Congress returned from its August recess and faces a mountain of work. Its first task will be to pass a continuing resolution, a temporary spending measure that will keep the government operating beyond October 1 when the new fiscal year begins. As Congress moves to pass a continuing resolution, the House and Senate will continue…

The school year is beginning for the 53 million U.S. students enrolled in elementary and secondary public schools. The families of those children want their kids to be cared for and educated as the unique individuals they are, regardless of whether they have an intellectual or physical disability, are multilingual learners, are still struggling to…

Principals play a crucial role in student achievement and school success (Grissom, 2021), yet can experience “ad hoc” professional learning that has little connection to strengthening the skills they need to be effective leaders. Fortunately, thanks to decades of research, we know much about content and learning approaches that are especially effective for developing excellent…

The start of the school year is a great time to take stock of your professional learning practices. Your strategic priorities are in focus and your calendars are set, but have you made sure your professional learning strategies are keeping pace with the latest research and insights? Have you made plans to address schools’ most…

As the new school year begins, district leaders and principals may be asking themselves, “I know teacher collaboration is the best way to improve our school’s instruction, but how can I best structure and support team learning and make sure it will improve student achievement?” Guidance on effectively structuring collaborative learning time for teacher teams…

Amid rising levels of educator burnout and turnover (ERS, 2023a, b; Kurtz, 2022), there has been a lot of talk about prioritizing educator wellness. Wellness means different things to different people, but many experts agree that true wellness isn’t about simply going to a yoga class or even taking a mental health day (Bell, 2023;…

On July 27, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee held a full-committee markup to consider several bills, including the fiscal year 2024 Labor-Health and Human Services-Education (LHHS-ED) funding bill. Bypassing a subcommittee markup, the full committee approved the bipartisan spending bill that would provide $79.6 billion in discretionary funding to the U.S. Department of Education in…

Frederick Brown, president and CEO of Learning Forward, issued a statement regarding the devastating effects from proposed fiscal year 2024 budget bill to the Title II-A program, Every Student Succeeds Act: July 13, 2023 — “On behalf of the nation’s children and educators, Learning Forward is shocked and gravely concerned by the drastic cuts to…

Learning Forward’s policy briefing in June 2023 was a special convening of education leaders representing superintendents, principals, teachers, and the U.S. Department of Education. Moderated by Learning Forward CEO Frederick Brown, the session featured participants who provided compelling insight and evidence about how professional learning is critical to retain teachers, intensify academic recovery, and meet…

School leaders have a major impact on student achievement and schoolwide improvement, but they can’t achieve success by acting alone. Excellent results require a team effort. High-functioning leadership teams are built intentionally and are, on average, five times more productive than average teams (Keller, 2017). Even when leaders recognize the importance of a team, most…