Past Partners
Our partners have transformed their approach to student literacy and writing. Since 2002, we have partnered with approximately 50 schools, districts, and nonprofit organizations. To learn more about becoming a partner, please submit an inquiry through our contact form.
Madison Park Technical Vocational High School
Partnership: 2016 – 2022
“How do we prepare students to meet the complex, industry-specific writing and reading demands of technical and vocational professions?“
Madison Park Technical Vocational High School, a Boston Public turn-around school, provides training in 20 technical vocational programs.
Whether career or college bound, students need to be confident readers and writers: able to read dense technical manuals as an auto-mechanic or electrician, or document patient outcomes as a medical assistant. A WordPowered instructional coach supports teachers as they build the literacy skills students need to succeed in their chosen fields.
Coaching has impacted early career and veteran teachers alike. A veteran teacher commented, “As an experienced educator, I really thought I didn’t need any assistance. Kelly has taught me different strategies on lesson plans, differentiated instruction, and assessments. [Coaching] allowed me to increase student achievement and instructional dialogue.”
Chelsea Public Schools
Partnership: 2015 – 2020
“How do we build capacity to support all of our students in grappling with complex reading and writing? What does this look like at every level of a school district: for teachers, coaches, and administrators?”
After six months with a WordPowered coach supporting teachers at Wright Academy, the Chelsea Public Schools decided to think bigger. Why not transform literacy instruction across Chelsea’s three middle schools, so that every student has access to aligned and strong instruction?
District leaders knew it couldn’t happen overnight. More than that, transformation would require understanding and buy-in at every level. But together, the Chelsea Public Schools and WordPowered designed a three-year plan to support students, teachers, coaches, administrators, and district leaders.
Initial feedback has been excellent. As one district coach wrote: “When I heard we had another trainer this year, I was less than thrilled. However, this is one training (and trainer) I actually learned from and walked away with immediate action steps, plans, ideas and resources to test out literally the next day.”
City Year Boston
Partnership: 2015 – 2019
“What literacy tools, strategies, and knowledge do City Year corps members need to support school communities and impact the students they serve?”
Nearly 200 City Year corps members work in 20+ Boston Public schools — reaching over 1,000 students each year. Corps members, young and passionate, often have little prior experience in urban education. To help them navigate their complex work in schools, City Year provides ongoing training to every corps member. When literacy was identified as a central area of need, City Year Boston called WriteBoston’s former Director of Programming and Training, Jessie Gerson.
Together, WordPowered and City Year developed a series of workshops based on core literacy practices and feedback from Corps members. And support didn’t end with workshops. To help corps members as they tested out strategies in their own schools, WordPowered conducted classroom observations, hosted office hours for corps members, and provided thought partnering with City Year leadership.
Feedback from Corps Members has been glowing. Over nine training sessions, more than 99% of the 130+ volunteer respondents rated the trainings as “good” or “excellent” — the top two ratings on a five-point scale.
Five District Partnership
Partnership: 2015 – 2018
“What does good “grade-level” writing look like? How do we assess it, and how does that assessment guide instruction? How do we scale and align great instruction happening in one classroom to multiple classrooms, schools, and districts?”
The Five District Partnership (5DP) is an innovative joint education effort among the districts of Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Revere, and Winthrop to improve instruction and academic achievement. Born after research showed a high rate of mobility among students within the five districts, the collaborative has already made incredible progress.
WordPowered’s relationship with the 5DP started small–with a series of summer workshops for teachers–but quickly expanded. To meet areas of critical need in literacy, WordPowered and the 5DP launched a two-year project to design, pilot, and bring to scale argument-based writing assessments in middle schools across all five districts.
Funded by the Cummings Foundation, this project impacted an estimated 10,000 students. The work was spearheaded by a WordPowered facilitator and a working group of coaches and teacher leaders from across five districts, who have continued to shepherd this work after the partnership officially ended.
Cove Davis, the 5DP’s Executive Administrator for Curriculum and Development, said: “WriteBoston [now WordPowered] has been one of our key professional development partners. Facilitators from WriteBoston are dynamic, experienced, and responsive to the needs of teachers.”
