Learning Forward Blog
New report highlights the importance of the role of principal supervisors
By Frederick Brown |
By Frederick Brown A new report about The Wallace Foundation’s Principal Supervisor Initiative (PSI) offers insight into the types of professional learning that are most effective for helping principal supervisors develop the instructional leadership capacity of principals. Among their findings, researchers noted that principal supervisors in PSI districts were able to reduce the number of…
Learning Forward Urges Rapid Passage of FY19 Spending Bill
By Stephanie Hirsh |
Learning Forward Executive Director Stephanie Hirsh issued a statement about the bipartisan conference bill that funds defense, labor, health, human services, and education. “I applaud the bipartisan and bicameral agreement on the FY19 spending bill that provides level funding for Title IIA of ESSA, which funds critical support so educators can meet the needs of…
If we join forces, we can identify students who are at risk
By Leigh Wall |
By Leigh Wall It has been just a few months since the unimaginable tragedy that occurred here in Santa Fe, Texas, when a high school student shot and killed 10 classmates and teachers and wounded 13 others. Our community is healing, and we know the healing process will be long. As we move forward —…
Share the good news about great schools as the new year begins
By Stephanie Hirsh |
I have worked for 30 years at Learning Forward and that has required a tremendous amount of travel. On every trip, I ask the people I meet to tell me about their schools. While my data collection methods are quite unscientific, my findings are very similar to those highlighted in national polls. Taxi drivers who…
New report connects relicensure to real learning for educators
By Frederick Brown |
I’d like to send a shout-out to New America and authors Melissa Tooley and Taylor White for their recently released report, Rethinking Relicensure: Promoting Professional Learning Through Teacher Licensure Renewal Policies. After exploring how states handle relicensure, particularly when it comes to creating systems that contribute to enhancing educators’ effectiveness through professional learning, the authors…
Step by step: An educator’s path to advocacy
By Melinda George |
Judy Newhouse, executive director of Learning Forward Virginia, is a passionate advocate for the power of professional learning on schools and students. When she was recently invited to a conference, she saw an opportunity she couldn’t pass up. Representative Bobby Scott (VA-3), Ranking Member of the U.S. House of Representatives Education and Workforce Committee, was…
Advocacy through stories: What is your professional learning impact?
By Learning Forward |
While Title II has been maintained for the 2018 budget cycle, in large part due to the voices of educators, including many Learning Forward members, we are not in the clear. We must continue to advocate for high quality professional learning, a critical component of the work of all educators, to ensure that vital funding…
Professional learning can address the equity challenge
By Learning Forward |
By Janice Poda Several years ago, I was an expert witness in an equitable funding lawsuit in my home state on behalf of the plaintiff school districts. After court recessed on a very tense day on the witness stand, I took a drive through the small town where court was being held — the same…
How I became a learning leader
By Learning Forward |
By Whitney Young What do you get when you gather a 1st-grade teacher, district instructional coach, assistant principal, principal, director of technology, director of human resources, and a superintendent? These are the members of my Learning Forward Academy learning team — a team that has been working together for two years to solve the significant…
