To address the question of how to develop the capacity for every instructional coach to provide job-embedded professional learning for every teacher and student, the Utah State Board of Education's quality instruction team designed and built a statewide 22 networked professional learning system that includes instructional coaches, local education…

How would instruction and student learning improve if educators made the time to really understand and practice a new curriculum before implementing it in classrooms with students? In Orange County, California, educators are finding out by testing an approach of preimplementation professional learning for a full year before applying a new…

Political discord, social tensions, and global conflicts compel teachers to guide students in exploring diverse perspectives and engaging in constructive, respectful dialogues. Furthermore, the rapid evolution of technology, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), necessitates teachers and school leaders to consider entirely new paradigms in…

Each year, educators engage in hours of professional learning to enhance their practice. Those hours are limited, both by contract and the imperative of keeping teachers in classrooms as much as possible. It is essential that this professional learning time is well-spent and pays dividends toward the goal of all public education: ensuring that…

Educators and researchers often think of program design and program evaluation as separate endeavors, even intentionally creating a firewall between them. But what if designers and evaluators worked together, combining their insights to strengthen both the program and the study of it? In the work of evaluating a statewide professional learning…

There are many valuable sources of evaluation data, including -- but not limited to -- professional learning participants. In the authors' work on leadership development and organizational learning for Tulsa Public Schools in Oklahoma, they regularly ask educators to share feedback and perceptions of usefulness of their professional learning. The…

The nature of the digital divide in schools is changing. Once understood to be about gaps in access to computer and internet technology across demographic and geographic groups, the gap is now more complex. Schools still experience inequity in technology, but it is as much about educators' capacity and opportunity to apply technology in meaningful…

Since professional learning is about shifting adult mindsets and behavior, it is work that frequently challenges assumptions, expectations, beliefs, instructional practices, and long-standing habits. To have meaningful and productive conversations about evaluation and data, educators must be equipped with effective practices and tools that allow…

In Saskatchewan, teachers are guided by educational policy that envisions placing Indigenous knowledge systems, cultures, and languages at the foundation of their structures, policies, and curricula. However, Non-Indigenous teachers in Canada remain uncertain about how to integrate Indigenous knowledge and teaching methods into their classrooms…

Today's high-quality curricula are focused on inquiry and making meaning from real-world phenomena and experiences. Many teachers didn't learn in this way when they were students or when they were teachers in training, so they need and deserve opportunities to dive into the curriculum and become experts at applying it. The implementation of this…

As U.S. school leaders anticipate the end of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds and contemplate possible budget shortfalls, they will have to make hard choices about how best to leverage limited resources to improve student outcomes. With the stakes high, lawmakers and experts urge school system leaders to rely on research and…

The Standards Assessment Inventory (SAI) has provided relevant, educator-level data helping systems of all kinds -- states, districts, schools, provinces, and organizations -- gather and track data about the professional learning their educators experience. An online, confidential, valid, and reliable instrument administered to school-based…

Many countries around the world are facing issues related to low levels of teacher wellbeing. In Australia, for example, there is a severe teacher shortage, resulting in many understaffed schools. Although this shortage is due to a confluence of factors, part of the cause stems from the fact that the support provided to teachers in recent years…

The Learning Forward Academy is Learning Forward's flagship deep learning experience, committed to increasing educator and leader capacity and improving results for students in the ever-changing landscape of education. For over 30 years, the academy has supported the problem-based learning of teachers, teacher leaders, instructional coaches,…

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…