Boston Community Leadership Academy
Partnership: 2002 – 2015
At Boston Community Leadership Academy (BCLA), teachers and administrators alike credit WordPowered with helping to transform the school’s approach to professional development.
Kelly Knopf-Goldner, a former WriteBoston coach, worked on-site with teachers two days a week. BCLA educators say that Kelly has brought coherence and focus to teachers’ professional growth and classroom instruction.
Headmaster Brett Dickens said, “Before WriteBoston [now WordPowered], I always found professional development to be discouraging for teachers – too many presenters with no credibility and no follow-up. Now, with Kelly, the professional development is institutionalized, planned, teacher-driven, and sustained.”
Greater Lawrence Technical School
Partnership: 2011 – 2014
Teachers at Greater Lawrence Technical School admit that they were somewhat skeptical at first about working with a WordPowered coach. Many of them recalled frustrating past experiences with “expert consultants,” whose support was not tailored to their needs and rarely resulted in meaningful change to their practice. When Rebecca Steinitz began working with the faculty in the fall of 2011, she knew she had to deliver professional development that was relevant, customized, and actionable.
Two years later, teachers and administrators alike reported that their work with WordPowered had a profound impact on teaching practice and on the overall culture of the school. Student writing grew dramatically in volume and quality. Teachers now hold students to high expectations for literacy, writing, and critical thinking, not only in English classes but in other academic subjects and in vocational classes as well.
Annual Report 2024
Our 2024 Annual Report
July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024
In the 2023-2024 fiscal year, WriteBoston (now WordPowered) made significant strides in our mission to empower youth through literacy. We enhanced our programs for both educators and students, expanding our impact through efforts focused on literacy practices, community building, and supporting marginalized youth. We coached over 60 educators reaching 1,390 students, and engaged 134 youth in its Teens in Print (TiP) program.
Key developments included launching the TiP Newsroom, which offered real-world journalism experiences, and strengthening our focus on equity in coaching by addressing bias among school leaders and teachers. We introduced a continuous learning methodology to better measure our impact. We also adopted an equitable compensation philosophy to recruit and retain a diverse staff.
Looking ahead, WordPowered is positioned for sustainable growth, emphasizing expanding community partnerships and professional development offerings. Our purpose remains clear: to empower youth through literacy, foster transformative learning, and advocate for social justice by supporting educators, students, and schools in driving educational equity. WordPowered continues to reshape literacy, so that all youth think critically and use their voices to create change.
WordPowered aims to foster inclusive, engaging learning experiences. In the last year, our work impacted…
134
students through after-school & summer programming
60
educators through professional development & coaching in schools & community settings
1,390
estimated students through the ripple effects of programming
Teens in Print
Teens in Print (or TiP) is a writing and journalism program, focused on youth community building, social-emotional learning, and identity development. We engaged a total of 78 youth from Greater Boston over four program cycles, culminating in multiple publications and multimedia projects. We engaged an additional 56 students through partnerships, reaching a total of 134 students last year.
Considered a flagship program in Boston After School and Beyond’s portfolio of summer youth experiences, our Summer Journalism Institute continues to center youth empowerment, literacy, and community engagement. The program took place at Babson College, where teens participated in an immersive, six-week experience. Through writing and multimedia projects, students explored topics related to the history of Boston, their identities, and current events. The program included an “Inspiration Breakfast” to foster connections between current students and alumni. This event marked the beginning of a robust alumni engagement initiative.
134
students participated in TiP programming and partnership, with 12 experienced TiPsters publishing local stories from the TiP Newsroom.
72
articles published, with 400 magazines distributed to local schools and organizations in addition to online publication
84%
of students reported: "Being part of TiP has helped build my confidence" and "Writing stories for TiP makes me feel like I am positively contributing to my community.
100%
college matriculation for TiP seniors, with 13 students attending institutions like UMass Boston, Brown, and Bryn Mawr College. All our graduates are first-generation college students.
Check out the digital issues of Teens in Print magazine!
Additional Accomplishments
- Cross-publication partnerships expanded TiP’s reach, with articles featured on platforms such as Lady Gaga’s Channel Kindness and Boston Compass.
