Learning Forward

Evaluation of professional learning allows educators to assess the impact of their instructional improvement efforts. According to Joellen Killion, “Implementing evaluation as a natural component of staff development programs will encourage a systematic assessment of staff development that is based on results for students rather than services to educators” (Killion, […]

Demonstrating the impact of professional learning has never been more important. Educators are implementing rigorous content standards and assessments and experiencing new evaluation systems, even as they navigate a sea of other challenges and resources for professional learning are on the chopping block. For educators to be successful in ensuring […]

An important step in evaluation planning is to identify the activity’s key components. Knowing what evaluation resources are necessary and available guides choices about the evaluation’s scope. The following checklist can serve as a reminder about the key components of a good evaluation plan and help planners keep track of […]

Time for Learning  In this webinar, Learning Forward Senior Advisor Joellen Killion leads a discussion of a seven-step process for establishing time within the school day for professional learning. Topics focus on assisting district and school leaders in developing, vetting, and implementing recommendations for increasing collaborative learning time for educators, […]

School change is my work. I started as a teacher with an interest in adult learning, and now I try to change the world as an external school coach and faculty member at Antioch University New England. My primary work usually happens through the professional development channels of schools and […]

I recently had a 15-minute conversation with a very capable middle school science teacher that radically transformed the three-lesson mini-unit she was about to teach on the human respiratory system. I hasten to add that all the improvement in the lessons came from the teacher, not me. My only role was […]

A colleague tells a story about her experience as a teacher in a university lab classroom. She talks about the day when a visiting team of university professors came to observe her small group of 2nd graders engage with her in a mathematics lesson on fractions using manipulatives. The professors arrived […]

We have a rare opportunity. The U.S. Department of Education heard practitioners’ concerns and offered educators a reprieve from the high stakes attached to the new assessments (see p. 9). Educators have more time to get Common Core implementation right so that students are better prepared to demonstrate what they […]

Investments in Professional Learning Must Change: The goals are ambitious, the stakes are high — and resources are the key. By Joellen Killion and Stephanie Hirsh Traditional professional development is inadequate to meet the changes demanded by Common Core. For professional learning to build educator effectiveness and increase results for […]