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.

The history of school nursing is more than 100 years old and began in the tenements of New York City. In 1902 Lina Rogers became the first school nurse. She was assigned by Lillian Wald to cover four schools with over 10,000 students to see if onsite care of communicable diseases would improve school attendance.

As schools across the country grapple with the myriad challenges of operating during the COVID-19 pandemic, school nurses and their role in stemming the spread of the novel coronavirus have found themselves in the spotlight. This scrutiny has also served to highlight a problem that long predated the pandemic: the school nurse shortage.

In this article, two colleagues — one with an HR background, one from the world of professional development — consider how to motivate and engage employees through two different lenses.

What happens when teachers work to ensure their students’ success but that success remains elusive? Frustration. I hear frustration from teachers when they feel they are not meeting the needs of their students. Teachers care deeply.

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!”