Today our guest is Marelenise Phillips-Roberts, a District Leader of MTSS. Marelenise shares how she thinks about professional development for MTSS not as a one-time training event but as a continuous learning system that mirrors the same tiered, needs-based approach schools use to support students.

She also explains why getting curious before concluding, and connecting before correcting, is the foundation of both effective professional development design and the trust-building that makes any adult learning actually stick.

In this conversation, Marelenise offers important reminders for educators and leaders:

Systems don't support students. People using those systems support students. Professional development has to equip and sustain the people behind the work, not just explain the framework.
Professional learning must be continuous, not episodic. A single training at the start of the year without ongoing checkpoints, coaching, and collaboration will not create lasting change.
Support for adults should be as differentiated as support for students. Some people need training, some need modeling, some need a resource, and some need someone to sit beside them and think through a problem.

Learn More About CharacterStrong:

In this conversation, Marelenise offers important reminders for educators and leaders:

Systems don't support students. People using those systems support students. Professional development has to equip and sustain the people behind the work, not just explain the framework.
Professional learning must be continuous, not episodic. A single training at the start of the year without ongoing checkpoints, coaching, and collaboration will not create lasting change.
Support for adults should be as differentiated as support for students. Some people need training, some need modeling, some need a resource, and some need someone to sit beside them and think through a problem.

Learn More About CharacterStrong:

How to Design Professional Development T...