provide them with personalized support
Academic Discoveries, LLC is a team of experienced educators specializing in professional development and educational best practices. Our team includes former principals, special education directors, superintendents, and curriculum supervisors with a strong interest in the social studies curriculum in Massachusetts. Our collective expertise amounts to over two centuries of dedicated service to the field and confirms our consultants are highly knowledgeable in curriculum alignment and implementation. We specialize in inquiry-based practices, universal design for learning, integrated instructional strategies, and differentiation to support students with diverse needs, including those with disabilities and multilingual learners.
We work closely with school districts to provide customized professional development sessions that address each district's unique needs. We aim to equip educators with the skills and knowledge to implement the Investigating History curriculum effectively, ensuring all students can engage with the material. Our ultimate goal is to provide high-quality professional development that enhances educators' confidence and competence in social studies, making the curriculum accessible to all students.
Full-Day Institute or Professional Development, In Person: $300/person; $800/three people Full-Day Professional Development, Virtual: $350/person Half-Day Professional Development, In Person: $180/person Half-Day Professional Development, Virtual: $150/person Full-Day Professional Development Workshop, Onsite: $3,000 Half-Day Professional Development Workshop, Onsite: $1,800
Virtual Coaching: $250/hr Classroom Observations/Walkthroughs: $2,800/day Administrative Onboarding Session: $1,800
Yearlong Comprehensive District Partnership: $28,000/facilitator
At cor creative partners, we love school. We are a Massachusetts-based team of DESE-certified educators with extensive experience as school leaders, social studies teachers, and facilitators of professional learning. We have partnered with more than 25 schools and districts in Massachusetts and supported educators across the country. Our area of expertise is integrating academic, emotional, and social skill development in the classroom. Currently, we are writing a book on the topic for Solution Tree.
We team with district and school leaders to design customized, sustainable plans for adopting and implementing Investigating History in grades 5, 6, and 7. Through joyful and practical professional development programs, we increase educators' buy-in and capacity to lead the student-centered, equity-driven classroom that Investigating History fosters.
While we prioritize in-person learning, we also design interactive virtual learning experiences. Our services include a unit launch, unit reflection, and specialized workshops on topics including…
Our comprehensive unit partnerships include up to three days of in-person support for workshops and coaching, virtual office hours for each cluster, and ongoing asynchronous support.
Full-Day Professional Development: $6,800 Half-Day Professional Development: $4,200
Teacher or Leader Coaching: $350/hr Consulting: $350/hr
Comprehensive Unit Partnership: $20,000/unit Yearlong Professional Learning Community Program: $14,000 Comprehensive Yearlong District Partnership: varies
Maureen Chapman Interest Form
Edquity's Investigating History professional development team has decades of combined experience helping PK–12 educators teach disciplinary literacy. They specialize in high-quality curriculum implementation and instructional scaffolding for diverse learners, particularly multilingual learners and other culturally and linguistically diverse students.
To support districts with the implementation of Investigating History, Edquity's lead coaches, Kelly Cooney and Dr. Siobhan Ryan, provide a wide range of support that can include curriculum onboarding workshops for teachers, instructional coaches, content leads, department heads and administrators, followed by targeted coaching support, and the facilitation of professional learning communities (PLCs). They offer onsite and hybrid professional development for districts and schools, as well as open enrollment opportunities that welcome educators from across the Commonwealth.
Edquity can also customize Investigating History professional development with additional workshops that focus specifically on multilingual learners and other diverse students; for example, Best Practices for Multilingual Learners in Social Studies, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in the Social Studies Class, and Co-teaching with Investigating History.
Administrator Onboarding (open-enrollment virtual institute; 1–2 days): $250/day Teacher Onboarding (open-enrollment virtual institute; 1–2 days): $250/day Teacher Onboarding (open-enrollment virtual institute; 4 half-days): $500/teacher Special Topics Training (open-enrollment virtual institute): $250/day
Administrator Onboarding (in-district; 1–2 days) $2500/facilitator/day Teacher Onboarding (in-district; 1–2 days): $2500/facilitator/day Special Topics Training (in-district): $2500/facilitator/day
Individual Coaching (virtual): $200/hour Professional Learning Community Coaching (8, virtual one-hour sessions): $500/participant Classroom Observations: $2000/facilitator/day
Educurious is a 501(c)(3) organization formed in 2011 by learning scientists from the University of Washington with the support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. For over a decade, they have supported educators and schools with customizable tools, resources, and immersive professional development opportunities. Their products and services have been engaged by 45,300+ educators in 32 states and have impacted over 262,400 students.
As the founding professional learning partner with DESE since the beginning of the Investigating History curriculum project, they are uniquely positioned to provide this curriculum-based professional learning. Educurious has developed and facilitated the professional learning for the grades 5–7 pilot teachers and is also leading the curriculum development for Investigating History grades 3–4. More broadly, the Educurious team has deep content knowledge in the Investigating History curriculum, the Massachusetts History and Social Science Framework, and expertise in the design of professional learning.
