Political discord, social tensions, and global conflicts compel teachers to guide students in exploring diverse perspectives and engaging in constructive, respectful dialogues. Furthermore, the rapid evolution of technology, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), necessitates teachers and school leaders to consider entirely new paradigms in…

Educators everywhere are responding to the realities of student learning loss, unfinished learning, or disrupted learning as they continue to experience the lasting impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Students of color and students attending high poverty schools experienced the largest achievement declines, increasing preexisting gaps for already…

In 2012, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that learning to read is a fundamental human right and failure to provide appropriate education for students with reading disabilities is discriminatory (Moore v. British Columbia, 2012). In Ontario, Canada's most populous province, the Human Rights Commission's inquiry in 2022 found the province's…

This article describes the Student Perception Project, a two-year opportunity for educators in Washington state to explore student perception surveys and ways the data students provide can inform educator practice. Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and led by the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and the…

This article presents a reflection tool--created by The New Teacher Project (TNTP) and Learning Forward--for shifting the cognitive load to students from teachers so that students are actively engaged, use critical thinking, and demonstrate understanding. Coaches, teacher leaders, and other professional learning leaders can use this tool in…

This article describes what Anita McCafferty and Jeffrey Beaudry did when they were were given a two-hour time block for professional development on a Friday afternoon just before the school district went on a week-long vacation. Their audience included 175 K-12 teachers and administrators from a school district in Maine, and their topic was…

The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the longstanding pattern of lower scholastic performance among marginalized groups of students negatively impacted by poverty, disability, and race. The perception among educators and citizens continues to be that practices around equal rights equate to provisions related to equity. In Arkansas, the unknown…

Since 2013, a majority of states have been working to implement new standards for K-12 science education that are based on the National Research Council's framework for science education and the Next Generation Science Standards. The new science standards emphasize deeper understanding of content in relation to practices and a three-dimensional…

Learning Forward's Professional Learning State and District Planner is a guide to help state, district, and school leaders implement professional learning to support high-quality curriculum and instructional materials. Grounded in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) definition of high-quality professional learning as intensive, data-driven,…

Engaging with materials can shape the teaching experience, teachers' practices and mindsets, and, ultimately, students' learning experiences. This issue of "Learning Professional" looks at an area of emerging interest: curriculum materials and the role they play in the daily work of educators and leaders. Educators, researchers, and…

More than 60% of U.S. school children are being educated in states in which Next Generation Science Standards or other framework-derived standards have been adopted. This vision demands a central role for students to engage in science and engineering practices to build and use science ideas, rather than solely learning about the science others…

As the world races to combat a pandemic, slow climate change, and solve many other public health challenges, it is clear that developing young people's scientific knowledge should be an urgent priority in schools. The goal of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) is to foster scholars and citizens who can think critically and creatively to…

Many principal supervisors in the United States work in relative isolation and experience no professional development designed to support them. Over the past four years, the role of principal supervisor in Long Beach Unified School District in California has shifted from compliance and at-a-distance supervision practices to a deeply rooted…

Iheoma Iruka is founding director of the Equity Research Action Coalition at Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute and research professor of public policy at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Her work focuses on supporting the optimal development of children from low-wealth and marginalized communities and ensuring excellence…

Responsive professional development is about watching learners closely, interpreting observations to make nuanced decisions, and taking action to support learners at particular moments. What might they be ready to do next? What instructional moves will best provide "just enough" support? In other words, what is the next wise action?…