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Stephanie Hirsh

Stephanie Hirsh retired in June 2019 after 31 years with Learning Forward, an international association of more than 13,000 educators committed to increasing student achievement through effective professional learning. Hirsh led the organization as its executive director for the last 13 years where she presented, published, and consulted on Learning Forward’s behalf across North America. Her books include Becoming a Learning Team, co-authored with Tracy Crow (Learning Forward, 2018), Becoming a Learning System, co-authored with Kay Psencik and Frederick Brown (Learning Forward, 2018); A Playbook for Professional Learning: Putting the Standards Into Action, co-authored with Shirley Hord (Learning Forward, 2012); and The Learning Educator: A New Era for Professional Learning, co-authored with Joellen Killion (NSDC, 2007). Hirsh wrote a column for The Learning Professional, Learning Forward’s bimonthly magazine, Educational Leadership, Phi Delta Kappan, The Record, The School Administrator, American School Board Journal, The High School Magazine, and Education Week. Hirsh has served on a number of advisory boards including Learning First Alliance, 2-Rev, Digital Promise, the University of Texas College of Education, and The Teaching Channel. She served three terms as a school board trustee in the Richardson (TX) Independent School District. She received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Texas Staff Development Council, Master Trustee from the Texas School Board Association, and was named a Distinguished Alumna by the University of North Texas.

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    What steps are you taking to look at the bigger picture? That's a question I'd like educators to ponder as they consider how to better support teachers and leaders in their improvement efforts. The more professional learning exemplars we see -- that is, schools and districts that can document how […]
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    Learning Forward and EducationCounsel share tools and strategies from our online Toolkit to help states use ESSA to advance learning and improvement systems. Toolkit authors will highlight vision-setting protocols that can be used to help state and district leaders leverage professional learning as an essential strategy in building learning systems and overcoming systemic […]
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    I keep hearing that ESSA (the Every Student Succeeds Act) has new requirements about the evidence base required for using federal funds for professional development expenditures. At the same time, I read that there is a limited evidence base related to professional learning. So how am I supposed to justify […]
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    Educators and quality-management practitioners in other professions often speak of improvement, learning, or change as happening in a cycle. In its most basic form such a cycle occurs when active learners — whether adults or children — observe the world around them, take action based on what they understand, and then […]
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    Learning Forward recently commissioned and supported a study on the state of professional learning in Canada. You can read about the study as well as the reports and papers resulting from it in the February 2017 issue of The Learning Professional. When first asked why Learning Forward invested in this study, I […]
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    Our nation's education system is in the midst of big and exciting changes. States are creating their plans for supporting students and teachers under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which will shape public schools for years to come. At the same time, teachers are taking on new roles and […]
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    As Secretary Betsy DeVos begins her tenure at the U.S. Department of Education, Learning Forward is eager to engage in discussion with her about the important work ahead for our nation's schools, educators, and, most importantly, students. Every child in the United States deserves equitable access to great teaching and […]
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    For years, Learning Forward has advocated for a new vision for professional learning, built on the foundation of the Standards for Professional Learning. At the heart of this vision, every teacher is a member of at least one learning team that meets several times a week to learn and problem solve […]
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    Learning Forward recently commissioned and supported a study on the state of professional learning in Canada. You can read about the study as well as the reports and papers resulting from it on p. 20. When first asked why Learning Forward invested in this study, I said we not only […]
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    The way I think about the concept of smart demand is informed by my years as a high school economics teacher. Smart demand is simply about supply and demand. Markets respond to high demand by increasing supply. So, after reading yet another report that begins with the phrase, "Sadly, it […]
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