Each RALIE cohort has a specific Applied Learning focus – see below to understand which cohort best fits your school’s objectives.

Need help thinking through which cohort is right for you? Contact [email protected]

Click to learn more about a specific cohort:

• Academic Mentors (spring 2027)
• Discourse Coherence (spring 2027)
• Discourse Mapping (fall 2026)
• Leveling Up (full-year)
• What-Why-How (fall 2026)

Academic Mentors

Dedham Middle School in Dedham, MA, has used a peer academic mentor model that trains students to push their peers’ thinking, shifting significant load off of teachers. Teachers plan with academic mentors in mind, crafting lessons that leverage the additional capacity and drive student learning.

Apply to be part of the Academic Mentors cohort if your objectives are to have…

• A peer support system where students are trained to push each other’s thinking
• A strong implementation model that best fits the needs of your school community and a schedule that integrates trained student helpers
• More inclusive classroom environments, where struggling students feel comfortable asking their peers for help

This cohort will run on a semester model during spring 2027.

Discourse Coherence

Silver Lake Regional Middle School in Kingston, MA, aligned on shared expectations for productive student discourse, then developed and rolled out an accompanying set of strong Applied Learning routines and supports schoolwide. This coherent approach has helped students develop and refine critical discourse skills to understand content in deeper and more collaborative ways.

Apply to be part of the Discourse Coherence cohort if your objectives are to have…

• Staff alignment on what strong building, justifying, and synthesizing discourse skills look and sound like across classes
• A set of spiraling instructional strategies that work across various courses using HQIM, allowing students to display deeper thinking in all courses
• Student scaffolds that ensure student-to-student communication, with or without direct teacher supervision

This cohort will run on a semester model during spring 2027.

Discourse Mapping

Westfield High School in Westfield, MA, has used discourse mapping to create a structured approach for peer observations focused on increasing student-to-student communication. Observations are followed by a data-driven debrief where teachers share strategies to increase productive discourse across the school.

Apply to be part of the Discourse Mapping cohort if your objectives are to have…

• A data-driven approach to analyze quantity and quality of student discourse
• A set of teacher-compiled instructional strategies to drive deeper discourse
• Collaboration among staff, transferring strong practices across content areas

This cohort will run on a semester model during fall 2026.

Leveling Up

Nipmuc Regional High School in Mendon-Upton, MA, designed and implemented the Leveling Up tool and protocol to improve authenticity for students. Using a structured framework and collaborative staff feedback approach, lessons and assessments are “leveled-up” to provide students with robust learning experiences that have increased relevance and professional framing.

Apply to be part of the Leveling Up cohort if your objectives are to have…

• Students grappling with more relevant tasks across core content areas
• A staff culture that collaborates on instruction through a structured framework
• Students connecting their work to professional tools, skills, and experiences

This cohort will run all year.

What-Why-How

Danvers High School in Danvers, MA, worked to align on what student mastery of specific Portrait of a Graduate soft skills should look like in classrooms. They then mapped this to a clear instructional framework for use across the school, which pushes an articulation of what students are learning, why it matters, and how students are practicing and progressing toward mastery of the targeted soft skill.

Apply to be pat of the What-Why-How cohort if your objectives are to have…

• Faculty identify a soft skill and develop a shared understanding of mastery
• A highly visible student-facing framework that helps students connect what they’re learning with why they are learning it, and how they should demonstrate the target soft skill in academic contexts
• A collaborative culture amongst teachers that helps ensure educators are providing opportunities for soft skill practice in every class

This cohort will run on a semester model during fall 2026.