Teachers Learning from Teachers: Dynamic Initiative Taps into Educators’ Expertise

The Center for the Future of Teaching & Learning at WestEd collaborated with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to launch the Teacher Practice Network (TPN) initiative, which supports a vast national network of teacher leaders who mentor and coach their peers. By providing high-quality standards-aligned resources and ongoing professional learning led by teacher leaders, Read more about Teachers Learning from Teachers: Dynamic Initiative Taps into Educators’ Expertise[…]

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Personalizing Professional Development: How Empowered Teachers Can Take Charge of Professional Learning and Growth

McREL’s CEO Bryan Goodwin has teamed up with ASCD authors Pete Hall and Alisa Simeral in this white paper to tackle a question of urgent interest to teachers at all career stages: Can professional learning be better? It can, they argue, if the profession recognizes that PD must begin with teachers’ problems of practice, develop Read more about Personalizing Professional Development: How Empowered Teachers Can Take Charge of Professional Learning and Growth[…]

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Debunking the Myth of the Teacher Performance Plateau

Recently, Bryan Goodwin of McREL International and William J. Slotnik of the Community Training and Assistance Center partnered up to write a piece for Phi Delta Kappan exploring the myth that teachers peak as professionals early in their careers and then reach a performance plateau. Excerpts from their piece appear below: There is a belief, Read more about Debunking the Myth of the Teacher Performance Plateau[…]

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Recommendations to Strengthen Teacher Preparation & Diversity

A new report from Educators for Excellence New York outlines the importance of teacher preparation and offers recommendations for increasing teacher diversity.   Ready for Day One and Beyond is a new paper written by teachers on the Educators for Excellence New York Policy Team. The paper starts with two important questions:   1. What Read more about Recommendations to Strengthen Teacher Preparation & Diversity[…]

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Retaining Teachers: Fostering Conditions Where Talent Thrives

Education Evolving has launched a new blog series focused on the growing problem of teacher turnover, and telling the stories of schools, strategies, programs, and leaders that buck the trend. Teachers have long been identified as the number one in-school factor that influences student outcomes. Conversely, teacher turnover is correlated with lower student outcomes and Read more about Retaining Teachers: Fostering Conditions Where Talent Thrives[…]

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Four Ways to Transform the Professional Learning Experience

In the February 2019 issue of Language Magazine, Pam Allyn, Senior Vice President, Innovation & Development, Scholastic Education, and Dr. Carol Chanter, Senior Vice President, Professional Learning Services, Scholastic Education, outlined four ways to cultivate learning experiences for educators that are both effective and enjoyable. 1. Blend it A mix of face-to-face learning with online Read more about Four Ways to Transform the Professional Learning Experience[…]

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4 Cornerstones of Professional Learning

Stephanie Hirsh, who will be retiring from Learning Forward this June, has laid out four critical elements for educators to ensure professional learning improves results for all students. 4 Cornerstones of Professional Learning, centered on a foundation of the Standards for Professional Learning, shares research, evidence from practice, and reflections from Stephanie Hirsh’s career at Read more about 4 Cornerstones of Professional Learning[…]

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February Issue Brief: Trauma-Informed Teaching

Rates of childhood trauma in the United States are alarmingly high, with exposure to potentially traumatic forms of violence, such as abuse, assault, or family or community violence particularly common. Traumatic experiences and chronic stress can overwhelm a child’s system and negatively impact development and learning. As educators, however, we can help students recover from Read more about February Issue Brief: Trauma-Informed Teaching[…]

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Strategies to Support Teachers of Competency-Based Education

iNACOL has released a new report, Moving Toward Mastery: Growing, Developing and Sustaining Educators for Competency-Based Education. The publication re-envisions professional practice, learning and development for educators in competency-based education. As school districts transition to new, more powerful student-centered learning models, it is critical that educators leading the transformative practice are equipped for their new Read more about Strategies to Support Teachers of Competency-Based Education[…]

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Teacher Leadership Toolkit: Strategies to Build, Support and Sustain Teacher Leadership Opportunities

School systems—and the challenges they face—are often complex and diverse; effectively addressing these challenges may require a leadership approach that moves beyond traditional teacher and administrator roles. Teacher leadership is one strategy many states and districts are pursuing to facilitate meaningful change and support better outcomes for their students. To support these efforts, the Teacher Read more about Teacher Leadership Toolkit: Strategies to Build, Support and Sustain Teacher Leadership Opportunities[…]

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The Importance of High-Quality Instructional Materials

Learning Forward has released a special open-access issue of The Learning Professional. It builds on a vital topic for educators: the use of high-quality instructional materials. All students deserve access to high-quality content, and all teachers deserve support to implement it well. The message from research is straightforward: instructional materials matter. Good materials in the Read more about The Importance of High-Quality Instructional Materials[…]

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50-State Comparison: Teacher Leadership and Licensure Advancement

On the path to strengthen teacher pipelines, support excellent teaching and improve retention, many states have developed opportunities for teacher leadership and advancement. While most states offer advanced licenses to encourage ongoing learning and growth within the teaching profession, many are now also including supports and incentives to encourage more teachers to become leaders in Read more about 50-State Comparison: Teacher Leadership and Licensure Advancement[…]

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Teachers at Work: Designing Schools Where Teachers and Students Thrive

Schools are the engines of economic and social mobility, where the virtues required for citizenship are wrestled with and practiced, and where the foundations of a robust and dynamic citizenship, democracy, and economy are nurtured. Teachers are the heart, soul, and muscle of our schools. Research has pointed time and time again to teachers as Read more about Teachers at Work: Designing Schools Where Teachers and Students Thrive[…]

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How People Learn II

Learning is a conversation with the world, from a newborn’s brain lighting up as his mother sings to him, to a teenager choking on a test for fear of fulfilling a stereotype, to elderly people heading off cognitive decline by learning a new language. In an update to its landmark reports on education research, the Read more about How People Learn II[…]

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Learn Next: A Toolbox for Educators to Transform Practice

Every student deserves access to powerful learning experiences – experiences that help them develop agency, grow their skills and expand their curiosities. Many schools are shifting their practices to be more student-centered in hopes of ultimately developing these qualities in students. We know in transformative environments that the learning and facilitation looks very different. This Read more about Learn Next: A Toolbox for Educators to Transform Practice[…]

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ISTE Announces New Computational Thinking Standards for All Educators

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) has announced its new ISTE Standards for Educators: Computational Thinking Competencies (CT Competencies). CT Competencies focus on the knowledge, skills and mindset needed to bring computational thinking to all K-12 content areas and are designed for all educators, including those who are new to computer science. The Read more about ISTE Announces New Computational Thinking Standards for All Educators[…]

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