- TiP Ambassadors (TiPsters and WordPowered staff) continued to recruit students and staff to promote the program, fostering greater participation and community support.
We are making great strides toward raising TiP’s visibility and ensuring that teens’ voices are heard and valued throughout Boston.
Collaborative Coaching
WordPowered’s Coaching Team facilitates programming across schools.
Our Collaborative Coaching team made significant progress this year in advancing educator practice and fostering continuous learning.
WordPowered provided tailored professional development and year-long coaching support to approximately 60 educators. This support was aimed at transforming literacy practices, with a focus on educational equity. Our coaches delivered in-person assistance after two years of hybrid engagement, working in collaboration with school leadership to implement site-specific work plans. In the 2023-24 school year, WordPowered provided embedded coaching and PD in the following locations:
Additional Accomplishments
- Boston International High School and Newcomers Academy (BINcA): Supported 500 students through weekly coaching, focusing on English Language Learners.
- Madison Park Technical Vocational High School: Impacted 400 students through coach-the-coach models and teacher collaboration.
- Mel H. King Academies: Supported 134 students with high-support-needs behavioral and emotional disabilities.
- Cyrus Peirce Middle School (Nantucket): Provided intermittent professional development workshops for teachers to improve writing instruction for over 350 students.
Program Highlights + Impact
60
educators received tailored professional development and year-long coaching support
96%
of educators report that WordPowered workshops offered varied approaches that enabled them to actively engage with the content and concepts
5
partner schools received support, reaching approximately 1,390 students across multiple districts
87%
of educators report that WordPowered’s professional development was more effective than that of other PD providers
In the 2023-2024 school year, the Coaching/PD Team worked to improve their ability to recognize and redress even the subtlest biases, inequities, and oppressive ideologies by examining their root causes and how they show up in practices, policies, and systems. The team collectively identified and brainstormed common inequitable beliefs and statements heard and seen in schools; then they collaboratively worked to identify the underlying belief for each statement and brainstorm ways to address them. Recordings and transcripts of coaching conversations helped to identify, build on, and practice key coaching moments and moves that helped their coachees shift their beliefs.
OrganizationalTransitions & Growth
Building Staffing Capacity
In FY24, we welcomed five new staff members. These new hires played a crucial role in supporting our expanding programming needs and advancing our organizational goals. Here are the important steps we undertook:
- We redesigned the instructional coaching team to consist of three part-time instructional coaches, led by a full-time Director of Professional Learning & Partnerships.
- Our Development and Communications Coordinator was promoted to Director of Marketing & Communication.
- We established WordPowered’s Advancement team to focus on development and donor stewardship.
- A Youth Program Facilitator joined the team in June to support the TiP Newsroom.
Additionally, we focused on:
- Maximizing TiP Team Impact: We reduced administrative and operational duties for the TiP team, allowing them to dedicate more time to working directly with students.
- Strengthening the Advancement Team: We invested in building a stronger team focused on marketing, communications, development, and operations to better steward long-term donors, enhance nonprofit partnerships, and expand our fundraising efforts.
Performance Management & Continuous Learning
We made strides toward:
- SMARTIE Goals: We aligned individual, team, and organizational goals with our commitment to equity and transparency, ensuring meaningful contributions to our mission from every team member.
- Performance Management Process: We reviewed our internal communication flow and created new tools to support effective onboarding, inclusive meetings, and shared learning experiences. In establishing our Performance Management Process, we are able to promote our norm of flexible and ambitious expectations.
Special thanks to Positively Partners for inspiring the foundation for WordPowered’s compensation philosophy.
The following efforts laid the foundation for using data to narrate our impact, increase transparency, and refine our practices for greater effectiveness in the future:
- Teacher Logs for Data Collection: Our Coaching team developed logs to collect valuable data on educator practices, moving beyond reliance on teacher surveys, which can be difficult to consistently obtain.
- Student Tracking: The TiP team used a project management system to track students, streamlining student data collection, supporting our impact reporting, and aiding the publication processes for TiP.
- Knowledge Management: The Advancement team piloted task management systems and began collecting staff feedback to streamline our organizational processes.
