A School Leader Guide for a Strong Start is an asynchronous graduate-level course designed for current and aspiring Massachusetts school leaders who are committed to creating the conditions for a successful school year through intentional, research-informed leadership. Offered through a partnership between Riverside Learning and Gordon College, this course explores how thoughtful planning before and during the opening months of school establishes the foundation for positive school culture, instructional excellence, operational effectiveness, and continuous improvement.

Grounded in educational leadership research, organizational leadership principles, and Massachusetts educational priorities, participants will examine the essential leadership practices that contribute to a strong start to the academic year. Topics include cultivating a positive school culture, building trusting relationships with staff, students, and families, leading effective communication, preparing instructional systems, organizing school operations, supporting educator growth, promoting equity and belonging, and developing sustainable leadership practices that extend beyond the opening weeks of school.

Throughout the course, participants will analyze current research, engage in reflective practice, and apply evidence-based leadership strategies to authentic school scenarios. Practical tools, planning templates, and implementation resources are integrated into each module, enabling participants to immediately transfer new learning into their own schools and districts.

As a culminating experience, participants will develop a personalized Strong Start Leadership Playbook—a comprehensive, implementation-ready resource that includes leadership priorities, communication plans, instructional and operational readiness tools, culture-building strategies, and action plans for leading the first weeks and months of school. By the conclusion of the course, participants will be equipped to foster positive learning environments, strengthen professional practice, support student success, build collaborative school communities, and lead with confidence throughout the school year.

This graduate-level course, offered through Riverside Learning in partnership with Gordon College, changes how you understand and respond to these challenges. You'll explore the intersection of neuroscience, learning disabilities, mental health, and trauma-responsive practice. Drawing from Trynia Kaufman's *Overcoming the School Trauma Cycle* and cutting-edge research, you'll learn exactly why students disengage—and more importantly, how to interrupt those cycles.

Through reflection, research, and hands-on application, you'll develop a practical implementation framework for your own classroom or district. You'll leave with concrete strategies for building inclusive, academically rigorous environments where students feel safe, supported, and capable of thriving.

This is asynchronous learning designed for busy educators like you—learn at your own pace while transforming your practice. 

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What if understanding why a student struggles could change what you do for that student tomorrow?

Dyslexia, Dysgraphia & More: Understanding Learning Differences Through Science and Instruction is a three-credit graduate-level course designed for educators who want to deepen their understanding of learning differences and translate that knowledge into meaningful instructional practice.

Grounded in research and connected to real classroom experiences, the course goes beyond identifying characteristics or learning a collection of strategies. Participants will explore how students learn, why persistent barriers may occur, how those barriers affect the student experience, and what educators can do differently in response.

While dyslexia and dysgraphia are central to the course, participants will develop a broader understanding of the whole learner through exploration of:

• Dyslexia and reading and spelling differences

• Dysgraphia and handwriting, transcription, and written expression

• Dyscalculia and mathematical concepts, computation, and problem solving

• OWL LD and language, comprehension, and written expression

• Executive functioning and the demands of planning, organization, initiation, and self-monitoring

• Twice-exceptional learners and co-occurring learning differences

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Elevating Co-Teaching: From Compliance to High-Impact Collaboration is an asynchronous graduate-level course designed for Massachusetts educators who seek to strengthen inclusive educational practices through authentic collaboration, shared instructional responsibility, and evidence-based co-teaching. 

Using Co-Teaching Do's, Don'ts, and Do Betters: Strategies to Improve Student Outcomes by Toby J. Karten and Wendy W. Murawski as the core text, participants will explore research-based approaches for building effective co-teaching partnerships that extend beyond scheduling and compliance. The course examines the essential components of successful collaboration, including co-planning, communication, instructional decision-making, assessment, and the intentional selection of co-teaching approaches that maximize student engagement and achievement.

By the conclusion of the course, participants will synthesize their learning by creating a comprehensive Co-Teaching Implementation Playbook that includes collaborative planning protocols, instructional strategies, communication structures, and continuous improvement practices designed to support sustainable, high-impact co-teaching within their classroom, team, or school.

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Educational equity requires more than good intentions or isolated professional development sessions. It demands educators who are willing to critically examine instructional practices, organizational structures, and deeply held assumptions that shape student experiences and opportunities.

