In early November, Congress finally notched a major policy win, with the House passing the $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Fund (BIF) bill on a bipartisan vote. The bill includes no direct funding for education but will help improve the nation’s roads, bridges, drinking water, and broadband access, all of which are critical to schools. BIF, […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]