Statewide Capacity Building
Buzz Education’s Capacity Building in Massachusetts strives to center student outcomes, build leader expertise, and equip teachers with evidence-based practices to serve the diverse needs in their classrooms. This initiative directly supports the mission to ensure students with disabilities have consistent access to rigorous, grade-level learning.
Statewide Capacity Building focuses on
Buzz’s five pillars to drive this improvement:
Prioritizing direct student evidence and outcomes in every decision.
Student-First Stance
Shared Expertise
Fostering collaboration between Special Education and general Curriculum and Instruction departments.
Strengthening
Tier 1
Optimizing general education instruction as the primary driver for meaningful inclusion.
Instructional
Leadership
Shifting organizational focus from compliance to high-leverage instructional priorities.
Sustainability
Embedding systems, routines, and leadership capacity to maintain progress after direct support concludes.
This strategy is guided by non-negotiables that emphasize creating tangible student impact, addressing root causes, and maintaining direct, evidence-based communication with partners.
Example resources developed to support Statewide Capacity Building are made publicly available to educators on this webpage. For questions about these resources,
please contact us.
Statewide Convenings
Statewide Convenings bring together education leaders and practitioners across Massachusetts to foster collaboration, align on evidence-based strategies, and strengthen inclusive practices statewide. To learn more about our past work, explore highlights and insights from our recent June convening by watching this video:
Upcoming Convening
December 1–2, 2026: The Beechwood Hotel, Worcester, MA
Join Buzz Education and DESE for a statewide convening designed to unite special education and general education content leaders in building dual expertise and effective inclusive programming. Together, you will move beyond compliance into instructional quality by analyzing student profiles, examining rigorous grade-level lessons, and designing meaningful adaptations. Participants will walk away with concrete tools and a joint next step that strengthens both rigor and access for students with disabilities.
Virtual Learning Opportunities
Read It, Lead It!
This series invites instructional leaders to turnkey high-quality professional learning into district practice by providing actionable engagement tools (practice activities, slide decks) linked to foundational research or books.
The two main themes are rigor and access: pairing research supporting rigorous Tier 1 content with research on evidence-based special education practices.
Series 1: Tackling Tough Texts/The High-Leverage Practices
Sign up for the next Read It, Lead It Sessions!
Resource Folder
It’s Not Just You!
These short, virtual sessions address common problems facing schools and districts as they work to better support students with disabilities. Each session will provide practical advice and peer collaboration around a common issue. Participants should be school or district leaders in Teaching and Learning, Curriculum and Instruction, or Special Education.
Know Your Stuff!
This new learning series provides participants with expertise to speak confidently on the specific pedagogy and content needed to give all students, but especially those receiving special education services, the conditions needed to engage with rigorous content.
Resources will be shared in early 2027.
Building Enduring Understandings: Effective Mathematics Instruction for Middle School Students with Disabilities (3 Graduate Credits)
In partnership with Westfield State University, Buzz Education offers a 3-graduate-credit course designed for middle school special education and math teachers. Rooted in research-backed pedagogy, this professional learning opportunity equips practitioners with actionable strategies—such as prerequisite coherence mapping, concrete-representational-abstract (CRA) models, schema-based word problem instruction, and Data-Based Individualization—to address core skill deficits while maintaining access to rigorous, grade-level content. Moving away from quick fixes and superficial tricks, participants learn to strengthen foundational understanding without lowering expectations. The program runs asynchronously with monthly virtual sessions from December 2026 through June 2027. Review the complete syllabus and register here.
Graduate Coursework
Westfield State University
Keep learning with us.
Get updates on upcoming professional development.
Access and utilize example resources from Buzz Education’s work in districts across Massachusetts. These resources support all aspects of access, inclusion, and strong tier 1 instruction.