Using Uprooting Instructional Inequity: The Power of Inquiry-Based Professional Learning as the primary text, participants will explore the historical foundations of educational inequity while developing the knowledge and skills necessary to facilitate inquiry-based professional learning that leads to meaningful organizational change. Throughout the course, participants will analyze instructional inequities, examine their own beliefs and practices, investigate systemic barriers to equitable learning, and design collaborative inquiry processes that promote continuous improvement.

By the conclusion of the course, participants will have developed a comprehensive philosophy and action plan for leading equity-focused professional learning within their own educational contexts.

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Learner-Focused Feedback: Observing for Impact to Strengthen Teaching and Learning is a graduate-level course designed to help educators transform classroom observations into meaningful opportunities for professional learning and instructional improvement. Based on Learner-Focused Feedback: 19 Strategies to Observe for Impact by Jacqueline Tepper and Douglas Fisher Flynn and grounded in John Hattie's Visible Learning research, this course explores how learner-focused observations and evidence-based feedback can strengthen teaching practices, improve student outcomes, and cultivate a culture of continuous learning.

Designed for classroom teachers, instructional coaches, mentors, evaluators, school administrators, and district leaders, this course emphasizes authentic application through classroom observations, reflective practice, collaborative discussions, and implementation planning. Throughout the course, participants will develop a Learner-Focused Feedback Implementation Portfolio, a culminating project that is built progressively through each module. The portfolio synthesizes research, observation tools, evidence collection strategies, learner-focused coaching practices, and implementation planning into a comprehensive framework that participants can immediately apply within their classrooms, schools, or districts to strengthen teaching, learning, and professional practice.

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Mastering Mentoring in Massachusetts: Supporting Educator Growth, Wellbeing, and Retention is a three-credit graduate course designed for experienced educators, mentor teachers, instructional coaches, department leaders, and school administrators who are committed to developing high-impact mentoring relationships that strengthen professional practice, improve educator wellbeing, and increase teacher retention. Grounded in Angi Malderez's Mentoring Teachers: Supporting Learning, Wellbeing and Retention, the course explores mentoring as a developmental process that empowers educators to become reflective practitioners through the five essential mentor roles: Supporter, Acculturator, Model, Sponsor, and Educator.

Throughout the course, participants examine mentoring within the context of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's Handbook for Teacher Induction and Mentoring (2025) and the Massachusetts Educator Evaluation Framework, emphasizing how effective mentoring supports continuous professional growth, instructional excellence, and educator effectiveness. Participants investigate evidence-based mentoring practices, adult learning theory, reflective coaching, culturally and linguistically sustaining practices, educator wellness, and leadership while learning to facilitate mentoring conversations that promote self-assessment, goal setting, reflection, and continuous improvement.

Using authentic case studies, reflective activities, mentoring simulations, and practical application, participants will design mentoring systems that align with the Massachusetts Standards of Effective Teaching Practice and foster collaborative professional cultures that support educator success and improved student outcomes. By the conclusion of the course, participants will develop a comprehensive Massachusetts Mentoring Leadership Portfolio that demonstrates their ability to design, implement, and evaluate mentoring programs aligned with current Massachusetts guidance and grounded in research-based mentoring principles.

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Supporting Multi-Lingual Learners: What We Know and What We Can Do Better is a 3-credit graduate-level course offered through the partnership between Riverside Learning and Gordon College. Designed for Massachusetts educators, the course explores research-based approaches to supporting English Learners and multilingual students while challenging common misconceptions that can influence instructional decision-making. Participants examine WIDA proficiency levels and Can Do Descriptors, academic language and background knowledge, family engagement, instructional scaffolding, and culturally and linguistically sustaining practices.

This asynchronous course is designed to move educators from research to reflection to application. Through readings, videos, discussions, reflections, and practical activities, participants connect course concepts directly to their own classroom, school, or district setting. The culminating experience asks educators to develop an actionable plan for improving outcomes for multilingual learners. With 3 graduate credits equating to 27.5 PDPs, the course offers Massachusetts educators a meaningful opportunity to strengthen professional practice while supporting SEI-related professional development needs and creating more equitable learning opportunities for every learner.

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