Our Approach
We use a whole-child, whole-school, and whole-community approach to create a better learning experience for both students and professionals.
In addition, schools experiencing dynamic shifts in their populations of English learners may have English learners from rich prior literacy and schooling experiences along with other English learners that have not had the same type of prior schooling or have had significant interruptions to their education. Still other learners may have experienced significant trauma and violence from civil war, natural disasters, and other life impacting experiences. Programs that effectively address the need to engage these students can increase student success and reduce the dropout rate for schools and districts.
Experience
Our expert consultants have many years of experience in the classroom evaluating ELLs as well as all types of learners and their instructional programming, and conducting teacher trainings and graduate courses.
Customized Professional Development
We offer a range of tailored on-site or open-enrollment professional development, team and individualized coaching, and technical assistance related to English Learner program design, development and implementation, instructional strategies and curriculum assessment and design.
Curriculum Development and Delivery
We partner with educators, school and district teams to resolve problems of practice and support school leaders, teachers and other educators to strengthen learners’ academic and social-emotional wellbeing. In our work, we think about curriculum and instruction services and practices within the larger context of social justice, equity and trauma-engaged practice, and to support schools in responding to learners’ and families’ lived experience.
Student evaluation and performance
With a focus on analyzing student outcomes based on effective measures of student performance
SEI (Sheltered English Immersion) Center
CES is an approved provider of SEI endorsement courses for both teachers and administrators. Currently, courses are conducted online. We can bring site-based SEI Endorsement courses directly to your teachers! We have worked with districts of varying sizes throughout the state.
Title III Consortium
CES manages a regional consortium of 24 school districts, partnering to access Title III funding, to meet the educational needs of English Language Learners.
Program design that is aligned with state and national frameworks and regulations
Your school, particularly in rural and suburban areas, may have a small or low incidence of English learners and need help to address the regulations and the learning needs of this small population within a whole school/district context. We support developing and implementing strong policies and procedures based on scientifically-proven program models
Albert Johnson-Mussad
Dr. Johnson-Mussad serves as a staff consultant in leadership and instruction at the Collaborative for Educational Services. He travels nationally to facilitate professional development for school leaders, teachers and other licensed educators in instructional leadership; English learner education; world language and bilingual education; adolescent literacy education; improving outcomes for students in poverty; and social-emotional learning. He has been helping K-12 writers who are English learners, including EL’s with disabilities, to communicate personally compelling meaning for 30 years. He is the middle son of immigrants from Egypt, and a heritage speaker of English who also speaks Spanish and some Arabic.
Johnson-Mussad is a seasoned K-12 teacher and curriculum leader who has worked with central office and school-based administrators to increase achievement for both striving learners [or less ready learners] and gifted and talented [more ready] learners. In addition to professional development, he has provided individualized leadership and instructional coaching, curriculum development and strategic planning, and educational program evaluation. He is currently serving a 3-year term on DESE's Gifted and Talented Advisory Council.
Learn more about Leadership and Instruction Services here.
Dr. Johnson-Mussad’s publications include:
- Responsive Collaboration for IEP and 504 Teams, book. Co-authored 2022, Corwin.
- Instructional Techniques including Artists in Residence, Pair Shuffle, Who goes there? in New ways in Teaching English at the Secondary Level, Deborah Short. 1999, VA: TESOL
Among his recent conference presentations is Teaching Writers Learning English or Who Have IEPs, presented at the 2023 LitCon, the largest K-8 literacy education conference in North America, in Columbus, OH; and Culturally Responsive Practice in Using Federal Grant Resources at the Nov. 2022 DESE Federal Grant Programs conference. He presented on Teaching students in poverty at the 2019 ASCD Conference on Educational Leadership.
You can also hear Albert in two podcasts, This PhD Thinks, and Episode 20: In Search of Meaning.
Albert has taught K-12 English learners and high school Spanish. Albert served as an assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, and also in the role of elementary school principal.
"Albert creates a great community within his instruction where all levels of educators are welcomed and appreciated. As a result, every member of the course is engaged and contributes knowledge based on their experiences. This means that the participants come away with enormous "hands-on" strategies with ways to use them in different settings because of the discussions we have." --5th Grade ELA/SS Teacher
Position: Leadership and Instruction Continuous Improvement Specialist
Email: ajohnsonmussad@collaborative.org
Phone: 413.586.4900 x5945
Audrey Morse
Audrey Morse is a Curriculum and Instruction Specialist at the Collaborative for Educational Services, taught the 2018 and 2019 MA DESE Institute course Reaching and Teaching Students in Poverty in partnership with Lesley University. She has worked extensively with youth and families living with economic disadvantage in her decades long career in ESL, literacy, speech-language pathology, and human services. Audrey brings a deep understanding of the challenges students and families face, extensive knowledge of evidence-based approaches, and her passion for improving the social, emotional and academic outcomes of students in underserved populations.
Position: Curriculum and Instruction Specialist
Email: amorse@collaborative.org
Phone: 413.586.4900 x5944