Teachers are uniquely situated to enact best practices for the direct benefit of student learning. However, teachers often lack opportunities to exercise agency, the capacity to "make an impact or exert power." When teachers develop agency, they are better able to implement place-based, relevant lessons for their students. The authors…

As leadership coaches, Kendall Zoller and Antonia Issa Lahera has worked with diverse groups of students. As they have pursued a path of equity for all students, teachers, families, and communities, they have developed a framework to develop, nurture, and grow collaborative relationships. They call it HeartSpace (Lahera & Zoller, 2021).…

A recent independent evaluation by WestEd of Learning Forward's What Matters Now Network looked at the ways in which a structured, facilitated network provided support for state-level coalitions working with districts, schools, and educators to improve instruction and make progress toward achieving content standards. The network was facilitated by…

In this article, a two-year partnership aims to disrupt inequities in curriculum and instruction by supporting teachers' efforts to better teach American Indian studies. The authors focus on the foundations of the partnership and how they implemented their professional learning, as well as important lessons about facilitating teacher professional…

Curriculum-based professional learning is situated within the broader professional learning ecosystem. It focuses on how to teach a specific subject for specific grades, using the specific materials that teachers will use with their students. Given the potential of curriculum-based professional learning to support teachers and strengthen…

Systems, structures, and practices perpetuate disparities because they reinforce barriers that sort and separate students based on assumed success or failure. When students are disadvantaged in this way, the implicit message is that their learning doesn't matter. The counterpoint to these discriminatory systems is an asset-based approach, which is…

Fishbowl coaching is where a coach and a teacher engage in a coaching session while other coaches observe the live interaction. While the conversation is happening, the other coaches take notes and prepare feedback to share after the conversation. Coaches learn from each other about how to structure and lead meaningful conversations that they can…

When educators engage in professional learning that is standards-based and led by an administrator who engaged in a standards-aligned preparation program and works in a state that has adopted standards for school leadership, there is greater potential for everyone in the system to develop the beliefs, values, knowledge, and skills to improve their…

The Alhambra Elementary School District in Phoenix, Arizona, uses the Standards for Professional Learning to shape and guide their planning and professional learning design, and embeds them in meetings and learning opportunities for district-level directors, specialists, and coaches to ensure they integrate them throughout their work across the…

At a time when it is unpopular to publicly stand up for equity, diversity, and inclusion, Learning Forward demonstrated its unwavering commitment to ensure equitable outcomes for all students by centering equity in its newest iteration of Standards for Professional Learning. The three equity standards push professional learning facilitators to…

Standards for Professional Learning are forward-looking by nature because they drive continuous improvement in educator practice. But taking a brief look at the history of the standards is important for understanding their impact on the field and their role in today's professional learning. As the field has shifted philosophy from staff…

In Canada, there is no federal department of education, nor is there a national system of education. Education is the responsibility of provinces and territories, and provincial education ministries lead the organization, implementation, and assessment of education within their jurisdictions. What this means for professional learning is that each…

Investing in high-quality, effective mentoring programs is a key, research-based strategy to increase teacher retention and new teachers' effectiveness. But not all mentoring programs are created equal. This article presents the following 3 strategies to upgrade mentoring programs for new teachers: (1) Focus mentoring on instructional improvement;…

This article summarizes lessons and examples from a learning community of leaders from 78 large and medium school districts across the U.S. that has been meeting monthly throughout the pandemic, that other educators might apply to their work as they continue to navigate difficult and ambiguous times. The learning community members have identified…

Learning Forward is working with states, districts, and schools to develop strong, instructionally focused mentoring initiatives that result in better teaching and learning for everyone involved. Through the customized Mentor Academy, they help systems shift away from traditional "buddy" type mentoring to a program designed to foster…