Learning Forward

The explosion of readily available information can make tracking trends in almost any field — especially education and professional learning — seem like an impossible task. But there’s no doubt that learning and education, along with the organizations and institutions that support them, are undergoing rapid change. Many consider education […]

As the stakes for improved student achievement increase, administrators, teachers, and districts are looking for quick fixes. When Glenn Pethel, assistant superintendent of leadership development in Gwinnett County, Georgia, is asked for quick fixes, he responds, “Here is what we know [about leadership]: It is not quick, and it is […]

Supporting educator growth is critical for schools. The new challenges facing leaders — evolving teacher and principal evaluation systems, implementing the Common Core State Standards — heighten the urgency around building human capacity to meet new demands. Nevertheless, effectively supporting adult development on the front lines of schools is no […]

The Kent (Washington) School District evaluation team — a partnership of principals, district leaders, and teachers union representatives — had been working together for seven months. The group’s task: to agree on one of three state-approved evaluation tools for the district. With the aid of a Washington Education Association facilitator, […]

The recent proliferation of online learning designs — such as edWeb, PD 360, or Teaching Channel — presents a challenge: How can professional learning leaders decide which designs will be the most effective? Learning Forward’s Standards for Professional Learning are immediately helpful. The backmapping model that Joellen Killion and Patricia […]

Atul Gawande, writing in The New Yorker, explored why some medical innovations take hold quickly while others take much longer to spread. A medical doctor who writes about innovation and change, Gawande identified several elements key to understanding why great ideas don’t lead to immediate action. For one, big ideas […]

How Change Happens Learning Forward Senior Advisor Joellen Killion says the process of learning to accomplish change doesn’t happen overnight: "Principals cannot perfect the implementation of new teacher evaluation systems within a single day’s workshop. Nor can teachers revamp their instructional practices to place greater responsibility on students to co-construct […]

What kind of data does the Aldine (Texas) Independent School District collect on each of the 64,000 students in the system? Raymond Stubblefield just laughs. “Really, anything you want to know about a child,” the Stephens Elementary School principal said. “We work hard at making sure we’re looking at the […]

I work in a school with a bilingual program. Last week, I attended a workshop for bilingual teachers presented by a phenomenal instructor. My learning curve is steep. I do not have much personal experience teaching English language learners, and I have only observed in bilingual classrooms. Much of the […]