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About

Who is Rivet?

The Professional Learning Partner Guide (PLPG) is a product of Rivet Education. It supports the mission to ensure that all teachers have the instructional materials and professional learning they need to provide all students with the education they deserve.

Rivet wants to increase the use of high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) and aligned professional learning. Rivet does this by (1) reviewing and vetting these services, and (2) developing detailed plans for rolling them out.

Rivet brings state and local education agencies together with top-quality professional learning partners who can meet their specific instructional needs – similar to how a rivet fastens together two pieces of metal. <a href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA134-1.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"Meet the Rivet Education team.

Why was the Professional Learning Partner Guide created?

When teachers have great materials and highquality professional learning aligned to those materials, student achievement increases. However, all too often, professional learning is of mixed quality and disconnected from the materials that teachers are using in their classrooms.

A primary reason this happens is school and district leaders lack reliable information about the quality of professional learning services. Rivet Education launched the PLPG to take this burden off of districts by evaluating professional learning organizations and making recommendations on who has the highest quality services.

Rivet hope that the PLPG helps:

  • Grow the demand for high-quality professional learning in schools and districts, and
  • Improve the quality of the professional learning marketplace by highlighting the best professional learning partners.

What is high-quality professional learning?

Research indicates that high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) improve outcomes for students in substantial, cost-effective, and scalable ways.

However, implementing HQIM effectively requires a shift in how teachers teach. Therefore, teachers and leaders need high-quality professional learning (HQPL) that demonstrates how to use HQIM to meet the learning needs of every student.

Rivet Education’s framework for high-quality, curriculum-aligned professional learning synthesizes key research in high-quality professional learning (HQPL) aligned to HQIM.

The framework includes three components:

  • The overarching characteristics of HQPL are consistent across all types of professional learning. These include characteristics that market research indicated teachers want in their professional learning, such as specificity to context, collaboration, and interactive engagement.
  • The types of professional learning needed to support the effective use of HQIM, including ongoing adoption and launch for teachers, and systems design and leadership support. These reflect the research that shows that whether one is implementing a new behavior management system or curriculum, “implementation is a process, not an event” (1). It requires a sustained and deliberate effort over time.
  • The structures can be leveraged to provide educators with the professional learning they want and need. These include but are not limited to: workshops, which often come to mind first when people think about professional learning, collaborative planning time or professional learning communities (PLCs), coaching, and consultation with experts.

By clearly defining HQPL and the structures and types for delivery, Rivet’s framework for HQPL allows leaders to more easily develop professional learning plans that have a deliberate and cohesive scope and sequence to support HQIM implementation. Additionally, the framework provides leaders with a north star for what a vetted and well-planned HQPL should look like.

How does Rivet evaluate high-quality professional learning?

Rivet invites any and all professional learning partners that specialize in providing high-quality, curriculum-aligned professional learning services to apply for the PLPG.

Review team

Rivet’s trained team of educators are selected for their expertise in high quality instructional materials (HQIM) and aligned professional learning. Each reviewer also undergoes training on the PLPG’s evaluation process and criteria in order to ensure a fair and rigorous review of every application.

The expert review team has:

  • 37 reviewers
  • 34+ post-graduate degrees
  • Average 15 years in education
  • Expertise in student learning from birth to grade 12

Meet Our Review Team

Review process

Rivet is committed to ensuring that the professional learning partners featured in the PLPG are best-in-class and provide the high-quality support that students and teachers deserve.

Rivet has a three-step evaluation process. Applicants submit professional detailed learning materials like training presentations, handouts, guidebooks, course syllabi, and coaching notes. Expert reviewers evaluate the materials against criteria to assess if the organization provides significant evidence of robust, HQIM-aligned professional learning services. Professional learning partners that meet these criteria are profiled in the PLPG. See our Scoring & Evidence Guide for more details.

Our review cycles

Rivet has two application cycles each year, adding new professional partners to the guide every February and July. Professional learning partners are approved to be in the PLPG for a period of two years.

Next Review Cycle: Launches September 2023

Interested in applying? View the application overview and visit the application portal.

 

Rivet Education’s Disclaimer

Rivet Education, LLC (“Rivet”) provides this Professional Learning Partner Guide “Guide” for general information purposes only. All information contained in this Guide is provided in good faith, however, Rivet neither guarantees nor makes any representations or warranties as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this Guide. Rivet evaluates third-party providers based on information that is self-reported, including assurances from third-party providers that they have all necessary rights and permissions to provide their services. Rivet does not evaluate, and makes no representations with respect to, whether the services of professional learning providers violate the copyright or other intellectual property rights of the authors or publishers of curriculum materials. Unless specifically indicated, Rivet makes no claim that a publisher authorizes, approves, sponsors, or endorses any professional learning provider. Rivet has not evaluated, and does not make any representation regarding, whether any professional learning provider’s use of curriculum materials in rendering services constitutes infringement of any copyrighted materials. Rivet does not claim responsibility for any actions taken by any third-party service provider listed in this Guide, including by way of example and not limitation, any infringement of the intellectual property rights of others.

The term “partner” is used throughout this Guide to describe a relationship between education agencies and the providers of professional learning services and does not create or imply a joint venture, partnership, affiliation, or other relationship between Rivet and any other party, or among any parties identified in this Guide.

All product and company names used in this Guide are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. Use of company or product names does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by the owners of those marks. Solely for convenience and informational purposes, this Guide contains hyperlinks to external websites and services that are not under the control of Rivet. Links to external websites do not constitute endorsement of these sites or their contents by Rivet. Rivet does not control or guarantee the currency, accuracy, or completeness of information found on linked, external sites. You use hyperlinks to access external websites at your own risk and your use of linked, external websites is subject to the terms of use, privacy, and security policies of those external websites.

You are responsible for conducting your own reasonable investigation and evaluation before retaining the services of any third-party service providers. Reproduction, distribution, republication, and/or re-transmission of any of the material contained within this Guide are strictly prohibited without the prior written permission of Rivet.

To the fullest extent permissible under applicable law, the Guide is provided in an “As Is” and “As Available” and “As Available” basis. Rivet expressly disclaims all warranties of any kind, whether expressed or implied, or statutory, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchant ability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. Rivet does not warrant that this Guide is error free, will operate without interruptions, is free of viruses or other harmful components, or will otherwise meet your needs.

Under no circumstances will Rivet or its employees, contractors, or agents be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, punitive, or consequential damages which may result in any way from your use of information included in this Guide or your use of any of the services of third-party service providers listed in this Guide.

Cited Resources

  1. Fixsen, D., Naoom, S., Blase, K., Friedman, R., Wallace, F. (2005). Implementation Research: A Synthesis of the Literature. Tamps, FL: University of South Florida, Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, National Implementation Research Network.