On February 3, the Senate HELP Committee held its confirmation hearing of Connecticut Commissioner of Education Miguel Cardona to be US Secretary of Education. The hearing was largely uneventful and it is expected that Cardona’s nomination will proceed to full Senate confirmation as soon as this week with likely bipartisan votes to approve him. On…

Nearly a month into the new year, the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines makes it more likely that more students and educators will return to in-person school in 2021. But until then, the year of living and learning with COVID continues. As learning losses accumulate, millions of students remain in hybrid learning models that, despite best…

Even with hope for the new year still fresh, many educators and students have been traumatized by the events of this week in the U.S. Capitol. Teachers and other school staff – already carrying the heavy burdens of educating during a pandemic and confronting racism and inequity – face the challenging but essential work of…

Congress wrapped-up its session just before midnight on December 21 by approving two large funding packages – one covering annual appropriations for fiscal year 2021 and another being the first significant COVID-19 relief bill since the CARES Act passed last March. For professional learning and America’s schools, the news was mostly positive. In the FY21,…

At this time last year, when we were planning 2020’s issues of The Learning Professional, we never could have predicted that the most popular articles of the next year would have titles like “Professional learning in a pandemic” and “Long distance leadership.” But as we all found ourselves confronting new realities and challenges, The Learning…

There’s no question that teaching young children is a challenge right now. Whether classrooms are remote or in-person with physical distancing measures, it takes even more planning and creativity than usual to facilitate the kinds of hands-on, collaborative learning that are the hallmarks of high-quality early childhood education. But teachers of young children are rising…

Educators across the country have implemented new innovative strategies, lessons, and projects to ensure that learning continues for families, students, and educators. Many of these new innovations are learning experiences that provide a variety of sessions that are meaningful, engaging, and collaborative, much like Learning Forward’s Annual Conference. To help you experience the joy of learning…

Attending a large conference often leaves me excited and overwhelmed all at once. A couple of years ago I realized that I needed a better post-conference routine and plan because I just wasn’t making the most out of my conference experience when I returned to my school district. I spent days learning so many new…

Over the next year the conferences you attend, much like Learning Forward’s upcoming Annual Conference, will look and feel noticeably different. However, attending a virtual conference allows you to still get all the amazing information and insights from speakers, reduce the time and financial commitments required to attend these events, and you can attend the…

On the first Monday after Election Day and more than two months late, the Senate Appropriations Committee finally introduced its versions of all twelve FY21 Appropriations bills, including Labor HHS Education Appropriations. Overall, the Senate education spending bill provides somewhat less money for the Department of Education and its programs than does the House version,…