Visualize the worst presentation that you have ever been a part of as an adult learner. Now visualize the best one. No doubt there is a considerable difference between the two professional learning opportunities. Learn the answers to three basic questions: What are strategies that I can use to make my professional development experience unforgettable? What are techniques that result in sustained adult behavior change? What are 10 things that keep adults living well beyond the age of 80?

Participants will:

• Ascertain why it can be so difficult for adults to change their behavior and determine the order of change when asking adults to implement new behaviors;
• Examine six principles of adult learning theory to use with faculty and staff in professional learning;
• Experience 10 characteristics of quality professional learning to apply when implementing professional development; and
• Plan your next professional learning experience using an original template while incorporating brain-based strategies that take advantage of how all adult and student brains learn best.

Explore how gamification transforms Check-In Check-Out into a student-owned, relationship-driven Tier 2 system. Learn how missions, levels, choice, and progress tracking increase engagement while maintaining strong multi-tiered system of supports data practices. Apply practical strategies from the SPACE framework to strengthen relationships, improve behavior outcomes, and build Tier 2 supports students and staff believe in.

Participants will:

• Understand how gamification principles strengthen Check-In Check-Out by increasing student ownership, motivation, and consistency;
• Identify why traditional Tier 2 systems lose momentum and describe specific design elements that reengage students and staff;
• Learn to apply practical strategies such as missions, levels, reflection, and progress tracking to redesign or enhance existing Check-In Check-Out systems; and
• Implement a gamified Tier 2 framework using SPACE as a model to improve relationships and support sustainable behavior outcomes and collective success in your own school context.
   

Data is only as powerful as the instruction it informs. Examine how a middle school building coach, math specialist, and district math coach partner with grade-level teams to transform assessment data into actionable instructional decisions. Participants explore high-impact, replicable routines for collaborative meetings that support targeted small-group instruction and lead to measurable student growth.

Participants will:

• Learn to interpret formative and summative middle school math assessment data in ways that prioritize standards and clarify instructional next steps;
• Be able to use data visualization to identify trends, group students by learning needs, and design differentiated small-group instruction aligned to targeted standards;
• Understand how to analyze data patterns over time to determine whether core instructional programs are meeting student needs or whether instructional adjustments and supplementation are needed; and
• Know how to apply a replicable planning routine that supports ongoing progress monitoring, instructional coherence, and improved alignment between data and instruction.
   

When instructional time is tight and every subject competes for attention, how can districts truly support elementary teachers? Explore how one district redesigned professional development and collaboration to strengthen learning across all subjects. Learn how an intentional cross-curricular focus enhanced Tier 1 instruction and aligned standards and goals, and how clear communication resulted in supported, creative teaching across all content areas.

• Examine approaches for transforming district instructional focus to strengthen outcomes across all elementary subject areas;
• Apply research-based instructional strategies to design meaningful cross-curricular learning opportunities that support improved outcomes for all learners;
• Analyze and revise pacing guides and year-at-a-glance documents to better align content standards, and leave with tools to support this process in their own schools or districts; and
• Identify strategies for shifting from a siloed professional learning model to a collaborative, shared-leadership approach that supports creative cohesion and collective district goals.

Explore a fresh approach to understanding and improving classroom instruction through product collections. Find out how these sets of student work provide a window into actual learning and provide meaningful feedback for continued success. Leave with a clear process for collecting and using student work to guide instruction, practical ideas for piloting this approach on your own campus, and strategies for fostering reflective conversations that strengthen teaching and learning.

• Analyze sample collections, discuss strategies for implementation, and see how this practice connects directly to high-impact instructional techniques;
• Learn how to collect and use real student work to see what’s actually happening in your classroom; and
• Apply this approach to identify learning patterns, guide targeted feedback, and support teacher reflection and growth.

Storytelling connects and unifies by creating a culture of belonging. Increase the impact of your storytelling with a structure and set of skills that bring a deeper emotional connection with your audience and positively shift people’s attitudes, perceptions, and sense of unity. Explore a storytelling frame that identifies purpose, flow, and connection to the audience, and practice skills that enhance the telling of the story.

Participants will:

• Apply a storytelling framework to a story you can tell in a work setting;
• Apply skills for telling your story that impact credibility, rapport, and trust to build a unifying culture of belonging; and
• Develop a strategy for finding new stories that supports your leadership vision and mission.
   

Join a district leader and high school principal to explore a transformative partnership that shifts school culture from data compliance to collective efficacy. Examine the implementation of change management strategies that empower administrative and instructional leadership teams. Through the lens of the Evidence standard, discover how specific professional learning structures translate complex data into actionable classroom growth, fostering a sustainable environment of collaborative inquiry and student success.

Participants will:

• Implement research-based drivers to transition leadership teams from data literacy to a culture of sustainable inquiry;
• Utilize specific tools designed to differentiate data-driven professional learning for both administrative and instructional leadership teams;
• Leverage district-level data to design high-impact interventions that measurably improve educator performance and student outcomes; and
• Create a strategic action plan for district-school partnerships that prioritizes shared responsibility for continuous system improvement.
   

Explore and practice structured data protocols that support efficient, meaningful data analysis within professional learning and team meeting contexts. Implement a clear approach for embedding these processes into systems, so teams move beyond “data admiring” to identify instructional accomplishments and evidence-based next steps. Cultivate educators’ data literacy and inquiry skills by applying these frameworks as tools for skill building, collaboration, and decision-making.

Participants will:

• Experience and facilitate multiple proven data protocols, building the knowledge and confidence to select and lead structured data analysis and sense-making processes within common professional learning and team meeting timeframes;
• Apply a practical framework for integrating structured data analysis protocols into existing professional learning systems, enabling teams to move beyond data reporting to identify instructional accomplishments, prioritize needs, and determine evidence-based next steps;
• Use data protocols intentionally as both analysis tools and professional learning strategies to strengthen educators’ data literacy, inquiry habits, and shared responsibility for learning and improvement; and
• Adapt and apply resources, including protocols, facilitation tools, and planning templates, and explore ways to integrate them across school, district, and state contexts.
   

Learn how to design professional learning that sparks genuine “aha" moments by facilitating cognitive shifts for teachers around instruction, students, and community. Understand how to bridge from current practice to new practice through asset-based reflection and leveraging teacher and community strengths. Leave with a repeatable planning structure that supports lasting change.

Participants will:

• Examine key professional learning design practices that facilitate mindset shifts and drive transformative in   structional impact;
• Assess your current professional learning design to identify strengths and high-leverage areas for enhancement; and
• Revise a professional learning experience using a learner-centered, asset-based approach that builds on student and community strengths.
     

Coaching is a powerful form of professional learning that strengthens educator practice and advances collective responsibility for student learning. Explore coaching in the presence of difference, emphasizing how unique characteristics, perspective, and context shape coaching interactions. Examine how intentional awareness and collaborative inquiry deepen learning, strengthen relationships, and support continuous improvement for all educators and students.

Participants will:

• Learn to apply coaching strategies that intentionally attend to self, coachee, and context, recognizing that coaching is not neutral and must be responsive to the cultural, organizational, and relational environments in which educators and learners work;
• Identify common roadblocks to coaching across differences and use data, reflection, and collaborative inquiry to move coaching beyond surface-level compliance toward deeper instructional and organizational change, reinforcing shared responsibility for improving learning; and
• Assess how high-quality coaching impacts both the coach and the coachee, and identify specific coaching skills that require ongoing refinement to strengthen professional practice and improve outcomes for educators, students, and the communities they serve.
   

Explore key principles from the science of learning to bridge research and practice, equipping teachers with evidence-informed strategies that strengthen instruction, improve student outcomes, and transform systemwide practices. Examine foundational findings from cognitive science, apply them in real classrooms, and learn how to empower teachers, cultivate a strong educator workforce, and create a high-impact learning environment that attracts, develops, and retains top talent.

• Articulate a simple model of the mind to ground their understanding of how learning occurs;
• Identify key learning science principles that support instructional effectiveness;
• Analyze components of successful evidence-to-practice implementation in teacher induction and professional learning; and
• Develop a theory of change plan outlining initial steps to build capacity for evidence-informed professional learning in their school or district.

