A company that trains teachers faced a major pivot after schools closed last year

When schools across the country closed early last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it threw professional development for teachers and administrators into disarray. Virtual professional development, after all, has never really been well received in the education industry.

This was a worst-case scenario for Curriculum Associates (CA), a company that specializes in in-person professional-development materials and support for educators. The company, based in North Billerica, Massachusetts, had to pivot fast. Typically, its large professional development team would regularly visit schools to instruct teachers.

Now, CA had to shift to online coaching. Then, as schools began to re-open, the company had to deal with safety concerns and the political challenges of a divided nation fighting a pandemic. Employees had to know what was expected of them. In some cases, schools not following safety protocols endangered Curriculum Associates employees.

“Schools historically have not been open to virtual professional development, so it was a really big change to make sure that we could continue to teach teachers really at the time that they needed it most,” says Curriculum Associates Chief People Officer Sandra O’Sullivan.