Our Finances
The charts below share funds raised and used on operating activities during FY24. In addition, WordPowered has restricted funds for use in FY24 and FY25 of $522K and Board-designated reserves of $400K.
Expenses
Revenue
While expenses are presented by function, each category is core to delivering on our mission. Program services include the staffing necessary to plan, run, and evaluate programming, as well as material costs ranging from subscriptions to online education tools to stipends for student writers.
General and administrative expenses include accounting, audit costs, IT, insurance, and staff time associated with managing the organization effectively and efficiently. Fundraising includes events, campaigns, and staff costs to maintain the resources to operate and grow our programs.
A Major Thank You to Our Supporting Foundations!
- Anonymous Foundation (2)
- Argus*
- Beacon Research*
- Beacon Services, Inc.*
- BlueHub Capital*
- BNY Mellon
- Boston After School Program & Beyond (BASB)
- Boston University*
- BPS Summer Fund
- Brookline Savings Bank
- Bushrod H. Campbell and Adah F. Hall Charity Fund
- Calderwood Charitable Foundation
- Cambridge Community Foundation
- The Castle Group*
- City of Boston Youth Development Fund
- Cummings Foundation
- DOT Joyce Consulting LLC*
- The Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation*
- Liberty Mutual Foundation
- Liberty Mutual Climate Resiliency Fund
- Munroe Morrow Wealth Management*
- National Grid Foundation
- The NBT II Foundation
- Nicole Russo Communications*
- Nutter, McClennen & Fish, LLP*
- Paul and Edith Babson Foundation
- Encore Boston Harbor*
- Frank W. and Carl S. Adams Memorial Fund
- The Greg Monroe Foundation
- The Philanthropic Initiative
- Sanofi*
- Schrafft Charitable Trust
- Stull & Lee, Inc.*
- Teak Media*
- Titus Foundation Inc
- TJX Foundation*
- Wellington Foundation
- The Young Authors Foundation
- Youth Development Fund
*Pros&Conversation sponsor
Acknowledgments
WordPowered is grateful to its donors, partners, staff, and volunteers who have supported our work over the past year. Together, we have empowered hundreds of youth and educators, creating meaningful change in the communities we serve.
For more information about our work or to support our mission, read more here.
Thank you for your continued support!
Collaborative Coaching
Professional learning for equity.
As an experienced professional learning team, we know that every school, district, or organization has its own diverse community and specific set of needs. Instead of a one size fits all approach, we work with our partners to design a professional learning plan that meets them where they’re at. Our work is grounded in clear, actionable goals and outcomes for all learners—youth and adults.
While schools and youth-serving organizations continue to deal with the impacts of the pandemic, it’s more important than ever to have targeted professional learning that is grounded in equity and inclusion.
Want to learn more about what our expert team can do for you?
We work with schools, districts, and organizations across Massachusetts and beyond.
How we can support you
A partnership with WordPowered can look a few different ways. For the most impact, we embed a coach into a school or district for 1-3 days per week through the duration of one or more school years. For shorter-term projects, we consider your available time and resources and offer customized workshops with or without implementation support.
Professional learning support can include:
A coach collaborates with educators—both new and experienced—to teach their content through targeted literacy strategies (writing, of course, but listening, speaking, and reading as well). These methods promote students’ critical thinking and meaning making. Coaches provide resources and support to keep teachers learning and improving their practice. What coaching looks like can vary:
- A coach meets one-on-one with teachers during planning periods to help develop units and lessons, create assessments, and devise effective teaching strategies. The coach then follows up in the classroom with co-teaching or observation.
- A coach meets weekly with a department or teacher teams to provide workshops, reflect on student work, and develop and align school-wide language and practices.
- A coach facilitates school-wide professional development on a particular aspect of literacy across the curriculum.
Read about a successful coaching partnership at Boston Community Leadership Academy.
Schools and districts that employ embedded coaches know that coaching can be demanding—and often isolating. With an expert staff of instructional leaders who possess extensive coaching experience, WordPowered is able to support school-based coaches in their daily work of translating literacy best practices into actionable supports and strategies that can be shared with classroom teachers.