Examine why AI feels overwhelming for teachers by confronting concerns about cheating and the loss of critical thinking, and learn how professional learning leaders can translate policy into classroom-ready practice. Explore how to empower educators to use AI as a thought partner and teach students to deepen inquiry, judgment, and rigor. Apply practical strategies, protocols, and professional learning models to build confidence and support responsible, systemwide implementation.

Participants will:

• Articulate key opportunities and challenges of AI in education, including academic integrity, bias, and the potential to deepen student critical thinking, using professional learning designs that promote inquiry, collaboration, and shared meaning-making among educators;
• Interpret and translate district AI policies into actionable classroom strategies by applying implementation principles that clarify expectations, decision-making processes, and safeguards for responsible AI use;
• Design and model instructional and professional learning experiences that utilize AI while maintaining student ownership of learning; and
• Facilitate teacher growth around AI by leading professional conversations, modeling best practices, and using tools and protocols to build confidence, support ethical and practical implementation, and monitor the impact of AI-integrated instruction on student learning and critical thinking.
   

Professional learning doesn’t fail because of lack of effort; it fails because systems stay locked. Learn how Indianapolis Public Schools created their 6 Keys framework to operationalize the Standards for Professional Learning through shared expectations, leader learning, and a standards-aligned design tool. Actively apply the keys, pinpoint what’s blocking impact in your own systems, and leave with a clear, replicable action to unlock coherence and results for all.

Participants will:

• Gain a clear, practical understanding of how the Standards for Professional Learning can be operationalized at a system level using a coherent, district-created framework rather than isolated initiatives;
• Apply the Indianapolis Public Schools 6 Keys to analyze a professional learning experience, identify strengths and gaps, and determine which conditions are keeping impact locked in your own context; and
• Strengthen your ability to design and facilitate professional learning that intentionally centers educator practice and student outcomes while supporting sustainable implementation over time.
   

Come make your professional learning implementation outcome-driven and evaluation-aligned. Learn how to utilize the KASAB (Knowledge, Attitudes, Skills, Aspirations, and Behaviors) model to clearly articulate end goals of learning for teachers, leaders, and students. Leave with strong knowledge, beefed-up skills, an improved product, and the attitude and motivation to design professional learning experiences with clearly articulated goals for teachers and students.

Participants will:

• Connect the KASAB framework to specific outcomes for professional learning;
• Utilize the KASAB framework in the design of your large and small, short and long, simple and complex professional learning sessions; and
• Revise or create professional learning with explicit KASAB goals for relevant stakeholders.
   

Harness AI and neuroscience to redefine professional learning and enhance instructional design with AI-driven tools that streamline curriculum creation, boost engagement, and improve learning retention using cognitive science principles. Apply research-backed strategies aligned with Learning Forward’s standards to integrate AI effectively, ensuring high-quality, student-centered instruction. Engage in interactive demonstrations and real-world applications, and leave with practical, ready-to-use AI tools to immediately transform your teaching, professional learning catalog, and leadership.

Participants will:

• Explore the intersection of brain-based learning principles and AI-powered content creation, ensuring professional learning mirrors evidence-based instructional strategies that improve educator effectiveness and student success;
• Gain hands-on experience using AI to develop lesson plans, assessments, and adaptive learning pathways that support educator growth, instructional leadership, and measurable student achievement;
• Examine case studies and emerging impact data from M-DCPS professional learning programs that demonstrate AI’s role in improving instructional quality, leadership development, and student outcomes; and
• Develop an AI integration plan for your own setting.
   

New teachers' needs change rapidly throughout their first year, yet support systems often remain static, fragmented, or misaligned. Examine how one division redesigned its induction program around a coordinated "web of support," resulting in more than 85% of new teachers reporting that they were becoming better educators and feeling supported. Analyze the evolving emotional, logistical, and instructional needs of new teachers, assess how well existing supports address those needs, and identify gaps and redundancies across school and division systems. Leave with a practical 90-day implementation plan for aligning induction supports to the needs that matter most.

Participants will:

• Identify and prioritize the most pressing emotional, logistical, and instructional needs of new teachers in their school or division; 
• Map and evaluate a "web of support" by connecting school- and division-level supports to the specific new teacher needs they are intended to address; 
• Analyze existing induction systems to identify gaps, redundancies, conflicting supports, and areas where ownership or access is unclear; and 
• Develop a 90-day action plan to better align induction supports to priority teacher needs, clarify responsibilities, and monitor the effectiveness of those supports.

Are you ready to see real, sustained change in your school? Examine the research that shows the most effective way to sustain behavioral change is to impact thinking. Learn how to leverage the power of thinking-based coaching to foster teacher growth, improve student outcomes, and create a districtwide culture of reflection.

Participants will:

• Understand the relationship between cognition and behavior and how focusing conversations on thinking supports behavioral change;
• Explore specific coaching skills that support thinking and create conditions of psychological safety;
• Learn skills as a listener that build trust and strengthen relationships; and
• Increase confidence in coaching the thinking of others and developing your identity as a coach.
   

Explore protocols, structures, and resources to strengthen leadership effectiveness and foster collaborative, professional learning networks within your own educational organization. Evaluate systems that facilitate effective collaboration, high-quality professional learning, and data-informed problem-solving. Through practical strategies and job-embedded examples, collaborate with peers to develop responsive professional learning and cultivate sustainable, collaborative cultures within your school or district.

Participants will:

• Engage with and apply ready-to-use protocols, tools, and strategies that strengthen collaboration and instructional leadership within your own school system;
• Assess the strengths and challenges of professional learning network structures to enhance the sharing of resources and ideas among a diverse group of educators, thereby strengthening organizational coherence; and
• Develop an actionable plan to implement or enhance collaborative cultures and professional learning networks in your own educational setting.

Explore the intersection of the Performance Assessment for School Leaders (PASL) competency-based leadership framework and coaching to increase instructional coherence and leadership impact across schools and systems (public, charter, and faith-based) in urban contexts. Engage in collaborative analysis of real-world practices to develop professional learning and coaching structures that support long-term developmental growth. Leave with actionable tools to bridge the gap between daily leadership behaviors and overarching organizational goals.

Participants will:

• Discuss how a clearly articulated leadership competency framework can anchor professional learning and leadership development across schools and systems;
• Analyze leadership behaviors and routines to determine alignment between competencies, professional learning structures, and instructional priorities;
• Apply coaching tools and reflection protocols to strengthen leader practice in areas such as instructional leadership, collective success, adaptive problem-solving, and systems thinking; and
• Develop an actionable plan to embed leadership competencies into professional learning cycles, coaching conversations, and leader evaluation or development processes.

Explore how peer observations can serve as professional learning in action by helping beginning teachers learn from real classrooms in a supportive, nonevaluative way. Practice a clear peer observation cycle that includes preparation, observation, debrief, and next steps, supported by practical tools and reflection protocols. Leave with ready-to-use strategies that help new teachers notice effective instructional moves, connect learning to their own practice, and identify one actionable step for growth.

Participants will:

• Understand the full peer observation cycle and how it supports new-teacher growth through preparation, observation, reflection, and follow-up;
• Learn how to plan and schedule peer observations in partnership with campus leadership to ensure meaningful, growth-focused learning experiences;
• Use observation and reflection tools that help mentees capture key instructional look-fors and connect what they see to their own classroom practice; and
• Practice effective debrief strategies that guide new teachers to analyze their learning, identify one actionable next step, and apply insights to strengthen instruction over time.
   

Explore how Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools leveraged improvement science to strengthen math curriculum implementation through Learning Forward’s Curriculum-Based Professional Learning (CBPL) Network. Learn how CBPL helps educators fully utilize high-quality, standards-aligned instructional materials to maximize student access and opportunity. Learn about the Interrelationship Digraph and Change Idea Generator protocols.  See real examples of how they can help guide your nextsteps, make mid-course adjustments, and reflect on teacher and student impact.

