Learning Forward

It began with the challenge of focus and alignment, and a template for a work plan. Six of us were sitting around a dining room table. Dirty glasses and bowls emptied of nuts and chips were buried beneath unrolled butcher paper and coded surveys of teachers’ suggestions for next steps. […]

As principal of Roosevelt Elementary School in Spokane, Wash., I started my Tuesday morning like many oth- ers — on the playground, where, as always, I greeted parents and students waiting for the morning bell to ring . That day, I was somewhat preoccupied by the task ahead of me. […]

Three years ago, the Toronto District School Board, the largest in Canada and the fourth-largest in North America, began to explore demonstration classrooms as a way to create a richer model of job-embedded, differentiated, and personalized professional learning. By doing action research and examining a variety of professional learning models […]

New Jersey has created policies and structures that prioritize collaborative professional development planning and implementation in every school and district. Teachers and administrators work together to understand the unique student learning needs that must be addressed within the school and the correlated professional learning needs of the adults. The New Jersey […]

See if you recognize this scenario: A school receives a grant for equipment, maybe through the PTA or other school funds. The school purchases the equipment and places it in classrooms to increase student achievement. Someone from the technology department spends several hours (or with luck, a day) training teachers […]

 As we undertake the complex and compelling challenge of building capacity for all educators to meet the needs of all students, we know a few things for sure. The first is that supporting adult learning has a direct and positive influence on increasing student achievement. We know that not all […]

DALLAS—August 23, 2011—Learning Forward has received a $500,000 grant from Sandler Foundation to launch Transforming Professional Learning to Prepare College- and Career-Ready Students: Implementing the Common Core. This two-year initiative will lead a statewide, comprehensive professional learning system that supports educators as they implement Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and […]

What would happen if we found agreement around the world on what constitutes high-expertise teaching? For one thing, there would be a set of standards universally embraced that clearly defines core agreements about good teaching and learning. It would be obvious that proficiency in the knowledge, skills, and practices that comprise good teaching would be the highest-leverage path to […]