Tasked with wearing multiple hats, coaching requires a body of content knowledge around instruction broadly, and literacy specifically. At the same time, effective coaches also know how to work with adults to advance their learning. That can be a tall order, even for the most skilled educators.
Based on the needs of our partners, WordPowered strengthens the capacity of school and district coaches around both content and coaching strategies that enable them to deepen their impact on classroom instruction.
Read about a successful partnership that includes coaching-the-coach support.
Professional development done well—responsive to authentic needs, deeply tied to implementation, and delivered with an awareness of who’s in the classroom—can lead to real change. WriteBoston provides workshops on a broad range of topics, all tailored or created specifically for the particular context of the partner.
WordPowered pairs skillful workshops with implementation support such as modeling, co-planning sessions, and short-term coaching, to ensure that the practices and strategies at the core of the workshops become a part of daily classroom instruction and truly reach students.
We support educators across disciplines and content areas, with the knowledge that developing strong literacy skills happens across department and school buildings.
As an external partner, we have the unique opportunity to maintain a strategic focus on literacy in all its forms—and to ensure that the work of educators across all levels of the school ecosystem (teachers, building coaches, principals and district leaders) are aligned, coordinated and supporting powerful instructional practices in the classroom.
This work can include administrator versions of teacher/coach workshops, support aligning evaluation with instructional best practices, learning walks and literacy audits all geared towards creating impact and coherence across schools and districts.
Teens in Print
TiP for Teachers
Sign up to receive student writing from Teens in Print, schedule a workshop for your classroom, or submit student writing for publication.
Summer Journalism Institute
Discover journalism. Develop your future. Dive into Boston.
Teens in Print’s Summer Journalism Institute (SJI) aims to give Boston teens an immersive writing experience through culturally enriching outings that encourage students to interrogate the history of Boston as it relates to them using key journalism skills.
By interacting with public and cultural spaces they may not traditionally have access to, students will be able to claim ownership over larger societal narratives and produce pieces of writing that reflect their enhanced understanding of their unique position within the city of Boston. Through a combination of writing and multimedia projects, students will contribute to and challenge some of the established narratives that define people’s lived experiences in this city.
From Snapchat, to Twitter, to Buzzfeed, news is everywhere you look. Your generation is the first to have 24/7 access to everything going on in the world—but that comes with a unique set of challenges. Couple this with growing up in the city of Boston and suddenly you are the center of historical narratives that have combined with current trends that ultimately shape how people view and behave in this city. We aim to help you find your place within these larger narratives and use your voice to positively contribute to the world around you.
As a journalist this summer, you’ll get to test out the power of your voice and identity and leave with sharpened media skills, something you’ll be able to apply in the future whether you’re a reporter on the White House beat, or simply reading your news app on the T.
By the end of this hybrid six-week program, you will walk away with a deeper understanding of journalism, plus several published pieces of writing and multimedia content.
SJI is a dynamic program, and every day looks a little different. Here’s a sample of what you might experience:
- The day will begin with a check-in with a group of 30 of your peers.
- Next, you’ll break into small writing modules to talk about the piece you’re working on.
- After a break, you’ll take some independent time to work on your piece.
- You’ll have a dedicated mentor and small group check-ins to talk about your writing, ask for and offer feedback, and discuss challenges.
- The full group will come back together to share and debrief at the end of each day.
Throughout the summer, you’ll participate in multi-media workshops and explore historical landmarks across this city. You might hear from seasoned journalists, speak to professionals of color about navigating race and equity issues in the workplace, or network with adults in fields like marketing, law, and the arts.
Who participates in SJI?
Each year, we welcome about 30 teens who live in Boston and will be attending high school in September. These teens come from a vast array of neighborhoods and attend dozens of different schools across the city. Approximately 40% of our participants speak a language other than English at home.
When does SJI take place?
SJI runs for six weeks, Monday to Friday. We ask that all participants are able to commit to attending all six weeks of programming.
Where is SJI held?
SJI will be in-person this year at Suffolk University. You’ll join us in person for the first few days of programming as we review program expectations and equip you with access to our Discord server that we will use to meet virtually. Some days, we even have field trips across the city and state.