• Learn how the Learning Forward CBPL Network and Metro Nashville’s Open Up Resources (OUR) Network use collaborative inquiry and improvement strategies to support curriculum implementation across varied educator experience levels;
• Examine how continuous improvement strategies strengthen curriculum-based professional learning and support effective implementation of high-quality instructional materials;
• Explore improvement science tools such as fishbone diagrams, interrelationship digraphs, change idea generators and practical measures; and
• Consider how improvement science tools can be applied to participants’ own professional learning contexts.
   

Explore how South Summit School District’s (SSSD) ongoing journey to build a culture of continuous improvement has shifted from building foundational knowledge with principals to supporting them in doing the same work with teachers. Engage in reflection and dialogue on the shift from learning to doing and the messiness of implementation. Analyze how our professional learning structures have expanded, and leave with clarity-driven next steps for building collective teacher efficacy.

Participants will:

• Develop a collective understanding of system-wide cycles of continuous improvement to improve student outcomes;
• Explore our shift from professional learning focused on building principal capacity to supporting them in doing the same in their individual schools, and analyze similar shifts in their contexts;
• Examine SSSD’s effective instruction rubric, analyze its standards and elements, and discuss leveraging it for meaningful instructional improvement; and
• Reflect on and identify actionable steps to integrate your learning into continuous improvement practices and professional learning structures within your unique district’s contexts.
   

Explore how a middle school district designed professional learning that honors teacher choice while remaining tightly aligned to the system and building goals through continuous improvement cycles. Learn how to engage in a continuous instructional improvement cohort that models cycles of choice, practice, evidence, and refinement. Leave with structures and tools to immediately build coherence, educator efficacy, and student-centered improvement.

Participants will:

• Be able to apply the Implementation standard by structuring a continuous instructional improvement cohort that supports planning, trying, monitoring, and refining high-leverage instructional practices aligned to district and building goals;
• Be able to analyze multiple sources of evidence (e.g., educator artifacts, student work, observation data) to determine whether professional learning is influencing educator practice and advancing school or district improvement;
• Apply a customizable implementation blueprint, including facilitation moves, inquiry protocols, timelines, and measures of impact, to launch choice-driven, standards-aligned professional learning in your own school or system; and
• Have both a conceptual framework and a practical, field-tested structure for transforming professional learning into coherent, evidence-informed inquiry that strengthens educator capacity and improves student outcomes.
   

School leaders are often expected to launch new initiatives without a clear roadmap for successful implementation. Learn how one school used the SCALE Implementation Leadership Framework to move from initiative fatigue to sustained impact. Through a real-world school example, explore practical strategies for building buy-in, clarifying expectations, empowering teachers, and leading change that lasts.

Participants will:

• Identify key factors that contribute to initiative fatigue and explain how the SCALE Implementation Leadership Framework supports successful implementation and sustained change; 
• Analyze leadership behaviors and organizational conditions that influence the adoption and long-term success of school improvement initiatives; 
• Apply practical strategies for building buy-in, clarifying expectations, and empowering teachers through shared ownership and distributed leadership; and 
• Develop an implementation action plan for a current initiative in their own context, including one or more leadership actions designed to strengthen implementation and improve outcomes for teaching and learning.

Examine how uniting grading practices focused on proficiency-scale design with student confidence and belonging can transform both learning experiences and outcomes for students. Explore how shifting from traditional grading to proficiency-based approaches strengthens student agency, clarity of learning goals, and social-emotional learning while maintaining rigorous expectations. Leave with practical tools and facilitation strategies to support collective, schoolwide learning around grading as a lever for learning and student success.

Participants will:

• Analyze how grading practices collectively shape student confidence, belonging, and learning experiences, particularly for historically marginalized students;
• Identify shifts from traditional grading practices to grading practices that align assessment with learning rather than compliance across classrooms and courses;
• Apply reflection and facilitation tools that support collective educator learning and belief shifts around grading and student capacity to learn; and
• Design next steps for uniting teams, departments, or schools around grading practices that promote student agency and whole-child growth.
   

Explore classroom-tested tools for supporting teachers to reset their classroom culture. Assess classroom conditions, prepare strategies to improve target areas, and experiment with a student-facing reset script template that enables educators and students to collaboratively solve problems and improve classroom culture. Walk away ready to support colleagues and kids to create positive, productive classroom cultures in which everyone feels ownership and everyone succeeds.

Participants will:

• Assess current conditions in classrooms you support to determine focus areas and set goals for improving classroom culture;
• Explore strategies and experiment with scripts you can use with students to collaboratively improve classroom conditions; and
• Unpack opportunities to explore these tools with teachers you support in order to foster positive, productive classroom cultures.

Explore how an urban high school in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, redesigned professional learning around collaborative teacher teams focused on grade-level, challenging instruction for all students. Experience what these reinvented team meetings look like for teachers, coaches, and building leaders. Understand how this approach supports instructional improvement for all students and can be adapted in your own schools.

Participants will:

• Reframe collective success as the organizing principle for designing professional learning and improving instruction;
• Examine how a shared vision of grade-level, high-quality instruction can anchor district and school improvement efforts;
• Analyze how collaborative teacher teams use shared instructional work to learn, adapt, and improve practice together; and
• Experience and reflect on team-based processes for designing, testing, and studying instructional practices that can be transferred to your own context.
   

Examine a district-developed model for implementing effective weekly instructional planning meetings and data meetings at the school level. Explore the structures, protocols, leadership moves, and professional learning supports that enable consistent implementation across schools. Using real district examples, see how aligning planning and data cycles increased instructional coherence, improved teacher collaboration, and positively impacted student achievement outcomes. Leave with practical tools and strategies you can adapt to your own context.

Participants will:

• Understand the district framework used to establish consistent weekly planning and data meeting cycles;
• Identify leadership practices that support high-functioning collaborative teams;
• Analyze sample agendas, protocols, and facilitation tools; and
• Develop an action plan to implement or refine collaborative meeting structures in your own district or school.
   

Power your team conversations! Analyze real classroom data to uncover what student performance reveals about instruction across proficiency levels. Facilitate powerful, structured team conversations to identify high-leverage Tier 1 strategies for common challenges while creating actionable plans that translate insights into targeted tiered instruction and support. Leave with a ready-to-use digital resource designed to streamline data compilation and amplify your analysis.

Participants will:

• Synthesize research through collaborative conversations to unify understanding of Tier 1 instruction within the multi-tiered system of supports framework;
• Experience collaborative, structured data conversations using a provided data protocol that highlights effective Tier 1 strategies and shared instructional challenges;
• Identify and align research-based instructional strategies using a Tier 1 resource to address common learning needs revealed through data analysis; and
• Strategize implementation of high-level instructional practices within the data analysis process.
   

How can districts set themselves up for selecting and successfully implementing a new curriculum resource? Experience how the Leander Independent School District in Texas utilized continuous improvement tools, Carnegie’s Elements of Curriculum-Based Professional Learning, and a phased-in approach to implement new curriculum materials. Leave with the next steps and practices you can take to guide a new or in-progress curriculum implementation.

Participants will:

• Examine and identify key components of successful curriculum selections/adoptions;
• Examine and identify key components of effective curriculum-based professional learning;
• Review professional learning community and continuous improvement tools that support curriculum selection and implementation; and
• Determine next steps for your own setting concerning curriculum selection and implementation.
   

Strengthen instructional improvement by grounding strategic priorities in what students say, do, and produce. Practice a PLC-to-walkthrough-to-feedback cycle that begins with intended learning and uses targeted classroom evidence to build shared expectations for high-quality instruction across teams. Leave with a student-evidence note-catcher, ready-to-use coaching question stems, and a 30-day implementation plan that can be immediately put into action.

Participants will:

• Identify three student-action look-fors (what students say, do, and produce) that signal rigorous, standards-aligned learning and academic discourse;
• Use a short professional learning community pre-brief to clarify intended learning and select targeted evidence to collect during walkthroughs;
• Draft and rehearse two evidence-first coaching questions that support teachers in strengthening high-quality, standards-aligned instruction without triggering defensiveness; and
• Build a 30-day visibility and follow-up plan (including PLC touchpoints, walkthroughs, and brief peer calibration) and define the evidence that will indicate progress.

