Content Specialists Across The District

Over the course of the past few years, we have been so fortunate to be able to grow our curriculum and content specialists program in Leominster. 

Purpose & Vision

As we’ve grown these positions, we have received questions about the roles, goals, and vision for the district and content specialists. Embedding the role of content specialists in a district is a commitment to everyone’s life-long learning. It is an opportunity to have embedded, ongoing, and differentiated professional development during and outside of the school day and year.

We believe that content specialisting is a collaborative endeavor and that the content specialist is a thought partner, a peer, and an ambassador. Content specialists are an opportunity to “tap into” an objective view of one who has the opportunity to be in many classrooms regularly.

Content specialists help us to: plan, observe, problem-solve, innovate, see what is working, share ideas for next steps, and connect us with others focusing on the same areas and/or having different strengths than we do. They can be your: sounding boards, researchers, connectors, mirrors, or models. They are here to support and encourage you; they are a trusted and safe peer.

Content Specialists Will:

• Be supportive and share what is working/what could be next steps
• Differentiate their approach/materials/supports based on what YOU identify you need
• Listen carefully to you
• Be positive and realistic
• Follow through
• Set-up a safe space
• Be trust-worthy and transparent
• Be prepared
• Offer recommendations for resources/connections
• Respect your expertise
• Respect your autonomy
• Work with you wherever you are
• Encourage risk taking

Content Specialists Won’t:

• Share about your experience without your permission
• Presume to have all of the answers
• Invalidate your experience
• Judge where you are on the continuum of a particular practice
• Be dismissive
• Do the teaching without your involvement