Why School Leaders Need Learning Communities

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Why school leaders need learning communities

By Frederick Brown, Rotunda Floyd-Cooper and Edwin Quezada

October 2025

Many schools have learning communities for teachers and staff to collaborate and learn together. School leaders also need opportunities to connect and collaborate, but the form of those communities necessarily differs because leaders are often geographically isolated from others in their roles. The Learning Professional asked three field leaders to share their perspectives on why districts, organizations, and funders should invest in learning communities for leaders and to give examples of how such communities can take shape. Frederick Brown, president & CEO of Learning Forward Leadership can be isolating, but it doesn’t have to be. When districts invest in authentic learning communities for leaders they give principals, assistant principals, and other leaders the gift of connection, collaboration, and collective problem-solving, all of which contribute to

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Frederick Brown

President | CEO at Learning Forward | + posts

Frederick Brown is Learning Forward’s president | CEO. Fred is an education visionary who knows firsthand that our nation’s schools need transformational change if we are to meet the challenges of the next decades. Fred advocates that every child deserves to reach their highest potential and every educator must have the opportunity to participate in exemplary, ongoing, professional learning programs to provide students the skills needed to meet their unique needs.

Supporting educators at all levels and improving student achievement are through lines of Fred's career. An elementary school teacher, a middle school assistant principal, and school principal, Fred saw firsthand the impact high-leverage instructional practices and school culture have on school success.

Fred is a frequent speaker on leadership and building high-quality learning in schools. He has co-authored two books that have made significant contributions to the field of education, demonstrating how a comprehensive approach to professional learning can be achieved so that everyone in a system is a learner, and how principals apply a learning lens to their many critical responsibilities to create a productive climate for learning and collaboration. "Becoming a Learning System" and "The Learning Principal -- Becoming a Learning Leader" are time-tested Learning Forward resources for schools and leaders.

Rotunda Floyd-Cooper

+ posts

Rotunda Floyd-Cooper is vice president, education leadership at The Wallace Foundation, where she leads the interdisciplinary education leadership strategy team, which comprises representatives from the foundation’s program, research, and communications units. Previously, she served as associate superintendent and as director of learning and achievement for the Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools. Her other roles have included principal, assistant principal, director of curriculum innovation, school improvement specialist, and math teacher. She holds an Ed.D. from the University of Maryland, an M.S. in applied mathematics from Virginia Tech, an M.Ed. from Virginia State University, and a B.S. from Hampton University.