Explore how high-leverage practices anchor job-embedded professional learning for all teachers by providing a shared, research-based foundation for instruction that supports all learners. Examine how microlearning and microteaching build continuous growth, instructional coherence, and responsiveness. Apply practical strategies for designing sustainable professional learning systems that positively impact students, strengthen practice, and support teacher satisfaction and retention.

Participants will:

• Identify opportunities within existing PLCs, coaching cycles, and professional learning structures to embed High-Leverage Practices into ongoing educator development;
• Design a practical microlearning or microteaching experience that supports teacher reflection, feedback, and instructional growth without increasing workload;
• Use video exemplars, self-reflection, and peer feedback routines to strengthen instructional coherence and support continuous improvement across teams; and
• Develop an actionable next step for implementing a more sustainable, job-embedded professional learning approach that supports teacher growth, collaboration, and retention.

Drive greater retention by exploring a differentiated induction structure that supports both new educators and mentors. Examine how to navigate varied preparation pathways while addressing both instructional frameworks and interpersonal dynamics. Explore the essential components of a “true” induction program designed to sustain and support educators over time.

Participants will:

• Examine research-based induction practices that strengthen teacher efficacy and improve retention for new educators and mentors; 
• Apply differentiated coaching and support strategies that address varied educator preparation pathways, instructional needs, and professional dynamics; 
• Collaborate to design a scalable induction experience that can be implemented at the district, campus, or team level; and 
• Develop a practical blueprint for building a sustainable induction program that supports long-term educator growth and retention.

Explore how process maps can help better understand critical processes, identify possible breakdowns for those you serve, and generate change ideas to support greater belonging, dignity, and inclusion. Learn how one school used process mapping to create a college application support process that serves all students. Leave with tools and templates to apply to your own context so you can improve your outcomes by improving your processes.

Participants will:

• Understand the importance of making processes visible, so you can improve them;
• Learn to make a compelling case for process mapping with stakeholders as an empathy experience and part of a “doing with, not for” approach to improvement;
• Use process maps in a variety of ways to understand a high-leverage process, identify possible breakdowns for those you serve, and generate change ideas to support greater inclusion and learning for all; and
• Facilitate a protocol with your own teams and those you support in improvement work.
   

Explore the transformative power of cognitive ownership by reframing the instructional hierarchy to center student voice and agency. Analyze a spectrum of inquiry approaches to strategically shift the teacher’s role from information source to architect of student-led discovery. Develop scaffolds centered on serving all students as well as practical protocols that empower every learner to ask the "next" question and assume full ownership of their intellectual growth.

Participants will:

• Distinguish between direct, structured, guided, open, and discovery inquiry to select the most effective approach for specific learning targets;
• Apply research-based strategies to create a culture where student voice and agency, rather than mere compliance, power the learning experience;
• Master the art of the facilitated return knowing when to step in to guide the conversation and when to step back to let students lead the discovery; and
• Evaluate how inquiry scaffolds remove barriers for diverse learners, ensuring that student-led does not mean left to chance.
   

Despite expanded induction programs and professional learning investments, districts continue to lose new teachers at alarming rates. Examine how confidence erodes when early-career teachers lack clear, early evidence that their practice is working, even within well-intentioned support systems. Explore leadership shifts that redesign professional learning to accelerate early success, strengthen professional identity, and improve new-teacher retention.

Participants will:

• Understand why motivation-based retention approaches are insufficient without early evidence of instructional effectiveness for new teachers;
• Identify leadership practices that unintentionally delay new teachers’ confidence by overwhelming them with initiatives rather than accelerating mastery of foundational practices;
• Analyze how professional learning design influences new teacher identity, belief, and persistence within the first two years; and
• Apply system-level adjustments to induction, coaching, and early-career professional learning that promote visible progress, confidence, and retention.

Explore the National Writing Project’s narrative writing-focused Coach.Teach.Write program, including information about instructional resources and coaching cycles. Hear from writing project coaches who have implemented this program in districts across the country, and find out how to implement the program in your district. Learn about program resources, and reflect on ways your organization uses coaching to support the implementation of new programs.

Participants will:

• Learn approaches for coaching teachers on effective writing instruction in a range of teaching contexts;
• Explore possibilities for integrating evidence-based writing practices into district curriculum; and
• Reflect on strategies for using narrative writing to increase student engagement.
   

Delve into the Coaching Moves Framework, which synthesizes the research on coaching into a practical toolkit that coaches can use to support teacher learning. No matter what coaching model(s) you use, this framework can help coaches and coaching leads align coaching practice to the evidence. Explore how developing a common language for discussing the details of what happens in coaching conversations supports thoughtful planning and reflection for coaching conversations.

Participants will:

• Engage with a coaching leads panel discussion of how they have incorporated the framework into their work and the impact they’ve seen;
• Analyze the relationship between the moves in the framework and current coaching practice in your school or district; and
• Identify one high-leverage application (tool, routine, or conversation structure) of the framework you can apply to your own context.
   

Teacher sustainability starts with sustainable induction. Examine system-to-teacher aligned induction practices that foster teacher growth and boost student learning. Learn alongside districts of varying sizes, exploring concrete strategies, leadership levers, and implementation structures that strengthen induction, grow internal capacity, and create lasting impact from day one. Leave with practical ideas to build on existing work and make intentional moves that actually matter.

Participants will:

• Identify key features of effective teacher induction aligned to the Learning Forward Standards for Professional Learning and understand how strong induction supports educator growth, student learning, and district improvement;
• Examine real examples of induction practices from districts of different sizes and describe how these practices are implemented to improve teaching practice and teacher retention; and
• Plan a clear, actionable next step and simple measures you can use to monitor early impact on educator performance and student learning.
   

Learn how Fenton Area Public Schools in Michigan built a coherent secondary multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) through standards-aligned professional learning rather than piecemeal initiatives. Discover how coherence, collective efficacy, and adult learning drive improved student outcomes. Leave with a practical, data-informed starting point for strengthening secondary MTSS in your own contexts.

Participants will:

• Understand how standards-aligned professional learning can drive coherent secondary MTSS systems;
• Analyze the alignment between professional learning, data, curriculum, assessment, and flexible learning opportunities in a secondary context; and
• Be able to apply a guided planning protocol to identify MTSS next steps, measures of impact for educator practice, and identifiers of student and system success for your own school.
   

Ignite your district’s potential for developing teachers by uniting AI, professional learning, and instructional coaching to amplify the impact teachers make every day. Learn how empowering educators with the right tools, knowledge, and support elevates both teaching practice and student learning outcomes. Discover how aligned systems of support and professional learning can transform teacher growth into measurable gains for all learners.

Participants will:

• Redesign professional learning as a coherent system that integrates AI, instructional coaching, and strategic resource alignment to strengthen teacher practice and student learning; 
• Apply evidence cycles, implementation guardrails, and data collection strategies to measure the impact of professional learning initiatives; and 
• Develop an action plan for building a culture of continuous growth through collaborative inquiry, coaching, and aligned professional learning systems.

See how Knox County Schools’ Region 5 designed and implemented an instructional coherence framework across 13 urban, city-center turnaround schools to transform school improvement efforts. Learn the systems, structures, and leadership practices that enabled schools to accelerate student learning through aligned instructional leadership teams, professional learning communities, coaching cycles, and progress monitoring.

Participants will:

• Understand how to design and implement an instructional coherence framework to strengthen classroom instruction in turnaround and high-need school settings;
• Analyze the key components of a multi-year strategic plan for school improvement, including how to prioritize high-leverage systems, create leadership alignment, and build momentum across diverse school communities;
• Learn to apply practical tools and protocols such as walkthrough structures, coaching templates, professional learning community planning tools, and monitoring dashboards to improve instructional leadership practices in your own school or district; and
• Develop a customized action plan that identifies next steps for implementing coherent improvement systems, building leader and teacher capacity, and accelerating student learning in your local context.
   

Explore how the Long Beach Network for School Improvement (LBNSI) built sustainable leadership by empowering school-based instructional coaches to lead continuous improvement. Examine how coaches connected classroom practice to district priorities through coherent professional learning and improvement science. Engage in interactive activities that model protocols, processes, and tools adaptable to multiple contexts, and leave equipped to strengthen coaching capacity and align improvement efforts across your own system.

