Professional Learning Essentials
Four-hour course | On your schedule
This is your chance to join the many professional educators who have made a commitment to improving their understanding of what distinguishes high-quality professional learning from professional development.
Let’s be honest about the professional learning sessions you are seeing and experiencing.
- Tired of staff members using sick leave and paid leave to avoid attending professional learning?
- Are staff or colleagues less than enthusiastic about seeing upcoming professional learning sessions on their calendars?
- Is there a lack of shared understanding among staff about what high-quality professional learning should be?
- Are you in charge of not only making professional learning happen but ensuring that makes an impact for staff and students?
- Do you see professional learning that rarely changes teaching behaviors and student results?
If you answered yes to any of the above questions, this course is for you. Not only will it increase your understanding of systemic professional learning designed for impact, but it will foster an increased confidence in your ability to articulate your ideas to your colleagues by modeling the ideas, languages, and descriptions used to convey research and evidence-based ideas about high-quality professional learning.
Who is this course for?
New and experienced educators
District-level staff charged with overseeing, planning, designing, facilitating, or implementing professional learning; including superintendents, assistant superintendents, program coordinators, executive directors of teaching and learning, curriculum directors, and all other leaders of professional learning.
Campus-based educators tasked with overseeing, planning, designing, facilitating, or implementing professional learning to lead campus, team, grade level, or department professional learning.
Aspiring campus or district administrators who understand that high-quality professional learning and its implementation are the keys to improving student outcomes.
Message from the instructor
What you'll learn
Clearly articulate the link between comprehensive professional learning and improved teacher and student outcomes.
Recognize the key attributes of effective professional learning and how they can be used to evaluate your own policies and practices.
Articulate a clear and compelling set of beliefs and purposes that drive the ongoing development of a professional learning system.
Understand the key roles and responsibilities of district, school, and classroom leaders in a comprehensive professional learning system so that you can support others in stepping into these roles.
Initiate your own ongoing cycle of learning to form the foundation of your work in high-quality professional learning.
Understand how aligning your efforts to the Standards for Professional Learning will ensure your professional learning efforts are research- and evidence-based.
How you'll learn
This is an on-demand, four-hour course. You’ll have 90 days to complete the course on your own schedule. Make an afternoon of it, or take it 30 minutes at time, whatever suits your learning preferences and your schedule.
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Hear clear and concise guidance and insights from professional learning expert and course developer Chad Schmidt and guest speakers.
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Work through the provided reflection guides and activities that support you in achieving a deeper understanding of your learning and its application in your role and context.
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Learn about even more tools and resources that will help you assess current professional learning in your context and evaluate and plan next steps.
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Go beyond learning to application through with scenarios that take the learning into real world applications and implications.
Turn professional development skeptics into engaged learners. Master the difference between high-quality professional learning and typical PD.
Individual and team pricing
Is this for your own individual learning?
Your investment of $69 for members or $79 for non-members gets you 90 days of access to this essential learning.
About the instructor
Chad Schmidt is a learning leader and advocate for high-quality, standards-based professional learning. He has served in a wide variety of roles over the course of his career including middle school math teacher, chair of school and district professional learning committees, professor of preservice educators and graduate teacher leaders, administrator of research & evaluation and learning, and board member/officer for Minnesota’s Learning Forward affiliate. His focus on leadership development is rooted in designing, facilitating, and evaluating professional learning that is part of ongoing individual and systemic continuous improvement.
Ready to transform professional learning in your context? Contact us today to discuss individual or team enrollment options.
Satisfaction guarantee: Professional Learning Essentials course
We are sure you will be satisfied with our comprehensive Professional Learning Essentials course's outcomes: (1) Understand how professional learning directly impacts teacher effectiveness and student outcomes; (2) Define and evaluate professional learning policies with expert precision; (3) Apply a robust learning cycle in your professional role; (4) Clarify district and school leadership responsibilities in professional development; and (5) Gain comprehensive knowledge of Learning Forward's Professional Learning Standards. With 90-day course access, a self-paced 4-hour curriculum, and a Certificate of Completion for those scoring 80% or higher on the final assessment, we're confident you'll transform your approach to professional learning. If you don't feel these outcomes have added to your understanding of professional development, we'll refund your entire course investment – no questions and no hassles.