To ensure effective implementation of the Investigating History curriculum, Educurious will support school and district systems with comprehensive professional development with an eye towards sustainability of the curriculum. They offer curricular onboarding workshops, targeted coaching support for PLCs and leaders (e.g., practice-focused workshops, lesson study, student artifact review, troubleshooting, observation and feedback, and/or custom support) as well as practice-focused videos that can be used asynchronously and/or with PLCs.
Professional learning can be tailored to meet the priorities of your school or district system. Educurious offers a variety of modalities (e.g., in-person, virtual, video) and can emphasize particular practices such as inquiry, culturally responsive pedagogy, literacy, differentiation, collaboration, assessment, integrating social-emotional learning, and leadership.
In 2024-25, in partnership with the One8 Foundation, Educurious will be facilitating in-person Unit Launch Days throughout the school year. Information on registration for these sessions will be available later this spring.
Educurious can support each of the two- or three-day offerings a la carte (in-person: $4,000/facilitator/day; $2,000/facilitator/half-day and virtual: $3,000/facilitator/day; $1,500/facilitator/half-day), or as part of a comprehensive yearlong partnership ($30,000/facilitator)
Coaching Support: $250/facilitator/hour
Video Coaching: $2,500/video
One8 Unit Launch Day: $350 per person per day (series is four days plus additional curriculum orientation day for teachers new to Investigating History)
Educators strive to provide students with the best possible learning experience. They want their instruction to leave a lasting, thoughtful, impact. Investigating History helps create classrooms that develop critical thinking, cultivate historical empathy, and encourage the recognition of historical and current injustice. As important as this is, adopting a new curriculum can be overwhelming for teachers and administrators.
As an experienced instructional coach, former classroom teacher, and reading specialist, I can provide practical advice that leads to sustainable shifts in pedagogy. I guide teachers to develop an inquiry stance and create classrooms that foster independent thinking and voice.
My professional development leaves teachers confident and excited about their work with Investigating History. Together, we:
I tailor each learning engagement to match the goals of the individual school or district. Teachers will co-construct understandings, actively engage in learning, and walk away empowered.
Two-Day Workshop (In Person): $10,000 One-Day Workshop (In Person): $5,000 Half-Day Workshop (In Person): $3,000
Onsite Coaching: $4,000/day PLC Facilitation or Team Coaching: $1,200/session Individual Coaching (Virtual): $1,600 for four sessions; $3,800 for ten sessions EduBoost (asynchronous coaching; 10 weeks): $500
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? Generate teacher excitement for the curriculum with my full-day workshop or self-paced course. Teachers experience a demo lesson, reflect on their strengths and areas for growth in relation to pedagogical principles, and unpack the essential content understandings, skills, and pedagogical moves in the chosen unit. They'll leave with an understanding of the core theories and practices within the curriculum as well as a game plan for planning to teach the unit.
Want ongoing implementation support? Accelerate student excitement and learning with implementation supports like workshops, group coaching sessions, and asynchronous 1:1 coaching for teachers and leaders. Participants explore opportunities for personalization such as making connections to present-day issues, fine-tuning protocols for student-led inquiry, thoughtfully facilitating discussions about identity and in/justice, and adapting summative assessments to include civic action components. We raise and tackle specific implementation challenges such as pacing without feeling rushed, effective supports for multilingual learners and students with IEPs, and how to equitable grade student work.
Two-Day Workshop (in-person or virtual): $10,000One-Day Workshop (in-person or virtual): $5,000
Topic-Focused Virtual Workshop (up to 2 hours): $3,000
Self-Paced Course: $250 per person Leadership Coaching (four, 60-minute 1:1 virtual sessions): $2,000 per person Group Implementation Coaching (virtual sessions, up to 75 mins): $1,500 per session EduBoost (asynchronous coaching via Slack for 10 weeks): $500 per person
Additional Support: customized pricing, typically ranging from $5,000 to $30,000
Learn more about these offerings.
Lindsay Lyons, hello@lindsaybethlyons.com
To schedule a call
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. They support schools that are adopting the Investigating History curriculum in 5th, 6th, and 7th grade, and they 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.
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.
Introduction to Investigating History Summit: $800/hr Scaling Investigating History Summit: $800/hr Cross-District Professional Learning Community: $200/hr Online Learning Modules: $500/educator Individual Curricular Coaching: $200/hr
Comprehensive Summits and Coaching Package: $20,740+ Pilot Year Summit and Coaching Package: $12,580+ Customized Curricular Coaching Package: $9,350+ Curricular Coaching for Pilot Implementation Package: $2,550+ Individual Educator Professional Learning Package: $500/person
Since 1791, the Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS) has sought to promote understanding of the history of Massachusetts and the nation by collecting and communicating materials and resources that foster historical knowledge. Located in Boston's Back Bay, the Society's Education department serves K–12 teachers and students in Massachusetts, and beyond.
As a DESE Investigating History PD Provider, the MHS seeks to partner with districts and teachers to support the implementation of the Grade 5 curriculum. Specifically, for school year 2023-2024, the MHS will be offering PD and teacher workshops to deepen content knowledge of and primary source analysis skills and strategies for Unit 5.2: Revolution and Principles of U.S. Government, which covers the time period beginning in the 1750s and ending with the ratification of the Bill of Rights in 1791.