Participants will:

• Examine how LBNSI’s multi-year, improvement science-driven approach develops school-based instructional coaches through structured tiers of support, intentional professional learning, and a shared vision, demonstrating how instructional coaching and improvement science operate together to drive sustainable improvement;
• Experience selected coaching activities and protocols from LBNSI’s professional learning model that connect improvement science principles to high-leverage coaching practices;
• Analyze implementation data from LBNSI’s work to understand how relationships, content, and structures influenced both coach development and instructional practice in schools; and
• Reflect on and apply insights and tools from the LBNSI experience to refine coaching vision, structures, and professional learning within your own system.
   

Instead of running professional learning and school improvement on parallel tracks, reimagine professional learning as the catalyst for meaningful change and accelerated student outcomes. Examine how our district merged professional learning and school improvement into one coherent, results-driven process. Analyze tools and strategies grounded in the Standards for Professional Learning to strengthen shared ownership, implementation, and monitoring so adult learning consistently translates into improved student outcomes.

Participants will:

• Explain how centering effective adult learning with short-term cycles shifts school improvement from static, compliance-driven plans to an outcome-focused system that builds collective accountability for instructional improvement;
• Explore system-level and school-level tools that clarify roles and shared accountability among district leaders, school leaders, and teachers;
• Reflect on leadership moves that foster collective ownership, coherence, and accountability at the school and district levels; and
• Develop actionable leadership steps to improve alignment, coherence, and collective responsibility for professional learning and school improvement in your own context.

Increase your effectiveness as a facilitator by extending your skills for managing energy, focus, and information flow in groups. Enhance your knowledge of group dynamics, facilitation, group engagement and group development. Acquire a repertoire of strategies for engaging groups and learn ways to help groups improve their capacity to get work done, do the right work, and manage change and adaptivity.

Participants will:

• Increase competence, confidence, and authenticity as a facilitator while acquiring a repertoire of strategies to engage participants in productive meetings;
• Learn how to use decision-making structures and developmental approaches to enhance group productivity and strengthen verbal and nonverbal communication; and
• Apply tips and tools for teaching, learning, and expanding group member capabilities, knowledge, skills, and overall effectiveness.
   

Unite with the Hawai’i Teacher Induction Center to examine a systemic induction model that connects state, district, and school leaders into a unified support network. Analyze concrete, data-driven tools and culturally responsive mentoring processes designed to foster educator belonging and collective success. Acquire actionable strategies to turn isolated mentoring into a comprehensive system to elevate instructional leadership, teaching practices, and student learning.

Participants will:

• Identify systemic support, from state-level advocacy to school-level implementation, necessary to unite stakeholders and build a sustainable continuum of expertise;
• Examine high-leverage mentoring tools and processes that advance instructional growth and develop teachers into instructional leaders;
• Design actionable strategies aligned with Learning Forward’s Standards for Professional Learning that incorporate cultural contexts to ensure educator belonging; and
• Analyze multimetric evidence, leveraging AI-assisted workflows to assess the impact of teacher leadership and inform continuous program improvement.
   

Are your professional learning initiatives hitting the mark? Gain practical tools, strategies, and data review techniques to simplify evaluation using a participatory framework that enhances participants’ Knowledge, Aspirations, Skills, Attitudes, and Behaviors (KASAB) to improve student outcomes. Explore proven strategies, protocols, case studies, impact data, and adaptable resources to strengthen your professional learning evaluation efforts.

Participants will:

• Identify evidence-based resources, strategies, and data collection methods used in participatory evaluation design, delivery, and implementation;
• Describe how formative and summative data are collected, analyzed, and applied to inform ongoing professional learning activities using KASAB;
• Apply high-leverage professional learning evaluation techniques through hands-on practice; and
• Adapt resources, tools, checklists, and planning documents to support customized professional learning evaluation at the school, district, and state levels. 

Explore a professional learning design cycle focused on priming, ushering, launching, socially constructing, and extending the learning loop beyond face-to-face engagements. Examine ways to promote social construction during professional learning and consider the integral role reflection plays in the growth process. Leave with comprehensive tools and processes to guide your professional learning planning and facilitation to craft true experiences, not just events.

Participants will:

• Utilize the PULSE (prime, usher, launch, socially construct, extend) professional learning design cycle to design and facilitate meaningful and personalized professional learning experiences;
• Examine and apply evidence-based strategies to advance social construction in professional learning, including collaborating with text and video, sharing strategies and examples, applying learning, and reflecting;
• Develop a comprehensive action plan for extending the learning loop between synchronous professional learning engagements through face-to-face, virtual, and individual reflection strategies; and
• Create a complete PULSE professional learning design for an upcoming session, refined through structured peer feedback.
   

Move beyond isolated acts of self-care and toward a collective, systemwide approach to educator wellness. Using Kanold and Boogren’s educator wellness framework, reflect on your own well-being, examine how adult wellness impacts professional learning. Leave with practical, team-friendly strategies that foster sustainable habits, deepen collaboration, and ultimately strengthen outcomes in schools and systems for adults, teams, and students.

Participants will:

• Deepen your understanding of how educator wellness serves as a catalyst for professional learning that is collaborative, sustainable, and systemwide;
• Identify practical strategies and microhabits within each dimension of wellness that teams can implement together to support one another, reduce burnout, and foster environments where educators feel energized to learn and grow collectively;
• Assess current wellness practices within your professional community, recognizing gaps, strengths, and opportunities to create a more united, wellness-centered adult learning culture; and
• Develop an action-oriented plan for integrating wellness practices into coaching, professional learning communities, and schoolwide learning structures.
   

Understand how institutional norms from an industrial-age model of public education have enabled a culture of teaching and learning that is often devoid of student thinking. Explore how the Building Thinking Classrooms approach transforms classrooms from places where students mimic to spaces where students think. Leave with resources to help you begin implementation (or support implementation) of the approach in your school or district.

Participants will:

• Understand what it takes to get students thinking in a math classroom.
• Recognize what thinking in a math classroom looks like.
• Be able to begin the process of building a thinking classroom.
• Be able to support teachers in building a thinking classroom.
   

Examine how a large comprehensive high school applied best practices in change-leadership to build a restorative culture of belonging by grounding its work in data, research, a clear problem of practice, and desired outcomes. Analyze the planning framework that guided key implementation steps and adjustments. Apply these strategic processes to develop or refine a context-specific plan for your own school or district as you strive to build a restorative culture.

Participants will:

• Analyze how leadership, a guiding coalition, and context-specific strategies can amplify the change process and support sustainable implementation of restorative practices;
• Reflect on key implementation steps, turning points, and strategies that strengthen Tier 1 instruction, student engagement, and the discipline process while fostering a positive, welcoming school environment;
• Develop a comprehensive, actionable blueprint that includes leadership development, guiding coalition formation, integration of Tier 1 practices, and discipline system shifts to repair harm, change behavior, and advance a restorative culture of belonging; and
• Design or refine initial plans tailored to your school or district that are aligned to adult learning principles, leadership actions, and student, staff, and organizational outcomes, supporting the creation of a restorative culture of belonging in your own community.
   

Implementing new high-quality instructional materials is complex work that requires more than just sticking to the script. Move beyond lagging indicators (summative assessments) to design "right now" measures that inform weekly planning and facilitate solution-oriented collaboration. Leave with practical methods to monitor curriculum implementation and student response in real time.

Participants will:

• Be able to shift focus from judging teacher performance to learning about curriculum implementation;
• Develop a family of measures (process, outcome, and balancing) specifically for a unit of study or instructional shift; and
• Use run charts to track the fidelity of instruction and student engagement, facilitating data-driven discussions in professional learning communities.
   

Examine why traditional and standards-based grading practices often fall short in preparing students for learning beyond school. Engage with a practical framework that supports educators and systems in progressing toward competency-based grading through intentional, additive practices. Apply tools and learning designs that strengthen student agency, improve instructional decision-making, and support sustainable grading change within classrooms, schools, and districts.

