MA Instructional Institutes

2025 Institute Details

District teams can apply for either the virtual March or in-person April session. Priority will be given to districts with one or more schools identified by the Accountability System as requiring assistance.

District teams can apply at Instructional Prioritization Institute Application .

• Virtual IPI will occur March 4th & 5th from 9:00–11:00 and 12:00–2:30. Virtual IPI is open to districts who have attended IPI in previous years.
• In-person IPI will occur April 9th & 10th at the DCU Center in Worcester, MA from approximately 9:00–4:00. In-person IPI is open to all districts, and differentiation will be provided for districts returning to IPI year-over-year.
• This year, we will offer an optional virtual follow-up session to continue strategy and action planning with a dedicated coach. Districts will select one time slot on May 13th or 14th.

District applicants will receive an email confirming their participation and next steps.

Institute Overview

Each school year, effective school districts identify clear improvement priorities and the highest leverage practices to improve student learning. From there, they implement a focused and cohesive set of systems and structures to drive improvement and provide schools with timely, data-informed support and feedback aligned with those priorities. This spring, DESE is partnering with TNTP to offer an in-person and virtual Instructional Prioritization Institute — a two-day learning experience that will support district leaders in their efforts to plan for sustainable improvement in SY 2025-26.

The Institute is designed to support your team at all stages of the process, from reflection on your instructional improvement efforts to date, to focused planning for the future. If you have previously participated in the Institute, attending this year at either the virtual or in-person session will allow the time and space to reflect on the work you have been doing and refine your strategy for SY 2025-26. If this is your first year participating, the in-person Institute will empower your team to elevate the essentials and identify a clear and motivating instructional improvement priority to improve teaching and learning for all students. District teams will have space and time to do the following:

• Articulate or refine an instructional improvement priority, informed by data and a deep understanding of your system's context and capacity, and begin to operationalize a plan to drive instructional improvement in SY 2025-26.
• Ensure your plan reflects best practices for progress monitoring and change management, is inclusive of diverse stakeholders who will contribute to the collective effort of improving outcomes for all students.
• Identify key strategies and action steps that support the identified priority.

This Institute will be a high-engagement learning experience. TNTP and DESE will provide teams with the opportunity to learn from and with their peers across the state and explore research-based and innovative practices. Teams will walk away with actionable deliverables that will drive immediate and long-term impact.

Who Should Attend

Teams should be comprised of 4–6 leaders who are charged with instructional improvement and have decision-making authority and locus of control to implement learning from Institute. Participants should represent a diverse set of perspectives and experiences in role, tenure, school-based, race, special education, and EL.

2025 Institute Details

This institute is open to all Massachusetts districts and will run in-person over 3-days during the first week of August:

• Tuesday August 5^th to Thursday August 7^th from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Location and registration will be announced soon. If you are interested in attending, please fill out this interest form .

Institute Overview

The Instructional Leadership Institute will be a 3-day in-person professional learning and planning experience for district and school leaders to deepen their understanding of practices and strategies to foster deeper learning, high-quality core and tiered instruction, and affirming and supportive learning environments for educators and students as defined by DESE's Educational Vision and the Standards of Effective of Practice. The Institute will support teams in developing and strengthening equity-centered systems, instructional leadership routines, and structures that center collaboration, effective implementation, and continuous improvement to improve access and outcomes for all learners. Sessions will include time for content specific experiences (Literacy, History, Math, and Science), grade span specific problem solving, analysis of school and district systems and structures, along with focused team planning time. District teams will engage in interactive sessions that will support them to:

• Analyze characteristics of skillful, culturally and linguistically sustaining instruction in Literacy, History, Math, and Science and examine strategies and routines to scale strong instruction across classrooms, including through the use of high-quality instructional materials.
• Plan with district teams to build equity-centered routines and instructional leadership systems to effectively support high-quality culturally and linguistically sustaining instruction across all classrooms, including:
  • Examining mindsets, actions, and policies and their impact on educator support and student outcomes, and
  • Developing an action plan to build coherence and lead high-quality instruction within their respective roles.
• Leverage tiered support systems to accelerate student outcomes within their school/district, including strategies for effective data systems and practices; teaming, roles, and processes; and resource allocation.
• Collaborate and connect with fellow job-alike leaders to learn and share best practices.

DESE will provide teams with the opportunity to learn from and with their peers across the state, explore instruction through an equity lens, and develop the systems necessary to support high-quality instruction. The Institute will include ample time to engage with resources and apply them to participants' own context and planning.

Who Should Attend

K–12 school and district-based instructional leadership teams, with attention to leaders who are charged with instructional improvement and have decision-making authority and locus of control to implement learning from the Institute. Educators can participate as a member of the school and/or district team if they are key teacher leaders who either are responsible for leading their teams in common planning time (CPT) and/or professional learning community (PLC) time or are members of their school's instructional leadership team (ILT). Teams should be between 3–10 people and represent a diverse set of perspectives, experiences, roles, and identities.

On this team, there should be at least one person who serves in the following 'roles':

• Executive sponsor: likely a superintendent or assistant superintendent, someone who has a broad platform in the district and access to funding and executive authority to oversee this work
• Instructional experts and coaches: likely a curriculum director and/or subject matter experts (i.e. instructional coaches) at the district or school level who brings expertise in specific instructional areas
• Special population experts: likely a MLL or Special Education director who brings expertise about what is needed to support special populations in your district
• School level professional: likely an influential principal in your district who can bring the school level perspective to supporting instruction and also help engage in the instructional practices and systems from the sessions
• Teacher leaders: likely school-level teacher leaders with interest in deepening their practice, as well as interest in helping to design instructional systems at their school.

Frequently Asked Questions

Question:
If I attended last year's ILI, should I attend this year's as well?
Answer:
Educators and leaders that participated in last year's ILI are encouraged to attend again this year. This year's ILI will build from and deepen the learning that took place last year, although participation in last summer's ILI is not a prerequisite for attendance this summer. The ILI continues to focus on supporting district and school leaders to realize DESE's Educational Vision. This year, the ILI will include both content specific workspaces along with more intentional team planning time and strategies to scale up the work back in your districts and schools.

Question:
Will travel funding and overnight accommodations be provided or reimbursed?
Answer:
Unfortunately, for this institute DESE cannot fund or reimburse for travel or overnight accommodations.

Question:
Will we have time to plan with our district team during the Institute?
Answer:
Yes, teams will have about one hour each day to plan together.