Current Professional Learning Opportunities
This page lists upcoming graduate courses and seminars that are open for registration or have wait list spaces available. Additional offerings will be posted as they become available. For information about the DEI Anti-Racism Certificate program, click here.
Download a flyer (PDF) with an overview of the current course offerings. Updated April 21, 2023.
Graduate Level Courses
(2) Credits, (30) Hour Courses
IDEAS 1: Anti-Racist School Practices to Support the Success of All Students
This course is designed to introduce educators to the complex issues raised by race and racism and their impact on student engagement and achievement. This course will provide educators with an understanding of racial identity and the importance of building authentic student teacher relationships. This course will also help educators increase their skills of cultural proficiency.
| Section A: | Section B: |
| Course Dates & Times: Mondays & Wednesdays, 9:00am – 3:15pm July 5th July 17th July 19th July 24th | Course Dates & Times: Tuesdays, 8:30am – 12:45pm July 11th July 18th July 25th August 1st August 8th August 15th |
| Instructor(s): Jennifer Dirga & Kerryn Hinds | Instructor(s): Edward Byrne & Lateefah Franck |
| Section C: | Section D: |
| Course Dates & Times: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 8:45am – 3:00pm August 1st August 3rd August 8th August 10th | Course Dates & Times: Wednesdays & Saturdays, 9:00am – 3:15pm August 16th August 23rd September 9th September 16th |
| Instructor(s): Caroline Han & Rebecca Smoler | Instructor(s): Jennifer Dirga & Leslie Smart |
Locations: Sections A, B & D ~ Live via Zoom; Section C will meet In Person at Wayland Town Hall, School Committee Room
Cost: $650 IDEAS members /$780 non-members
Graduate Credit: Participants may choose to apply for 2 graduate credits for an additional fee of $150, payable to Framingham State University.
Registration: To register, please complete and submit this registration form. Please ensure that you have approval from your district before registering. Please email any questions to Dana Mullaley – dmullaley@massupt.org.
Cancellation Policy: Cancellation notice must be received 2 weeks prior to the start of the course to be eligible for a refund.
IDEAS 2: Enacting Systemic Change in Educational Institutions
This course is designed to build upon the foundational theories and complex issues studied in IDEAS 1: Anti-Racist School Practices to Support the Success of All Students. Participants will study systemic change models and develop, enact, and evaluate a project to effect change in their educational setting, whether that setting is working with a small group of students, a classroom, a grade level, a school, or an entire district. Successful completion of IDEAS 1 is a prerequisite for the course.
Dates & Times: Wednesdays & Mondays
July 26th; 9:00am – 4:00pm
October 2nd & December 4th, 2023; February 5th, March 4th, April 8th & May 6th, 2024;
4:00pm – 7:00pm
Instructors: Lateefah Franck & Rebecca Smoler
Location: 1st session will be meet In Person at the Westwood Public Schools, Professional Development Room; All other sessions will meet Live via Zoom
Cost: $650 IDEAS members /$780 non-members
Graduate Credit: Participants may choose to apply for 2 graduate credits for an additional fee of $150, payable to Framingham State University
Registration: To register, please complete and submit this registration form. Please ensure that you have approval from your district before registering. Please email any questions to Dana Mullaley – dmullaley@massupt.org.
Cancellation Policy: Cancellation notice must be received 2 weeks prior to the start of the course to be eligible for a refund.
(1) Credit, (15) Hour Courses
Co-Teaching with a Culturally Responsive Lens
This course explores cooperative group work, student engagement, and specially designed instruction with a focus on a variety of co-teaching models. Participants will explore how to support all students, particularly those who are in special education, come with a socio-emotional/ trauma history, are English language learners, and belong to racial and ethnic minority populations. This course highlights neurological research and its connection to culturally responsive co-teaching (based on the work by Zaretta Hammond, author of Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain). Participants will learn strategies for attention, retention, and assessment. Humor, movement, and novelty are explored in order to plan instruction and maximize learning. Completion of this course will satisfy special education endorsement requirements.