Participants will:

• Analyze grading and assessment practices along a continuum from traditional to standards-based to competency-based, identifying leverage points for improving instructional coherence and student learning;
• Apply a progression framework to examine discrete, additive grading practices and participate in learning activities that model how educators and teams can advance competency-based grading within their own contexts;
• Design next-step strategies that support teachers and school leaders in implementing and sustaining grading practices that promote student agency, transfer of learning, and confidence beyond the classroom; and
• Identify how professional learning structures such as professional learning communities, collaborative inquiry, and shared tools can support consistent, system-level implementation.
   

Examine a proven professional learning framework that drives significant student cohort growth by shifting focus from general theory to a granular instructional plan. Understand how to operationalize the science of reading through a vertically aligned bank of over 1,500 distinct reading and writing strategies. Design a learning arc for your system that synchronizes adult development with curriculum pacing to ensure rigorous implementation.

Participants will:

• Evaluate the limitations of "program-only" implementation by analyzing district impact data showing how layering specific, codified strategies onto high-quality instructional materials accelerates cohort growth;
• Construct a curriculum-based professional learning plan using the strategic literacy framework to map explicit reading and writing strategies directly to the scope and sequence of your existing curriculum; and
• Apply vertical alignment principles to design adult learning cycles that ensure coherence in literacy instruction across K-12 grade bands and move teachers from passive adoption to active expert implementation of the science of reading.
   

Reimagine pedagogy across K-university and all content areas through a human-centered teaching framework grounded in voice and agency, dignity-driven systems, rigorous and relevant learning, and global citizenship and justice. Examine practical strategies for designing learning spaces that cultivate belonging, critical thinking, stamina, and ethical engagement. Leave with concrete tools to align curriculum, assessment, and AI integration to protect authorship, deepen rigor, and sustain joy.

Participants will:

• Understand and articulate the four domains of the human-centered teaching framework and how they apply across K-university and all content areas;
• Design or refine a lesson, assessment, or classroom routine that cultivates authorship, belonging, intellectual stamina, and disciplinary rigor while protecting dignity and curiosity;
• Apply deep listening and inquiry that centers dignity and belonging to examine how current classroom or institutional practices (e.g., grading, feedback, participation structures, AI use) either expand or constrain voice and agency; and
• Integrate human-centered approaches into daily practice by aligning curriculum, instructional moves, and technology use to foster critical thinking, ethical engagement, and meaningful learning in diverse educational contexts.
   

Explore research-based concerns about cognitive debt by examining AI use through an audit protocol that identifies strengths, risks, and intentional guardrails. Learn how a district professional learning office applied audit-informed guardrails to leverage AI as a coach that strengthens professional learning design. Apply AI coaching prompts that simultaneously strengthen professional learning design and sharpen individual facilitators’ judgment and thinking.

Participants will:

• Produce a completed AI audit of a professional learning opportunity that documents identified risks, design strengths, and proposed guardrails related to cognitive demand and decision ownership;
• Explain how audit-informed guardrails can position AI as a coaching support within professional learning systems, using division-based examples to justify design decisions;
• Revise a professional learning task or planning artifact using AI coaching prompts to improve clarity of learning intentions, success criteria, and learning progression; and
• Articulate one to two actionable steps for embedding AI auditing and guardrails into your own school or district professional learning practices.
   

Break out your mortars, roll up your sleeves, and set your new instructional coaches for success by building a strong foundational induction program! Learn how Prince William County Schools designed keystone induction experiences for new instructional coaches that positively impacted students and teachers across the division. Reflect on current induction practices and collaboratively brainstorm practical ways to create a strong foundation for impactful coaching programs.

Participants will:

• Discuss and evaluate the need for high-quality, research-based induction experiences for new and novice instructional coaches;
• Explore the process our team followed to develop a high-quality induction program for instructional coaches that led to improvement in teacher capacity and student learning across the division;
• Reflect and collaborate with other participants to identify the strengths and growth edges of your current induction program for instructional coaches; and
• Generate at least three action steps to take to enhance your induction program for new and novice coaches.
   

Explore how district leaders can unite across academic departments to design meaningful, connected professional learning for beginning teachers, shaped by one district’s seven-year journey. Learn how Pflugerville Independent School District in Texas shares leadership, aligns structures, and uses collaborative partnerships to support educators through their first three years in the classroom. Leave energized with practical strategies and tools to lead cross-department collaboration and strengthen new teacher support in your own district.

Participants will:

• Discover how Pflugerville transformed beginning teacher support through mentorship and professional learning that evolved alongside shifting teacher identities without losing access, coherence, or care for teachers;
• Examine how unifying departments during planning led to professional learning that truly works for all beginning teachers, across grade levels, content and specialized areas, by building shared ownership, collaboration, and collective expertise; and
• Leave with evidence-based tools, adaptable learning designs, and impact measures you can use immediately to strengthen cross-department collaboration, improve teacher growth, and connect professional learning to meaningful instructional and student outcomes.
   

Explore how neuroscience and metacognitive discipline strengthen the design of professional learning that truly sticks. Examine practical, multimodal strategies that leverage spatial organization, cognitive pathways, and reflective processing to deepen educator understanding and long-term retention. Apply these research-aligned tools to create professional learning experiences that are clearer, more memorable, and immediately transferable to your own instructional leadership and facilitation practice.

Participants will:

• Explore how the brain encodes, organizes, and retrieves new instructional practices, examining the role of multimodal pathways and loci-based spatial memory structures in strengthening long-term retention and transfer;
• Investigate how visual anchors, conceptual maps, intentional layouts, and collaborative processing routines support educators in internalizing complex ideas and applying them with greater clarity and confidence;
• Learn how to evaluate your current professional learning designs to identify where cognitive science principles are present, missing, or underutilized; and
• Apply the framework to your own context, creating or refining professional learning experiences that promote sustained educator growth.
   

Examine how Mentor Gwinnett uses a districtwide mentoring and induction framework to accelerate new teacher effectiveness, improve retention, and strengthen student outcomes. Explore the role of Lead Mentors in coordinating school-based supports, professional learning, and collaboration for new educators. Apply practical strategies to design, strengthen, or scale induction programs that create sustainable systems of support for beginning teachers.

Participants will:

• Describe the key components of a districtwide induction and mentoring framework that supports new teacher effectiveness, retention, and student success; 
• Identify the roles and responsibilities of Lead Mentors and explain how teacher leaders can strengthen mentoring, professional learning, and collaboration within schools; 
• Analyze their current induction supports to determine opportunities for strengthening coordination, consistency, and impact; and 
• Develop an action plan for implementing or enhancing mentoring and induction practices that better support new educators in their own context.

Disrupt traditional professional learning by examining how microprofessional learning uses less time while producing clearer instructional insight. Explore how a collaborative challenge clinic accelerates improvement cycles by enabling educators to analyze, redesign, and act on instructional strategies, often within the same day. Learn a replicable process that prioritizes instructional decision-making over content delivery and strengthens practice at the pace of classroom instruction.

Participants will:

• Examine a theory of microprofessional learning that prioritizes precision, proximity to practice, and shortened improvement cycles;
• Analyze instructional assignments using a collaborative challenge clinic protocol to increase cognitive demand, embed AI as a learning tool, differentiate for multilingual learners, and make student thinking visible;
• Explore the collaborative challenge clinic protocol as a professional learning structure within large-scale and small-scale sessions, departments, or leadership teams to accelerate instructional improvement; and
• Understand how to integrate the collaborative challenge clinic protocol into existing district- and school-based professional learning structures, plans, and systems to accelerate instructional improvement while strengthening coherence.
   

Discover how to design a professional learning system that is rooted in the Standards for Professional Learning, reflects your district’s vision, and has the primary goal of impacting student outcomes through improvements in educator practices. Examine one district’s successful implementation of a professional learning system with experiences that are job-embedded, application-focused, and sustainable. Explore ways to assess the impact of the learning system with an emphasis on student success.

Participants will:

• Learn how to design a professional learning system for your district that is aimed at advancing long-term school improvement goals, and built to last;
• Explore how to use Guskey’s five levels of professional development and principles of adult learning theory to produce a series of workshops that engage teachers in learning-by-doing experiences directly intended to improve student outcomes;
• Develop critical workshop resources that set high standards of quality for presenters and maximize adult learner engagement; and
• Create a plan to assess the impact of your professional learning system through workshop and implementation feedback, teacher observation data, action research, and student success indicators.