Why should I join?
Earning a byline is hard, even for adult professional journalists. But after just six weeks in the Summer Journalism Institute, you’ll be published on the Teens in Print website. Having a publication on your resume will help you stand out for other professional opportunities—like college and internships. Past participants have talked about their experience with SJI in job interviews, asked SJI mentors for feedback on their college essays, and requested recommendation letters.
How do I get paid?
Participants will be paid an hourly rate of $15 an hour up to 25 hours a week. Checks will be mailed to participants’ homes. Direct deposit is not available.
Do I need to have experience in journalism to join?
No. We do not expect participants to have experience in journalism prior to joining our program. We look for participants who are curious about the world, passionate about something and ready to learn.
What if I don’t have a laptop computer that I can use?
While students are free to use their own computer, we have laptops available for students to borrow during the summer. Students who borrow technology will be asked to sign a contract along with their parent/guardian.
If I don’t have a lot of writing experience, is SJI for me?
Whether you’re a published poet or you’ve never written a word, our mentor team at SJI will meet you where you are. Our job is to push you to grow as a writer – you just need to be excited about telling your story, and willing to practice writing every day.
While everyone will be required to write in some capacity, we’re open to having students work on products that aren’t explicitly writing, such as a photojournalism series.
Read articles published on the Teens in Print website.
Sign up for our newsletter to receive additional updates.
Check out our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to see photos from TiP and past Summer Journalism Institutes!
Support Great Writing
We’re committed to building impactful partnerships with organizations and individuals who are invested in the next generation.
Opportunities to volunteer—as a group or as an individual—are listed below. We aim to build mutually beneficial partnerships that support the success of young people and have opportunities throughout the year. To discuss other ways to get engaged, please contact Abdi Ali, Executive Director.
Become a Source for Teen Writers
Offer your industry expertise to budding journalists. Add your contact information to our source list to be a valuable resource for young reporters.
When you sign up, students may reach out to you for a quote, interview, or for background information in your area of expertise. If you agree, your name and organization will be published as an authority for readership across the city.
Read for the Rising Voices Awards
The Rising Voices Awards (RVA) are presented for each quarterly cycle of Teens in Print, our writing program for Boston middle and high schoolers. Winning students receive a cash prize and special recognition on the Teens in Print website.
As a reader for RVA, you’ll celebrate excellent writing and engage in meaningful volunteering. Partners volunteer to read and score a selection of nominated articles to decide each cycles’ Rising Voices Award winners.
Contact Us
Thank you for your interest in WordPowered. To get in touch, please use the form below or email Ahlam Abdelkader, Communications & Development Associate at ahlamabdelkader@wordpowered.org.
Our Partners
Our partners have transformed their approach to student literacy and writing. Since 2002, we have partnered with approximately 50 schools, districts, and nonprofit organizations. To learn more about becoming a partner, please submit an inquiry through our contact form.
Boston Public Schools
Boston International High School and Newcomers Academy (BINcA) and Mel H. King Academies
Our Collaborative Coaching team continues working across content teams, both with team leads and with teachers directly.
At BINcA, our team provides support for teachers in English Language Arts, History, Science, and Math.
“[Meghan Rosenberg] has worked closely with me to transform the work of the science department. She has provided great insight on how best to shape this department with my goals for them of 1) more valuable collaboration and 2) transform instruction to embrace the science practices. The result has been a far more effective Science CPT (common planning time): we have engaged in Data Driven Instruction and prepared for implementing a new High-Quality Curriculum. Meghan has been instrumental in planning these meetings: she keeps me focused on my goals, gives helpful suggestions, and asks questions that help uncover new and more effective strategies.”
At the Mel H. King Academies, our team identifies a shared instructional focus area based on the school’s overall goals and follow a similar process for coaching teachers across departments and grade levels. Using different meeting structures to support alignment across individual teachers’ practices and lift up and share what’s working.