Dates & Time: Thursdays, July 6th & July 13th; 8:30am – 3:45pm
Instructors: Claudia Fox Tree & JoAnne Kazis
Location: Live via Zoom
Cost: $325 IDEAS members /$390 non-members
Graduate Credit: Participants may choose to apply for 1 graduate credit for an additional fee of $75, payable to Framingham State University.
Registration: To register, please complete and submit this registration form . Please ensure that you have approval from your district before registering. Please email any questions to Dana Mullaley – dmullaley@massupt.org.
Cancellation Policy: Cancellation notice must be received 2 weeks prior to the start of the course to be eligible for a refund.
Understanding Self-Efficacy: Helping Students Do Their Best Work
This course provides participants with an opportunity to explore concepts of self-efficacy, effective praise, and attribution theory. Research by Carol Dweck, Claude Steele, and others is highlighted through experiential activities. Participants will examine how a student’s perception of him/herself as a learner influences their academic engagement and performance. Participants will learn how to use a “strengths approach,” create a growth mindset environment, emphasize mistakes as part of the learning process, and give constructive feedback to promote student success in the school setting.
Dates & Time: Tuesday & Wednesday, July 11th & July 12th; 8:30am – 3:45pm
Instructors: Claudia Fox Tree & JoAnne Kazis
Location: Live via Zoom
Cost: $325 IDEAS members /$390 non-members
Graduate Credit: Participants may choose to apply for 1 graduate credit for an additional fee of $75, payable to Framingham State University.
Registration: To register, please complete and submit this registration form. Please ensure that you have approval from your district before registering. Please email any questions to Dana Mullaley – dmullaley@massupt.org.
Cancellation Policy: Cancellation notice must be received 2 weeks prior to the start of the course to be eligible for a refund.
6 Hour Seminars
Best Practices for Hiring and Retaining Educators for Equity
In this 6-hour seminar, participants will examine what equitable hiring and other human resources practices are and how to implement them with an anti-racist and anti-biased lens. The seminar will show how to build hiring and retention practices which lead to increased diversity of a school/district’s faculty and staff. The practical and research-based strategies are intended to help district, building, and department leaders, as well as other hiring managers, create professional environments that can help increase the applicants of color for open positions, retain educators of color in your school/district, and better hire for equity. The seminar uses cases/scenarios, recent research, and best practice sharing to achieve the learning objectives for participants.
Dates & Time: Monday & Thursday, July 17th & July 20th; 9:00am – 12:00pm
Instructors: Edward Byrne & Leslie Smart
Location: Live via Zoom
Cost: $175 IDEAS members /$210 non-members
Registration: To register, please complete and submit this registration form. Please ensure that you have approval from your district before registering. Please email any questions to Dana Mullaley – dmullaley@massupt.org.
Cancellation Policy: Cancellation notice must be received 2 weeks prior to the start of the course to be eligible for a refund
Anti-Racist Decision Making Strategies for School Leaders
School leaders are faced with important decisions every day and how these decisions either perpetuate or interrupt systemic racism can often be missed by leaders at key decision points. This leads to interpersonal and organizational conflict, erosion of trust, and importantly, missed opportunities to advance anti-racism goals and objectives. Through case studies of school leaders wrestling with complex decisions and utilizing the latest frameworks in decision making research and practice, participants will leave with insights and practical tools to help them make better, anti-racist, decisions in their leadership roles. We’ll also discuss how other key factors such as communication tactics, stakeholder engagement, crisis management, and opportunity windows influence a leader’s decision making capabilities and possibilities.
Dates & Time: Wednesday & Thursday, July 26th & July 27th; 9:00am – 12:00pm
Instructors: Edward Byrne & Dr. Paula Martin
Location: Live via Zoom
Cost: $175 IDEAS members /$210 non-members
Registration: To register, please complete and submit this registration form. Please ensure that you have approval from your district before registering. Please email any questions to Dana Mullaley – dmullaley@massupt.org.
Cancellation Policy: Cancellation notice must be received 2 weeks prior to the start of the course to be eligible for a refund
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