The first cohort of Learning Forward’s Design Professional Learning in a Virtual World (DPLV) Network completed its cycle of work in June, and a second one will conclude in November.

The network helps schools and districts learn to navigate how remote, hybrid, and blended learning environments could accelerate and broaden the impact of effective professional learning. Teams from 11 school districts, a state education agency, and Learning Forward Affiliate leaders worked together to vision and plan for the leadership of adult learning in alignment with each organization’s strategic priorities.

The teams worked with professional learning tools and resources aligned to Learning Forward’s Standards for Professional Learning. They outlined goals and activities to implement learning models based on lessons learned from the emergency shift to online, remote, or hybrid learning.

Teams then translated their work into a document to share that can serve as the basis for professional learning going forward. The network plans align to each organization’s strategic plan and intentionally include work across departments, including a framework of responsibilities and the required investment to deliver against the performance goals and expand the scope of operations.

Over time, the plans seek to include or extend the use of new adult learning opportunities across multiple staff categories.

The plans outline teams’ sustainable solutions to immediate challenges and a professional learning infrastructure that transcends the 2020-21 pandemic. The collaboration between like-minded state and district leaders facilitated understanding how short-term COVID-19 lessons can inform long-term professional learning plans and support building a contextualized, comprehensive professional learning plan that is equity-focused.

DPLV Network Partners – Cohort 1

• Alaska Department of Education
• Broward County Schools, Florida
• Miami-Dade County Schools, Florida
• Fort Sam Houston Independent School District, Texas
• Fort Wayne Community Schools, Indiana
• Frederick County Schools, Virginia
• Stafford County Schools, Virginia
• Tulsa Public Schools, Oklahoma
• Learning Forward Affiliate Leaders (Alaska, Florida, Texas, Virginia)

Cohort 2

• Cobb County School District, Georgia
• Loudon County Schools, Tennessee
• Northshore School District, Washington
• Parkway School District, Missouri
• Learning Forward Affiliate Leaders (Georgia, Missouri)