“I feel strongly that I have been able to improve my coaching of the teachers with whom I work because of [Rebecca Eppall]’s coaching of me. She has given some actionable strategies and ways to recast how I think about interactions with staff or teacher observations/teacher moves to break them into smaller chunks. I clicked ‘agree’ for some of the teacher specific questions because the teachers that I have spent more time with observing/debriefing/thinking together actually have seen an increase in student scores on some End of Unit assessments and student’s MAP Growth Reading and Math scores.”
Everett Public Schools
Two of our Collaborative Coaching specialists, Meredith Moore and Meghan Rosenberg, led two sessions on Reading Strategies for Engaging All Learners. Teachers spoke about the newness and even discomfort of being in a truly student-centered classroom. Here’s what our participants shared:
“I’ve used the partner reading activity pretty frequently in class and it has really revolutionized the way I approach in-class reading. It’s a great way to engage all students and allow them to be comfortable working and teaching one another.”
“Concrete, tangible resources and strategies to implement in class this week.”
You can read our strategies here.
Lynn Public Schools
During the 2024-2025 school year, WordPowered partnered with Lynn Public Schools to elevate language acquisition and development for English Learners in math classrooms. WordPowered Instructional Coach Meredith Moore worked with math department heads and 7th-grade math teachers on-site at Lynn’s three middle schools throughout the school year. Through one-on-one coaching as well as collaborative work in Professional Learning Communities, Meredith guided educators to:
- Unpack the language demands of the math curriculum, including language functions and key vocabulary
- Plan and implement instructional routines designed to amplify and develop the language of math.
By centering the needs of English Learners students, Lynn educators created new opportunities for all students to use language with increased confidence to share their ideas.
Lowell Public Schools
WordPowered partnered with Lowell High School in the 2024-2025 school year to offer two groups for a book study of Grading for Equity, followed by support of a team of teachers and administrators who will facilitate focus groups and draft changes to Lowell High School’s grading policy to increase alignment with the tenets laid out in Grading for Equity.
Following the book study groups, a WordPowered coach provided leadership coaching on an individual basis to the teacher-leader leading the small group working on the new grading policy and also offered group coaching to the small group, particularly focused on their preparation for, facilitation of, and debrief of focus groups, as well as supporting their decision-making in how they use the focus group data to inform the recommended changes to the grading policy.
Here’s what our participants shared:
“I used to see grades as a motivator, but here a LHS I can see that they are not. I am interested in finding other methods of motivation, but there are other initiatives here in Lowell that seem to be both complementary and yet paradoxically contradictory. I am hopeful that some of the shifts that I have made previously and some that I am going to try for Q4 will address some of the pillars such as bias-resistant, transparency, student self-regulation, etc.”
“I used to think grading was sort of secondary to everything else, but now I see that our grading practices really matter and influence student motivation to learn.”
826 Boston
WordPowered partnered with 826 Boston in the Spring of 2025, offering two professional development sessions focused on:
- Differentiating Instruction for English Language Learners
- Literacy Skill Development for Grades 6-8
The goals of the partnership were to:
- Support staff in building and practicing their skill in differentiating instruction for English Language Learners.
- Building staff capacity in promoting literacy skill development for students in grades 6-8.
- Engage educators in ongoing reflection, learning, and action related to culturally sustaining pedagogy and equity-centered mindsets and practices.
Here’s what a participant shared:
“I learned very helpful language and context for many of the strategies that I was already doing with my [multilingual learning] students. It reminded me to slow down and provide visual cues (comprehensible input) for both students and our international volunteers whose first language is not English. I haven’t been able to do as much with annotation or double-entry notes yet because of how class scheduling and assignments have worked out, but I plan to do more of this next school year.”
The list doesn’t stop here. We have worked with countless other schools across Massachusetts.
Our Board
WordPowered Board of Directors
James Tierney
Board President
Managing Director, New England Market
JLL Boston
Nick Martin
Board Vice President and Governance Committee Chair
Senior Director
Bully Pulpit Interactive
Doug Banks
Board Treasurer and Finance Committee Chair
Executive Editor
Boston Business Journal
Phillip Page
Vice President of Strategic Partnerships
Bay Path University and Cambridge College
Deborah Spencer
Chief Marketing Officer
The Castle Group
Claudius Zorokong
Lending Officer
Rockland Trust