The MHS offers full-day sessions on Grade 5, Unit 2 (Revolution and Foundations of US Government) that will deepen teachers' content knowledge while sharing strategies for teaching analysis of visual and text-based primary sources, such as synthesizing information and interpreting point of view. They also offer shorter, 2-hour sessions on deep dives into specific topics in the unit. Their workshops are designed for teachers who have already piloted Investigating History and are eager to deepen their content knowledge and delve deeply into primary source analysis.
Full-day session for a district: $200/teacher Half-day session for a district: $100/teacher Multi-day workshop open to any Grade 5 Investigating History teacher: $200/teacher
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.
Introduction to Investigating History for Grades 5–7 (one day, in-person): $500/participant
Comprehensive Investigating History Institute for Grades 5–7 (four days; in-person): $1500/participant
Investigating History Virtual Courses for Grades 5–7: $300/participant
Custom Full-Day Investigating History Workshop (in-person or virtual): $6,500 Custom Half-Day Investigating History Workshop (in-person or virtual): $4,000
Coaching with Unit Author: $300
Additional Support: custom packages that can combine workshops, coaching, strategic advising (in-person and/or online); price varies
info@primarysource.org
Interest Form
SchoolKit has provided professional learning services and school improvement partnerships to schools, districts, and state education agencies for the past 10 years. They are based in Washington, DC, but have staff located across the country and have partnered with school, district, and state clients in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Texas, New Mexico, Louisiana, Washington DC, Colorado, Nebraska, Oklahoma, California, Pennsylvania, Arkansas and elsewhere. They are a team of experienced educators who believe that excellent instruction is the foundation of equitable schools. Their mission is to work in partnership with local educators to improve instruction and leadership and create schools and systems that help all students succeed.
SchoolKit trains and coaches teachers and leaders on standards-aligned instructional practices and specializes in professional learning using high-quality instructional materials. Schoolkit will work with partners to customize a scope of Investigating History professional learning and coaching that meets the needs of pilot, gradual or full implementation plans. Offerings include full-, half- and multi-day sessions along with coaching that support teachers and leaders with:
Full-Day Training, Onsite: $4,180 Half-Day Training, Onsite: $3,520 Full-Day Training, Remote: $3,080 Half-Day Training, Remote: $2,420
Full-Day Coaching, Onsite: $4,180 Half-Day Coaching, Onsite: $3,520 Full-Day Coaching, Remote: $3,080
Full-Day Strategic Planning and Assessment, Onsite: $4,180 Half-Day Strategic Planning and Assessment, Onsite: $3,520 Full-Day Strategic Planning and Assessment, Remote: $3,080
Learn more about these offerings by reaching out to Ethan Mitnick .
Shed Education offers comprehensive support to schools and districts that recognizes and expands local teacher expertise. They seek to advance inquiry, equity, disciplinary literacy, and student engagement in social studies classrooms. Their approach to professional development values customization, yearlong-embedded supports, and teacher collaborative agency. They have experience supporting a variety of schools, but are especially focused on districts where the majority of students receive free or reduced lunch and/or are below grade-level proficiency in ELA.
They offer a comprehensive partnership designed to support full implementation which includes a customized plan, daylong trainings to help teachers internalize and adapt unit plans, ongoing virtual PD, and support for ongoing local work. They also offer smaller partnerships, instructional and leadership coaching, and online PD workshops focused on making inquiry accessible to all learners. For more detail, visit the website linked below.
The lead PD provider for Shed Education is Eric Soto-Shed. Soto-Shed partners with talented veteran teachers and administrators to deliver professional districts. 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.
Half-Day Professional Development Workshops (in-person): $3,500Full-Day Professional Development Workshops (in-person): $5,000
1-on-1 Teacher Coaching (online): $250/sessionTeam PLC Facilitation and Coaching (online; four-five sessions): $3,000/team of 3–6 teachers
Instructional Leadership Development (online): $400/session
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.
High quality instructional materials can significantly improve student outcomes when teachers have the right professional learning and curriculum implementation support, and when systems strategically plan for change. 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 strategically design educator learning experiences that build the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively implement curriculum aligned with that vision. We have extensive experience supporting high-quality instructional materials implementation, with demonstrated success across the country. 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.
3-Day Summer Professional Learning Institute, Virtual: $34,000+ 3-Day Summer Professional Learning Institute, In Person: $38,000+
Strong Launch Professional Learning (6 days; virtual): $64,000+ Strong Launch Professional Learning (6 days; in person): $99,000+
Yearlong Professional Development Package (45 days PD and coaching): $157,000+ Good to Great Teacher Intensive Training and Coaching (20 teachers; 8 leaders): $130,000+ Yearlong Comprehensive Support: $240,000+
Significant cost savings available for groups of districts offering professional development together.
DESE has issued a bid opportunity for vendors interested in becoming certified professional development providers, which is open until September 30, 2024, through COMMBUYS, the state's procurement system. 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.