In professional learning, just as in architecture, form follows function. Although professional learning designs are vitally important, they cannot be where we begin in our planning. Purpose -- our why -- must be our starting point in designing any professional learning experience. Educators who begin by attending to the questions, "What do…

Building bridges among education stakeholders is an important but underused strategy for creating a culture in which professional learning is seen as a shared responsibility. The National Center for School-University Partnerships, headquartered at the University of Mississippi, has embraced improvement science as a core strategy in its…

Part of the reason many districts fail to achieve the promise of high-quality professional learning is that they operate with what the authors call a "PD mindset." This mindset manifests in sporadic, one-time events, inservice sessions, guest speakers, webinars, and workshops that are not part of a larger plan or vision. The authors…

When the staff at Northern Kentucky Cooperative for Educational Services (NKCES) discovered a new road to higher quality professional learning and better outcomes for students, they jumped on it and quickly decided they weren't going back. Three years ago Chief Academic Officer Melody Stacy and her colleagues learned about the Standards for…

The mission of the Palau Ministry of Education is to ensure that their students will be successful in Palauan society and the world. Schools are the heart of Palau's communities, reflecting the rich culture of the nation. They incorporate a unique blend of traditional values and modern methodologies to support learning for the diverse and…

Continuous improvement methods, widely used in fields such as medicine, can help educators identify and try out adjustments in practice, known as "change ideas," which contribute to better outcomes and more equitable systems for students. Since 2018, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has invested in 24 organizations across the…

Embarking on an initiative to implement evidence-based reading instruction can be both exhilarating and daunting for school and district leaders. Some may think that adopting a curriculum grounded in the principles of the science of reading will automatically ensure success. Choosing a strong curriculum is a crucial step, but it is important to…

As of April 2024, 38 U.S. states and the District of Columbia have laws or policies related to evidence-based reading instruction (Schwartz, 2024). To ensure the success of these efforts, educators need and deserve multifaceted support that involves professional learning, curriculum resources, ongoing support from leaders and coaches, and a…

Professional learning leaders are sometimes faced with skepticism about the expected impact of an investment in professional learning. Long-held myths and outdated notions about sit-and-get professional learning can act as barriers to thorough planning, appropriate funding, and sustained implementation of professional learning efforts.…

"Systems coaching" is used to implement systems-level school improvement initiatives that will build capacity and strengthen infrastructure. In Ohio, the state's regional network of literacy specialists and state support teams for central office and district leaders provided systems coaching to build an infrastructure to support the use…

Learning Forward's Standards for Professional Learning define and describe professional learning that leads to improved educator practices, leadership, and student outcomes. Standards draw on the latest evidence and research about what works in professional learning to help educators implement every phase of the professional learning process. They…

The COVID-19 Omicron variant was causing a new wave of infections and, because of school and life disruptions, students were struggling with learning loss and a decline in mental and emotional health in 2021. Against this backdrop, FHI 360, an organization whose education initiatives aim to dismantle obstacles and give students the tools they need…

Research has been at the heart of Learning Forward's Standards for Professional Learning since they were first conceptualized and shared with the field in the 1990s. The standards are built on a decades-long foundation of research literature that describes the ways in which professional learning can improve educator knowledge, skills, and mindsets…

Project I4 is a federally funded SEED (Supporting Effective Educator Development) grant, a partnership between East Carolina University and the Institute for Educational Leadership. It is a cohort-based, yearlong professional learning experience aimed at reimagining instructional leadership through an equity lens. Specifically, school leader…

Teacher professional learning is often disjointed and not aligned with the curricula teachers use in daily instruction. This lack of preparation has led to fragmented approaches to teaching young students to read, in part because initiatives lose momentum, teachers modify the instruction beyond recognition, and programs are soon eclipsed by newer…