Frontline Blog

While many of us can’t wait to get back to in-person professional development and think online PD is less than ideal, I’m here to tell you that virtual professional learning can be highly successful. When online professional learning is well planned and well executed, teachers describe their experiences as “fantastic,” “effective,” “perfect,” and “wonderful.”

Research suggests that teachers are as important as ever. The RAND Corporation says teachers are the most important school-related factor when it comes to student success. Yet fewer people are graduating with teaching degrees. Those factors, combined with concerns about teacher morale in a post-COVID environment, have school districts across the country rightfully concerned about attracting and keeping the top teachers in their schools.

As educators seek to refine practices and improve student achievement, it is important for educational leaders to provide access to high-quality professional development that offers a timely response to needs. Whether that professional development addresses the unique needs presented by the COVID-19 pandemic or broader trends developing in education, each learning opportunity demands thoughtful consideration to ensure it is the most appropriate option to support teacher growth.

Implementing professional learning programs to meet the needs of all teachers and staff has always been challenging. Over the past few months, a monumental shift has thrust many schools and districts into what feels like a tailspin: “We have to put together online personalized content using new resources and tools — as quickly as possible!”

Most schools dedicate a good deal of time and money to professional learning for teachers and staff. But not all schools can confidently say that all that time and money makes a difference where it counts: in the classroom. So, how do you gauge the impact of your program? This infographic explores the process.

Educators often look at a new technology and wonder how it will support ongoing improvement in teaching practice. Will it be cost effective and easy to use? Early attempts to harness video weren’t always successful because, frankly, videos were hard to share in a useful context. But today, advanced video tools (such as, well, your phone) make it possible to use this medium to benefit classroom instruction in a meaningful way. Using video to support ongoing improvement for teachers is easier than it has ever been.

During a webinar we hosted about cultivating a growth mindset for teachers and staff, one attendee asked a fantastic question: Wouldn’t the process of giving feedback, which is, really, criticizing through performance evaluation processes, conflict with the promotion of a growth mindset? Given what is known about the negative effects of performance evaluation, could it be claimed that these hierarchical and outdated management practices may in fact promote a fixed mindset in adults?

If engaging, collaborative, relevant-to-classroom-needs learning opportunities represent the best of what professional learning can do for teacher growth, there’s also a flip side. Everyone decries those stay-for-two-hours-after-school-and-sit-in-a-large-room-and-passively-listen workshops.