Learning Forward

Shadowing is the process of following a student or educator through one day, part of a day, or longer, experiencing what that person experiences for the purpose of professional learning. Educators, including building and district administrators, can shadow in their own or other schools, individually or in a group. Noneducators […]

Better Solutions What Works Best in Education: The Politics of Collaborative Expertise Pearson, June 2015 How can we ensure that every student achieves at least one year’s progress for one year of schooling? Governments and schools have spent billions of dollars trying to fix education, but evidence shows that many […]

I was chatting recently with Learning Forward member Mary Beth Bazzanella of Jefferson County (Colorado) Public Schools — known as Jeffco — about our upcoming conference in December. She works in the central office of her district and has attended the conference with teammates. She reflected on how much she […]

Over the past three years, Learning Forward’s Annual Conferences have provided me with some of the best professional learning experiences in my career. Not only do the conferences bring together leading minds in education, they also open up important dialogue around continuous improvement. That’s why I go — to be […]

“All I need is a little piece of friendship bread — some support to feel renewed and rejuvenated. Even a little piece would allow me to care even more for adults in my building. I find myself giving and giving friendship bread to everyone [in my school] — all the […]

In my work in schools over the last few decades, three hard truths have gradually come into focus. First, within every school there is a bell-shaped curve of teaching quality. Some teachers are using highly effective practices almost all the time, a larger group is solidly effective, others are working […]

Every creative, dynamic, and intelligent teacher I know has played the “If I could start (or run) a school, I would …” game. Many of these teachers finish the sentence in similar ways, with answers like: Have teachers involved in whole- school decision making; Have teachers observing, giving feedback, and evaluating […]

As a part of a professional learning team, we are constantly looking for new approaches and designs that promote deeper adult learning. If we really want teachers to be motivated to change behaviors and aspirations, we need to tap into what motivates adults to learn. According to Daniel H. Pink’s […]

“I’ve conducted thousands of classroom observations and never thought to focus on what the students were doing rather than the teacher,” wrote an experienced principal participating in the School-University Research Network (SURN) Principal Academy at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. The SURN Principal Academy’s mission is […]

How do you know if the resources you have allocated to support professional learning in your school district are actually improving the quality of teaching and impacting student performance? In an increasingly challenging financial environment, this is important to know. Six years ago, I joined the district administrative team in […]