Read our latest report

Explore how learning communities contribute to improving educator and student learning with Building a Learning Community: A Tale of Two Schools.  

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2012 Annual Conference

Join us in Boston Dec. 1-5 to experience cutting-edge keynotes and general sessions that address current issues in schools and districts.

Register for the 2012 Annual Conference.

Shape our future

Members have until Oct. 15 to vote in the Board of Trustees elections. Make your choice known -- your input into the future of Learning Forward is essential.

Vote now!

Teacher Leaders

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External Partners

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Meet your classroom challenges

Teachers learn best when they work together to solve common problems. Join Learning Forward’s network of teacher leaders and get resources, tools, strategies, and access to committed colleagues willing to share their expertise and experience to develop solutions to the issues you're facing in your school and classroom.

Leading Teacher  •  Learning Exchange  •  Learn more

Create a culture of continuous improvement

Effective school leaders create environments where professional learning is embedded in the school’s culture, and everyone holds collective responsibility for student success. Ensure your school is committed to continuous improvement and achieving shared goals.

Learning Principal  •  LSA  •  Learn more

Become a learning system

Standards-based professional learning is built into the fabric of a school system through skillful leadership. From supporting school leaders to aligning outcomes with educator performance to establishing strong community partnerships, system leaders lead long-term change efforts that benefit all teachers and students. 

Learning System  •  PD Watch blog  •  Learn more

Hone your skills, strengthen your relationships

External partners play a valuable role in strengthening the instructional and pedagogical expertise needed in schools and systems. Learn how external partners can best support and facilitate learning side by side with school-based practitioners and central office staff.

Tools for Learning Schools  •  Standards Facilitator Guide  •  Learn more

Be a professional learning advocate

What does effective professional learning look like, and what are the results? How can policymakers ensure that every child experiences great teaching every day? See examples of professional learning in action and learn how you can impact teaching and learning at the local, state, regional, and national levels. 

Why PD Matters  •  Status of Professional LearningLearn More

Key Dates

Headlines

Announcements

Sep 17, 2012
The Christie administration presented its Education Transformation Task Force report, with more than 400 recommendations for streamlining and eliminating requirements on New Jersey school districts. Among the changes is a rewriting of the state's rule that every teacher have 100 hours of professional development every five years, instead proposing more individualized plans less driven by clock hours. The report calls for a series of changes in the requirement and even the definition of professional development. It places much more emphasis on learning through collaborative teams of teachers, such as shared planning time, and more job-embedded professional development.

    Learning Forward Announces Release of Meet the Promise of Content Standards: Professional Learning Required

    • Learning Forward announces the release of Meet the Promise of Content Standards: Professional Learning Required, a brief on the critical role that professional learning plays in implementing content standards.

    Learning Forward and Tutor.com Collaborate on New On-demand Coaching Service

    • Learning Forward, the organization that created the Standards for Professional Learning, and Tutor.com, the leader in one-to-one, on-demand learning solutions, are collaborating on a new, high-impact service to maximize the effectiveness of thousands of instructional coaches. Offered through the Learning Forward Center for Results, Coaches’ Connect will provide support to instructional coaches from experienced, master coaches online using Tutor.com’s real-time learning platform. The service will launch in September 2012.

    MetLife Foundation Supports Dissemination and Implementation of Learning Forward's Standards for Professional Learning

    • Learning Forward has received a $350,000 grant from MetLife Foundation to encourage and enable the implementation of standards in professional learning to increase effective teaching and collaborative learning, particularly in high-needs schools. This grant will help Learning Forward and allied organizations build on past MetLife Foundation support to further the valuable work of three initiatives: the Learning School Alliance; implementation of Common Core State Standards; and exploration of effective professional learning practices in other nations. The grant also supports an examination of the implications for practice of findings from the annual MetLife Survey of the American Teacher.

Blog

Articles

Bookstore

<< >> 
A PLC Pop Quiz for the New Year
9/17/2012
These 13 essential questions will help ensure you get you the best results from your professional learning community this year.
Effective Feedback Helps Practice Bloom
9/12/2012
Schools have no shortage of valuable data. But how do we make these data actionable for professional learning?

Advancing the standards: Serve up a pie chart to illustrate investment in professional learning

Read how pie charts promote accountability as they enable non-expert stakeholders to quickly understand what makes up the whole of your professional learning system.
Read this article from the Summer 2012 issue.

Your next must-have

A Playbook for Professional Learning: Putting the Standards into Action
By Stephanie Hirsh & Shirley Hord

Move beyond reading and adopting the standards to learning how to apply them in your daily practice.

Purchase your copy.

Learn - Connect - Engage

Join the Conversation

Be part of an online community of learners dedicated to continuous improvement and sharing best practices. Join the discussion and develop solutions to the issues facing today’s educators.

Connect with Colleagues

Join a worldwide learning network committed to ensuring every student experiences great teaching every day. Connect with colleagues from your own back yard and around the world on the Learning Exchange.