Learning Forward

I believe in the power of professional learning. But belief, by itself, is not enough. To be effective, professional learning must also be driven by commitment, dedication, and deliberate action. In the state of Missouri, that means, “Show me, please!” The Central Regional Professional Development Center in Missouri, where I serve […]

Focus on Teaching: Using Video for High-Impact Instruction By Jim Knight Just as professional athletes improve their performance by watching videos of themselves and others in action, educators can do the same. Jim Knight presents a clear process for using video to promote professional growth and teacher effectiveness. With online clips […]

How Can Learning Forward Help You? Learning Forward is looking for feedback on how best to help members achieve their goals.

On Oct. 8, 2010, Kelly Elementary School in Carlsbad, Calif., where I am principal, was put to the test. A lone gunman jumped the playground fence and began firing a handgun into a crowd of 250 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders at lunch recess. Two students were injured. This experience […]

What the Study Says The benefits of teacher collaboration within and across schools are well-known. Researchers of this study provide empirical evidence about the benefits of teacher interaction as a mechanism to diffuse the effects of professional development (the term used throughout this study) to improve instructional practices. Study description  […]

Purpose: To coach a client about an identified issue. Time: 30 to 45 minutes. The sweeping changes facing teachers today require a carefully orchestrated plan for implementation that incorporates support for individual teachers, teams of teachers, whole faculties, and teachers across schools. Coaches are a vital part of the change […]

Stronger Teaching  A Human Capital Framework for a Stronger Teacher Workforce Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 2013 Human capital is the largest single investment K-12 districts make. The Carnegie Foundation offers a four-part framework to take stock of current efforts to enhance the teacher workforce as well as […]

When I was young, I spent many hours in our neighborhood swimming pool. While I managed to become a competent swimmer fairly quickly, learning to dive was a slog. There was nothing natural about it. I had to watch other divers, dissect each step, ask them to pause and tell […]

One sunny spring day, I held a heavy three-ring binder full of student writing. The evidence of a career as an exemplary teacher of writing was in front of me. This teacher had saved copies, and sometimes originals, of kid-perfect writing. The binder was an amazing compendium of models of […]

Sitting down to plan professional learning for the 2011-12 school year brought about fundamental and necessary changes for educators at Robbinsdale Cooper High School in New Hope, Minn., a suburb of Minneapolis. Professional learning communities were in their infancy, conversations around data were about autopsies of annual standardized tests, and […]