Explore a rigorously tested change management framework and tools that support school, system, and state leaders in implementing high-quality curriculum and aligned professional learning. Hear from a district leader how her large urban district is using these tools to set and align around a shared vision for curriculum implementation. Explore how you can drive the broader effort to support high quality curriculum implementation using effective change management.

Participants will:

• Gain access to a change management framework and suite of tools for curriculum implementation that include a tech-enabled survey, curriculum-specific observation tools, customized reports, and data analysis and action guidance;
• Experience the value and impact of aligning on a vision of high-quality implementation using curriculum-specific implementation progressions, and get ideas for what this work could look like in your own system; and
• Explore how this framework and toolkit and others like it can support the measurement, monitoring, and change management required by high-quality curriculum implementation.
   

Explore the Whole-Leader Model, a research-validated framework transforming leadership stress into sustainable growth. Use positive psychology and mindfulness to strengthen organizational culture and improve educator retention. Walk away with a resilience toolkit and a personalized action plan to lead with clarity, presence, and purpose, empowering you to thrive, not just survive.

Participants will:

• Explore a model integrating self-awareness, emotional agility, relational trust, and systemic resilience to shift from individual self-care toward sustainable, organizational leadership health;
• Practice evidence-based mindfulness, gratitude, and connection techniques to mitigate burnout and improve cognitive clarity during high-pressure decision-making;
• Create a personalized action plan to systematically embed these well-being strategies into your school or district’s existing leadership development and professional learning structures; and
• Build communities of practice to sustain professional accountability and foster collective success.
   

Evaluate professional learning through a visible learning lens to design more meaningful and engaging experiences for adult learners. Explore how success criteria and learning progressions can help teachers identify their current reality while working toward a clear destination. Through reflection and feedback protocols, examine ways to strengthen professional learning as a catalyst for instructional change and improved classroom practice.

Participants will:

• Design a learner progression to support professional learning goals;
• Analyze learning continuums to strengthen teacher clarity and growth;
• Apply reflection and feedback protocols to evaluate professional learning experiences; and
• Develop an action plan for using learning progressions to support ongoing professional growth.

Discover how districts can transform traditionally isolated administrator oversight actions into meaningful teacher-led professional learning experiences. Learn how Guilford Public Schools in Connecticut is leveraging two collaborative peer observation models to scale the district model of high-quality instruction. Explore how these experiences are helping develop and leverage collaborative teacher networks that decrease variability and increase collective success across classrooms.

Participants will:

• Understand the research-based benefits of collective inquiry to enhance teachers’ ability to engage in collaborative peer observations;
• Review examples of two different collaborative peer observation learning opportunities that can help educators reduce isolation and increase capacity to learn from one another;
• Understand how developing and enacting a shared mental model of high-quality instruction works to reduce variability and increase opportunities for students to engage in high quality instruction; and
• Reflect on how to create a collaborative peer observation experience in your own school or district that supports teacher-led professional learning grounded in research and promotes agency for educators.
   

Explore how to leverage teacher leadership as a powerful strategy to build internal coaching capacity and expand access to high-quality, content-specific support for teachers. Examine research-based approaches to developing teacher leaders who provide high-quality instructional materials-aligned coaching. Learn how teacher leaders can facilitate teacher-led professional learning communities and strengthen instructional practice across literacy and math classrooms.

Participants will:

• Examine how teacher leadership can expand instructional coaching capacity and improve access to high-quality, content-specific support for teachers; 
• Identify the enabling conditions and support structures necessary for successful implementation of high-quality instructional materials; 
• Explore how professional learning and collaborative coaching strengthen curriculum implementation and increase teacher self-efficacy; and
• Apply collaborative problem-solving strategies to address challenges related to instructional materials implementation in your own schools or districts.

Navigate the essential routes for building high-impact coaching teams that drive measurable student growth across your district. Accelerate each school’s progress with collaborative partnerships and actionable feedback designed to keep your instructional goals on track. Fuel your professional journey with proven strategies that empower educators and ensure every student reaches their destination of academic success.

Participants will:

• Plan for an interdependent network within the coaching team with your vision in mind to anticipate roadblocks and streamline the path toward student growth;
• Establish and plan a comprehensive cycle throughout the school year for data meetings that move beyond raw scores to actionable instructional adjustments throughout the school year;
• Build a sustainable "rest stop" schedule of planned professional learning intervals that aligns ongoing teacher support with school and district-wide growth goals; and
• Implement a structured process for monthly coaching meetings to ensure consistency, measurable impact, sustainability, and personalized mentorships.
   

Learn to enhance collective efficacy by creating rigorous, engaging collaborative planning and coaching systems that drive teacher and student success. Understand how to boost instructional rigor, student engagement, and pedagogy while evaluating systems for effective implementation. Leave with knowledge and strategies to ensure all students can access grade-level standards and to foster improved teacher collaboration, including peer observations and feedback.

Participants will:

• Identify essential areas for instructional coaching and feedback to enhance pedagogical practices, thereby improving teacher efficacy;
• Analyze existing structures to identify opportunities for deeper collaboration aimed at equitable student learning and engagement;
• Understand and address barriers to collaboration from a leadership perspective, developing strategies to overcome them; and
• Develop an action plan for implementing improved collaborative systems and coaching structures to drive educational success.

Explore the difference between parent involvement and family engagement and examine research-based strategies that strengthen authentic partnerships among schools, families, and communities. Participants will analyze family engagement practices based on their impact on student learning and well-being, assess current efforts within their own contexts, and identify practical approaches for strengthening engagement systems. Through collaborative reflection and planning, leave with tools and strategies to support meaningful, high-impact family engagement in their schools, districts, or communities.
 

Participants will:

• Distinguish between parent involvement and family engagement and articulate the impact of each on student success;
• Analyze family engagement strategies to identify practices with the greatest impact on student learning and well-being;
• Develop a family engagement inventory to assess current practices within their school or district; and
• Create an initial action plan for implementing a high-impact family engagement strategy in their district, school, or community.

Unpack how to write about your professional learning insights, experiences, and journeys for publication. Identify writing goals and ideas, gain strategies and tips for communicating effectively and compellingly to an educator and/or policymaker audience, and practice writing in response to prompts. Examine submission processes and guidelines for The Learning Professional and other publications.

Participants will:

• Understand strate     gies for communicating insights, experiences, and stories about professional learning;
• Identify topics and messages specific to your work;
• Give and receive feedback from peers on quick-write drafts; and
• Explore publication venues, set a writing goal, and make an action plan for getting published.
       

Fuel your passion for professional learning by discovering the power of the Standards for Professional Learning. Learn how the standards point the way to improving student outcomes by drawing on research of system, school, and educator content and processes and conditions that lead to success. Understand how to connect the standards to real world scenarios and current educator practices while engaging in best practices for adult learning.

Participants will:

• Identify the key components of high-quality professional learning presented in the Standards for Professional Learning;
• Connect evidence-based theories to daily practices around professional learning; and
• Analyze how well your school or district’s current professional learning practices align with the standards.
   

Explore a research-informed framework designed to transform educator fatigue into sustained energy while analyzing the consequences of exhausted educators on the learning environment. Apply the empowerment compass to foster efficacy and agency, building lasting resilience powered by reflection and coaching. Develop an action plan to turn everyday interactions into growth opportunities on your journey from exhausted to empowered.

Participants will:

• Analyze the systemic consequences of the exhausted state versus the fully empowered state to identify specific areas for growth within your setting;
• Evaluate your current school or district environment against the five essential conditions for growth (vision, commitment, leadership, structure, and collaboration);
• Learn and practice conversational coaching techniques, including deep listening and thoughtful questioning, to foster trust and collective capacity; and
• Develop an action plan using the empowerment compass to fuel a continuous journey of reflection and professional renewal.
   

Curriculum shapes instruction, yet educators often lack shared tools for analyzing how people, cultures, and topics are represented within instructional materials. Examine a research-based representational balance framework that supports collaborative curricular analysis and professional learning. Engage in structured inquiry to identify representational imbalances and strengthen instructional rigor, coherence, and student engagement.

