Learning Forward

What The Study Says Researchers conclude that schools and school districts have limited causal evidence on which to base decisions about mathematics professional development. This study identified only five studies from more than 900 that met all the criteria, including the What Works Clearinghouse evidence standards, the highest standards for […]

Learning Forward’s Standards for Professional Learning establish the core attributes of effective professional learning. All people and entities with either direct or indirect responsibility for students’ education could benefit from well-designed and effective professional learning, but understanding what the standards look like when they are in operation can be a […]

Future of Teaching Teaching Stars: Transforming the Education Profession The New Zealand Initiative, 2014 This is the third report from the New Zealand Initiative, a public policy think tank, investigating the main issues in international attempts to develop effective teaching, raise student achievement, and foster a top-performing teaching profession. Policy […]

I recently learned about a “20-20-20” rule for reducing eyestrain caused by spending too much time in front of a computer screen: Every 20 minutes, take 20 seconds to look at a point at least 20 feet away. As someone who buries my nose in a laptop for hours at […]

Districts everywhere are ramping up professional learning around the Common Core State Standards, and Washington’s Grandview School District is no exception. Known for strong instructional coaching and a wall-to-wall professional learning calendar, Grandview has held steadfast to its instructional philosophy for almost a decade with encouraging results. Despite a demographic […]

A common question raised by new coaches is: When can I share my experience and expertise with teachers I am coaching to help them improve? It is a logical question. Many coaches know that they were chosen for the role in part because their peers respect them as a teacher. […]

  An initiative to improve the content-area literacy skills of all students at a Massachusetts high school demonstrates the important role teacher leaders play in bridging the various elements of school improvement efforts. The Content-area Reading Initiative is a cross-departmental initiative (see box on p. 23) launched in 2012 at […]

High school students who are not proficient readers struggle in content classes and often do not graduate from high school. However, they have promise to do so with well-designed and implemented reading curriculum and effective instruction. Without it, they may have difficulty competing in the global workplace (Gordon & Oliva, […]

In many schools and businesses today, the pressure to produce results is far greater than attention to employee learning. If continued learning impacts service for business customers and their communities, then what lessons can we learn from business to support and advocate for educator learning? This article is a collection […]

The research is clear: Failing to fill summer months with meaningful mental stimulation can cause students to suffer stagnation at best and regression at worst. The same is true for adult learners. If teachers fail to fill their summer months with challenging mental exercise, they, too, will return to school […]