Learning Forward
Equity and excellence in teaching and learning.
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Teachers and coaches learn together at Boston’s learning sites
By Kristen Cacciatore and Mark Lonergan
Categories: Learning communities, Learning designs, OutcomesFebruary 2025
Biology teacher Sarah Benat stood at the front of her classroom at Boston’s Brighton High School, instructing students about graphing terms while moving her arm in the shape of increasing, decreasing, and constant lines on a graph. Her 12 English learner students repeated her arm movements with a chorus of matching vocabulary words. This could have been any day in Ms. Benat’s 10th-grade biology class for multilingual students, but this day was special. Fifteen educators from schools all over Boston, including members from Boston Public Schools’ science and multilingual learner central office staff departments, had come for a 45-minute observation. The observation is the anchor activity for a learning site, a professional learning series designed to support teachers in making instructional improvements aligned with self-identified
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References
Boston Public Schools. (2024). BPS Staff Survey. secure.panoramaed.com/bps/understand/5590592/summary#topic-scores-employee
Tichnor-Wagner, A. & Ferro, A. (2023). Networked professional learning to empower educators and improve student outcomes: Findings from the Telescope Network 2022-23 Learning Sites and Cohort [Unpublished report]. Wheelock Educational Policy Center, Boston University.
Kristen L. Cacciatore is an experienced instructional coach and educator at Charlestown High School in Boston. With over 25 years in science education, she leads professional learning initiatives, mentors teachers, and designs curriculum for Boston Public Schools and other organizations, including the College Board, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, and the Educational Testing Service. She holds a doctorate in green chemistry and National Board certification in chemistry.
Mark Lonergan is a Lead Networker for the Telescope Network and an Instructional Coach in Boston Public Schools. Before becoming a Networker, Mark taught math at Boston Arts Academy for 14 years. He also worked as the founding Consulting Teacher with Boston’s Peer Assistance and Review (PAR) program for 4 years. Mark is the father of two BPS graduates and one current BPS student.
Categories: Learning communities, Learning designs, Outcomes
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