In December 2015, Learning Forward launched the Redesign PD Community of Practice to support 20 of the nation’s leading school districts and charter management organizations in addressing systemwide educator and student learning priorities. The community — which has since grown to 22 districts — engages teams from the districts in identifying their local professional learning challenges and then creating scalable solutions. Learning Forward serves as the facilitator and coordinator of the community, offering expertise and support during face-to-face and virtual meetings.

Over the course of 18 months, district teams in the community of practice engage in continuous improvement cycles to improve how they manage their professional learning systems, with each team conducting multiple inquiry cycles to propel rapid learning and improvement. Complementing this inquiry work are opportunities to problem solve collectively with other districts in the community

Since one of Learning Forward’s goals for the program is to capture and publish lessons learned to members, stakeholders, and the education community, we thought it best to provide a one-year update from the field. Here is a snapshot of that work that we hope amplifies the hard work being done, as well as gives members a better understanding of how it aligns with or differs from other systemwide collaborations discussed in this issue of JSD

“We want to focus on leveraging resources to reach each and every teacher with the support they need.”

Nakia Hardy, chief academic officer, Guilford County Schools