Why Learning Matters

By Kelly Sia - President, Curriculum Associates

The Curriculum Associates mission is to make classrooms better places for teachers and students. One of the ways we put that mission into practice is through the dedication and talent of our Service team members, currently accounting for roughly 40 percent of our staff. These are the folks who ensure the educators and learners we serve have everything they need to succeed, with roles spanning across partner success, technical support, data analytics, and those on the ground delivering world-class training in schools.

The 555 team members who deliver training sessions to our educator partners sit within this larger service organization and are subject-matter experts in our products, mission, and values. This team is composed of former classroom educators including several former Teacher of the Year recipients, superintendents, principals, and educational coaches. They’ve been recognized for their instructional expertise in leading students to improved outcomes, and today they bring their expertise to partner with educators to improve outcomes for students using i-Ready.

Last year, this team delivered more than 44,000 professional learning sessions in classrooms from California to Connecticut and everywhere in between.

These specialists work directly with our educator partners to strengthen the implementation and fidelity of our products as they’re used in the classroom, but they are also widely regarded as committed partners and advocates for the schools they serve. To reflect this commitment to collaborating with and learning alongside our education partners, the name of this team recently shifted from Professional Development to Professional Learning. This change, while seemingly small, was an important one to our organization. In the spirit of learning with our partners, we continually work to grow our offerings, refine our trainings, and tailor supports to fit their unique and evolving needs. We keep things fresh and enjoyable, from engaging live trainings to online courses that leaders and coaches can share for ongoing learning between professional sessions.

"Moving to ‘professional learning’ better reflects that we’re a company of lifelong learners,” said Caroline Vance , professional learning program manager. “We are constantly learning alongside our educator partners, and this better describes our commitment as a company to growing with our partners in service of stronger student outcomes."

“The shift has had an impact on our company culture,” said Kiresten Walker , professional learning specialist and regional literacy consultant. “Professional learning feels more accurate because we, as PL specialists, are learning alongside our educator partners. We don’t go in and develop their knowledge as much as we collectively learn together. We learn as they’re learning.” While the team's name and individual titles may have changed, our offerings and focus on stellar service have not. We remain dedicated to flexible, responsive, high-quality service that partners with educators and to hiring the best of the best to develop and deliver this critical implementation support.

Learn more about professional learning here or view our open professional learning roles here .

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