Learning Forward

After more than 18 months of work, Learning Forward’s board of trustees has adopted a new strategic plan. This plan will guide the strategic work of the board and staff for the next seven years. The plan includes a revised set of beliefs, a new mission statement, a vision (formerly known […]

At Learning Forward’s Annual Conference last December, I heard Andy Hargreaves and Michael Fullan speak about their book, Professional Capital (Teachers College Press, 2012), and the importance of social capital as a critical driving force in achieving results. Social capital is the expected collective or economic benefits derived from the […]

Beating the Odds  Failure Is Not an Option: How Principals, Teachers, Students and Parents From Ohio’s High-Achieving, High-Poverty Schools Explain Their Success Public Agenda, 2012 Public Agenda’s report suggests that effective school leadership is one of the major drivers of success at high-poverty schools. The report also illuminates concrete practices and […]

To be effective, technology-enhanced professional learning, just like face-to-face professional learning, meets the Standards for Professional Learning. The standards synthesize nearly three decades of research on professional learning and identify the attributes of professional learning that improves educator practice and student achievement. Using Standards for Professional Learning as a guide, […]

There isn’t just one way to give feedback, nor is there just one kind of feedback. Bug-in-ear technology, which allows coaches to give teachers in the classroom immediate feedback, has been used successfully for 35 years (Rock, Gregg, Gable, & Zigmond, 2009; Scheeler, Bruno, Grubb, & Seavey, 2009). In an […]

How can schools and districts leverage technology to create effective professional learning? At Learning Forward’s 2012 Annual Conference, several sessions on innovative professional development, called iPD, highlighted the emerging work of districts, organizations, and companies focused on this issue. Here are excerpts from a panel discussion that covered specific organizations, […]

Julie McGough, a 5th-grade teacher at Victor Hodge Elementary School in Azusa, Calif., calls herself as a “pretty good teacher,” while at the same time admitting that when she changed from grades 2 and 3 to 5th grade, she was somewhat uncomfortable with one subject in particular. “I was actually […]

The growing acceptance of collaboration as a necessity in high-quality learning has fueled the rapid growth of online tools to better support educators. In Meet the Promise of Content Standards: Tapping Technology to Enhance Professional Learning (2013), Joellen Killion examines this “explosion of web-based tools (that) promote and support social […]

Stephanie Hirsh: What is innovative professional development — or iPD — and how does it differ from traditional professional development? Carina Wong: We think about iPD as creating more effective learning systems for teachers, schools, and districts. We know that many professional learning opportunities are not having an impact on […]

The breadth of the need for professional learning required to implement new content standards overwhelms most districts and states. Nearly all reports from teachers, district leaders, and state leaders include professional learning among the most frequently identified needs. As the call for professional learning that incorporates ongoing feedback and support […]