Learning Forward Blog
A principal learning community grounded in the Standards for Professional Learning
By Ann Marie Appolloni |
Powerful school leadership is critical for schools to be successful. Effective principals ensure that great teaching and learning is in place for all students – a complex undertaking with many moving parts. To help principals succeed in that role, three years ago I formed a Principal Study Council that provides an opportunity for principals to…
What to bring to Learning Forward’s virtual conference (It’s not shoes)
By Jim Curran |
The Learning Forward Annual Conference has always been one of my favorites, and the closer it gets each year, the more anxious I get about making the most of the learning experience. In particular, I worry about forgetting to pack something important. Even with a virtual conference, I still feel some preparation anxiety, and you…
How the Transformation Toolkit can make your conference learning stick
By Jim Curran |
Transformation is the theme of this year’s Learning Forward Annual Conference, and it’s a fitting one. The last eighteen months have brought about so many changes in schools that flexibility and adaptation are key. In this environment, professional growth is essential, but time and resources are limited. That means we need to make the absolute…
Senate FY22 Labor HSS education bill released
By Jon Bernstein |
The highlights The Senate is moving forward with a FY 2022 funding appropriation bill that includes the Department of Education. It will be a critical piece of the negotiations. The House bill contains a $150 million increase for Title II-A while the Senate bill contains only a $50 million increase. Learning Forward and its stakeholders…
3 practical strategies for setting your coaching vision
By Courtney Groskin and Violet Christensen |
Every year, there is monumental excitement around the start of the school year. The energy is electric for students, teachers, and coaches alike. As coaches, we feed off this energy and it propels us forward. But figuring out how to support all teachers can be a big task. To be successful, coaches have to be…
For antiracist leaders, self-care and community are essential
By Angela M. Ward |
In October of 2017, I changed my email autoreply to read, “I am responding daily to the needs of our students and staff and am not able to respond to emails or phone calls quickly. Thanks for your patience. I look forward to connecting with you. Regards, Angela.” I take my role as an antiracist…
Looking beyond current spending battles
By Anthony Armstrong |
The last couple of weeks saw some progress on Capitol Hill, but mostly it was about pushing the spending battles off until December. At the end of September, the House and Senate came to agreement on a continuing resolution to temporarily fund the government and avoid a government shutdown. The resolution allows funding of the…
Capitol Hill progress, negotiations, and road blocks
By Melinda George |
If you have been watching the news lately, you know that there is a lot happening – or not happening – on Capitol Hill. There are several big things that are being debated. These include: House and Senate working together to pass a continuing resolution (CR) to temporarily fund the government and avoid a government…
Twitter chat recap: Coaching with SEL for a strong restart
By Ariel Durham |
On September 8, Learning Forward co-hosted a conversation on Twitter with Kathy Perret, instructional coach, trainer, and co-founder of #educoach, about how to leverage SEL so everyone can thrive this school year. The conversation was based on the August issue of The Learning Professional, which focused on the theme “Starting Strong” and included articles about…
US federal budget in motion
By Melinda George |
The $3.5 trillion Budget Reconciliation Act, which may contain hundreds of billions of dollars for Biden Administration priorities like free community college, free pre-K, and teacher preparation programs, is beginning to move more quickly down the path to enactment. This week, the full House of Representatives approved a Budget Reconciliation bill that establishes the topline…