Paul Fleming
Deputy CEO | Chief Learning Officer
Paul Fleming serves as Deputy CEO and Chief Learning Officer at Learning Forward. His current areas of focus include leading the effective implementation of the Standards for Professional Learning and corresponding tools, the expansion of our professional services and leadership and learning series teams, and multiple consulting projects with states and districts to increase educator and leader effectiveness through student-focused, high-quality professional learning. Prior to joining Learning Forward, he served as the assistant commissioner for the Teachers and Leaders Division at the Tennessee Department of Education. He was responsible for the design, implementation, evaluation, and support of impactful policies, practices, and programs related to teacher and leader preparation institutions, licensure, evaluation and development, and educator talent.
Examples of work Paul led included the revision and implementation of the current state leadership standards and administrator evaluation rubric, the Tennessee Teacher Leader Network comprised of 62 districts, the Tennessee Transformational Leadership Alliance that fostered nine innovative principal pipeline models with 23 districts across the state, and a three-year micro-credential pilot with 800+ teachers designed to increase personalized professional learning opportunities aligned to the state evaluation model.
Before joining the department in 2012, he was a social studies teacher at the middle and high school levels and principal at Hume-Fogg Magnet High School in Nashville, TN. Hume-Fogg has been ranked as one of the top 50 public high schools in the United States since 2006 and was named a national Blue Ribbon School (2011) by the US Department of Education.
All Articles
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Leadership teams make change that lasts
Leadership teams have real power to drive improvement in schools by harnessing multiple experts’ valuable perspectives and collaborative capacity. The benefits of leadership teams are many, as we have described previously (see the Leadership Teams recurring column in 2024 issues of The Learning Professional). But even seasoned team members may […] -
6 strategies for sustainable professional learning
Sustainability is an important but often elusive goal in educational improvement. Too often, even successful initiatives follow a predictable pattern: They begin with great promise and enthusiasm only to fade away after pilot projects and initial trainings end, funding runs out, or leaders move on to new roles. These challenges […] -
Leadership Team Institute Information Session
Thursday, June 5, 2025, 2:30 p.m. ET Learn how our Leadership Team Institute leverages the power of collaboration by partnering learning leaders across the country to address the most compelling problems of practice, improve educator practice, and drive student success. Interact with institute leaders and get your questions answered. -
Leadership Team Institute (LTI) Informational Webinar
Learning Forward’s Leadership Team Institute provides a unique and innovative opportunity for school and district leaders to engage in a yearlong program as a vertical leadership team focused on implementing evidence-based policies and practices that address key challenges, improve educator and team practices, and increase student success. -
Professional learning boosts teams’ skills and collective efficacy
Collective efficacy — the belief that a group has the power to achieve its goals — is important for leadership teams’ success. As described in a previous column in this series, one of the key ways to develop collective efficacy is to build on team members’ strengths (Spiro & Fisher, […] -
Shifting from searching for support to using evidence-based tools to advance high-quality professional learning
Standards Week featured a daily 30-minute high-impact dose of standards-based improvement insights! This year’s Standards for Professional Learning Week showcased educational leaders and field practitioners in various roles who shared how effective educator professional learning can provide solutions to many of today’s challenges in K-12 education. -
Shifting from random acts of PD to a professional learning system
Standards Week featured a daily 30-minute high-impact dose of standards-based improvement insights. This year’s Standards for Professional Learning Week showcased educational leaders and field practitioners in various roles who shared how effective educator professional learning can provide solutions to many of today’s challenges in K-12 education. -
Shifting from hoping for the best to measuring impact through standards-aligned professional learning
Standards Week featured a daily 30-minute high-impact dose of standards-based improvement insights. This year’s Standards for Professional Learning Week showcased educational leaders and field practitioners in various roles who shared how effective educator professional learning can provide solutions to many of today’s challenges in K-12 education. -
The power of equity-focused professional learning
Principals are a critical lever for implementing schoolwide policies, practices, and mindsets that create equitable outcomes for all students (Gates et al., 2019; Grissom et al., 2021). Yet school systems often overlook the kind of high-quality professional learning that results in leaders’ growth and development. Learning Forward networks are one […] -
Learning Forward Affiliates lead the way to adopting standards
Since the release of the revised Standards for Professional Learning in April, Learning Forward has been providing resources and support for educators to adopt and implement the standards in a variety of contexts and roles. The 2011 iteration of the standards was formally adopted in 20 U.S. states, and 15 […]
