Questions That Separate Real Students-with- Disabilities Expertise from Lip Service

Leveraging Data to Improve HQIM Implementation: A Conversation with Amreena Hussain

What happens after a district adopts high-quality instructional materials? In this episode of PL Reality Check, Annie Morrison sits down with Amreena Hussain, founder of EdBetter and former leader at both the Texas Education Agency and Maryland State Department of Education, to unpack findings from EdBetter's new report, Instructional Improvement Through Curriculum-Aligned Classroom Observations. Drawing on data from more than 2,000 classroom observations across five partner districts, the conversation explores a popular question: What actually drives successful curriculum implementation? The findings point to the critical role of teacher preparation, curriculum-aligned professional learning, classroom observation data, and leaders who know the curriculum deeply enough to support instructional improvement. If you're interested in turning curriculum investments into measurable improvements in teaching and learning, this episode offers both evidence and practical lessons from the field.

Why Do Professional Learning Providers Fail the PLPG Review Process?

Ever wondered why some professional learning providers make the cut for the Professional Learning Partner Guide and others don’t? Maybe you've noticed your provider isn't in the guide—or that they were, and now they're not. Should you be worried? In this episode of The PL Reality Check, we sit down with Sruthi Echarry Diaz to pull back the curtain on Rivet’s Professional Learning Partner Guide review process. We break down the most common reasons providers don’t pass, what reviewers are really looking for, and how feedback is used to improve professional learning across the field. If you’ve ever questioned what it actually takes to meet the bar for high-quality, curriculum-based professional learning, this conversation offers a clear, honest look behind the scenes.

The Provider Test Key Questions That Show Whether Multilingual Learner Support Is More Than a Promise

In Part 2 of this conversation on The PL Reality Check, PLPG Director Dr. Joslyn Richardson sits down with Dr. Chalon Jones of the English Learners Success Forum to explore the key questions leaders should ask to determine whether a provider truly supports multilingual learners—or is simply making promises. Dr. Jones shares practical guidance on how effective professional learning translates research on language development into real classroom practice, how providers should help teachers integrate language and content instruction, and what evidence districts should look for to confirm that the provider can back up their claims: what classroom practice looks like for their clients, how outcomes change over time, and more.

The Multilingual Learner Expertise Gap What Teachers Need (But Often Don’t Get)

In this episode of PL Reality Check, we sit down with Chalon Jones of the English Learners Success Forum (ELSF) to examine the multilingual learner expertise gap—and what it means for curriculum implementation. Chalon shares why multilingual learners have too often been treated as an “add-on” rather than central to instructional design, and how that shows up in both high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) and professional learning. She walks through the development of the Professional Learning Partner Guide's new Multilingual Learner Badge, which she helped co-develop with Rivet Education, explaining what it signals about a professional learning provider's ability to support language development in the context of HQIM. This conversation offers clear insight into what teachers need in order to provide full access to HQIM for their multilingual learners.

Is There a Right Way to Structure PLCs?

Claire Rivero sits down with Nicole Cooley from Kids First Education to talk about professional learning community (PLC) design. Every school holds PLCs in some form, but many are more of an obligation to be checked off. Nicole outlines the essential components of PLCs that are tied to experiences teachers actually find useful!