When schools closed in the spring of 2020, school leaders were confronted with numerous questions that required their immediate attention, like how to provide food and computer access to students who didn’t have them and how to facilitate professional learning for remote teaching.

Title II-A needs your support! With the House Appropriations Committee announcing a July 7th mark-up of its FY21 education spending bill, it is urgent that Learning Forward stakeholders contact their Senators and Representatives about the importance of Title II-A between now and July 3rd. Please let your Senators and US Representatives know two things: Title II-A…

By Melinda George As school districts plan for an uncertain fall, many district leaders are planning how to support educators in preparing for and teaching in this new reality. Professional learning has never been more needed. Good news! Money from the CARES Act to support these efforts is landing in school districts across the United…

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed school as we know it. As we face an unpredictable future, professional learning has never been more urgent. This issue highlights some of the ways educators are learning and evolving to meet the shifting needs of students and staff as schools close, shift online, reopen, and prepare for whatever lies…

Educators today have a heightened sense of urgency and stress during this unusual time. While they first worry about their own family and loved ones, they next worry about their students’ social, emotional, and academic well-being and success. Educators, like other adults, are asking questions about their lives, social interactions, and work and they seek…

By Karen Marklein, Rachael Milligan, and Julia Osteen Until a few months ago, moving all student and adult learning online was unimaginable for many of us. Enter the COVID-19 pandemic and the sudden transition to that reality. Now more than ever, educators need high-quality professional learning that includes collaboration with colleagues, supports sustainable practices, and…

By Laura Baecher Observation and reflection are essential for improving teaching practice, even now that most teaching is occurring online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fortunately, with the increasing popularity of video observation and coaching, we already have a tool that can be used for this purpose during distance learning. When video-based observation is successfully…

By Ebony Flott and Courtney Simpson With many schools closed for the rest of the academic year, instructional coaches and other leaders have wondered how to support teachers remotely. In an April 23rd webinar hosted by Learning Forward, Ebony Flott and Courtney Simpson, instructional coaches in Gwinnett (Georgia) County Public Schools, explained how they are…

Learning online is different from learning face-to-face, and that’s true whether you’re 15 or 50. Just as teachers are adjusting their methods to work for students in a virtual context, those of us who lead professional learning need to adjust so that our efforts are beneficial for the educators we support. We must pay special…