“Out of the box” or “from the catalog” professional learning programs may offer strategies or ideas that sound good, but they often lack grounding in a district’s existing improvement efforts. This lack of alignment typically leads to limited implementation and impact.

In contrast, Learning Forward customizes our services, because we recognize that education leaders need professional learning that adapts to existing structures and their staff’s strengths. We believe it’s important to start with what’s already working or showing promise, complement existing expertise and experience, accommodate budgets and timelines, plan for sustainability, and align with the Standards for Professional Learning.

We created a tool leaders can use when considering customized professional learning services. It includes the following five questions:

• Does the program start with what we already have in place, or does it ask us to start over?
• Will this build internal expertise that our team can sustain after the engagement ends?
• Is the level of support matched to where our leaders actually are?
• Can this be designed around our current budget and timeline, or only at full scale?
• Is this grounded in the Standards for Professional Learning and evidence-based practice?

To talk through these questions or learn more information about Learning Forward’s customized professional services, contact Sharron Helmke, senior vice president, professional services, at sharron.helmke@learningforward.org.