Participants will:

• Be able to apply a shared, research-based framework to collaboratively analyze curricular materials for how people, cultures, and topics are represented, moving beyond surface-level representation toward complexity and rigor;
• Differentiate patterns of representational imbalance (limited, partial, and complex representations) and articulate how these patterns influence student engagement, sensemaking, and disciplinary understanding;
• Understand how to use precise, common language to engage colleagues in productive, learning-focused dialogue about curriculum quality, instructional coherence, and professional learning priorities; and
• Develop actionable strategies to supplement or adapt curriculum and instruction, strengthening collective practice and supporting sustained improvement across classrooms, teams, and systems.
   

Engage with leaders from Washington State University, Wisconsin’s Cooperative Educational Service Agency #4, Metro Nashville Public Schools, and the American Institutes for Research to learn how AI is being used to strengthen instruction and assessment, based on real classroom experience. Hear about research on AI’s impacts for teachers and students and gain tools, frameworks, and more to support implementing effective AI-enabled professional learning.

Participants will:

• Understand how AI-supported professional learning is being used across research, district, and regional service contexts to strengthen core teaching work, including assessment design, Tier 1 instruction, and lesson planning;
• Be able to explain practical, field-tested approaches for implementing AI responsibly, including how to define and evaluate evidence of student learning, support educator roles within AI-enabled systems, and avoid common pitfalls that limit engagement and adoption;
• Review examples of AI-enabled professional learning models such as structured assessment design workflows, district-led pilots, and yearlong teacher learning experiences to identify design features that support educator learning, collaboration, and application in practice; and
• Apply cross-project lessons learned to inform decisions about selecting, piloting, or refining AI-supported professional learning in your own school, district, or partner organizations with attention to scalability, educator experience, and instructional impact.
   

AI has forced educators to reflect on their teaching and learning practices, especially when it comes to academic integrity and student engagement. See how research-based, classroom-tested strategies for designing cheat-resistant assignments can foster sustainable cultures of academic integrity without sacrificing rigor. Case studies and activities provide practical strategies for designing and grading authentic, uncheatable assessments in classrooms of every grade level.

Participants will:

• Understand why students cheat and the ways traditional assessment strategies encourage academic dishonesty;
• Explore the role student agency, curiosity, and purpose plays in disincentivizing cheating, and what the practical application of these mindsets looks like in a class assignment;
• Know how to use multimodal, multimedia assignments to design uncheatable, student-centered assignments that reduce the desire to cheat; and
• Be able to design and grade your own authentic assignments including standards alignment, and develop rubrics and alternative grading methods.
   

Examining student work provides powerful evidence of how students think, learn, and make meaning. Engage in a type of curriculum-based professional learning that elevates everyday conversations about student work, strengthens instructional decisions, and improves both student learning and professional practice. Learn to use a structured, collaborative descriptive review process to analyze work against content standards and uncover implications for instruction. Leave the session ready to apply the protocol.

Participants will:

• Learn the alignment between curriculum-based professional learning and the Standards for Professional Learning (especially Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment; Culture of Collaborative Inquiry; and Implementation); 
• Collaboratively examine student work to reveal how students think, learn, and make meaning of content and process; 
• Apply a structured descriptive review protocol to analyze student work against content standards and identify instructional implications; and 
• Determine practical ways to implement the protocol within their own instructional context.

Explore the evolution of the public education workforce that now includes paraeducator new hires with a wide variety of backgrounds. Gain a deeper understanding of what a successful induction program aligned with the Standards for Professional Learning looks like. Focus on empowerment of novice paraeducators with induction programs that teach the necessary job-related skills paired with mentor programs that provide ongoing support and culture building.

Participants will:

• Analyze successful induction programming models and identify specific strengths and areas for improvement within their own programs;
• Investigate individual settings and participate in strategic work with thought partners to analyze strengths and weaknesses;
• Design a data collection plan to inform and guide implementation of targeted professional learning and staff support; and
• Develop an actionable plan for individual professional growth aligned to identified needs and program goals.
   

Unite human expertise with AI to multiply your impact and expand educator capacity as a professional learning leader. Engineer custom AI agents to analyze data and co-construct plans in this design lab session that is differentiated for beginner through advanced users. Leave with a functional, platform-agnostic framework to design an "AI Team" that amplifies your capacity to solve complex problems immediately.

Participants will:

• Define "Superagency" as a collaborative state where human wisdom unites with AI capacity to multiply the impact of professional learning leaders;
• Apply a "Safety Net Protocol" to audit AI-generated content, ensuring all output adheres to data privacy standards and cultural context before implementation;
• Engineer a custom AI solution by choosing a design pathway: building a "Blueprint Coach" for system planning, a specialized "Team Member" role, or a complete "Virtual Team" suite; and 
• Synthesize AI-generated strategies with the KASAB (Knowledge, Attitudes, Skills, Aspirations, Behaviors) framework to ensure learning designs address adaptive human challenges like educator beliefs and resistance.

Explore how professional learning can use AI to strengthen differentiation through empathy and intentional instructional design. Apply Tomlinson’s framework to generate, evaluate, and refine differentiated content, process, and products while preserving teacher judgment and learning for all. Design an AI supported instructional component that reduces planning burden and improves student access in your classroom or school.

Participants will:

• Analyze how empathy-driven differentiation supports Learning Forward standards by expanding access to rigorous, student-centered instruction;
• Apply Tomlinson’s Differentiated Instruction Framework and Learning Designs and Implementation standards by using AI to design differentiated content, process, and products that connect learning to the learner, foster belonging, and prioritize authentic learning experiences;
• Evaluate instructional decisions using evidence-based practices to ensure AI-supported differentiation strengthens instructional effectiveness, promotes inclusive learning environments, and advances reflection, agency, and expertise development; and
• Design a differentiated instructional component using AI that can be implemented in classrooms, professional learning communities, or district systems to improve student access, engagement, and achievement.
   

Examine how one school implemented a no-cost math classroom assistant program with trained student leaders working under the supervision of classroom teachers to deliver targeted Tier 1 and Tier 2 support. Discover evidence-based coaching structures, teacher mentoring practices, and collaborative planning strategies that build instructional capacity and improve math outcomes. Apply these strategies to design intervention systems that strengthen student learning, advance educator effectiveness, and promote access to rigorous instruction.

Participants will:

• Learn how to align classroom assistant and coaching practices to create a model program recognizing and improving teacher clarity and instruction and incorporating high-yield practices to enhance teaching, learning, and classroom environments;
• Analyze evidence-based multi-tiered system of supports structures and coaching strategies that improve teacher efficacy and student achievement in mathematics;
• Apply practical frameworks to develop or enhance classroom assistant programs, including training and tiered interventions; and
• Interpret emerging impact data demonstrating improved math performance, improved climate and culture, and enhanced teacher instruction.
     

Explore how instructional coaches can use data and reflective questioning to shift conversations from informal check-ins to focused professional learning. Engage in tools and structures that support goal setting, noticing strengths, and identifying next steps for teacher growth. Practice these approaches through collaborative activities to prepare for coaching conversations that translate reflection into action.

Participants will:

• Facilitate conversations that move from relationship-building to intentional reflection on instructional practice and manageable next steps;
• Learn to use data, goal clarity, and structured reflection to guide conversations that increase teacher engagement and readiness to implement changes in practice;
• Analyze how strengths-based feedback can be leveraged to support areas of growth without increasing defensiveness; and
• Create a concrete plan for moving a current or upcoming coaching conversation toward implementation and instructional change.
   

Explore the power of microlearning to overcome time barriers in assistant principal professional development. Examine a scalable district model that utilizes bite-sized, technology-driven content for just-in-time leadership growth. Design a customized microlearning module to address specific leadership competencies in your unique school or district context.

Participants will:

• Identify t      he benefits of micr   olearning for busy leaders based on current research and adult learning theory;
• Evaluate the effectiveness of a district-level microlearning model designed specifically for assistant principals; and
• Apply a structured design process to create a microlearning experience applicable to their own organizational context.
           

Practice root cause analysis using the influencer circle method to move from data to action. Explore how teams flexibly use quantitative and qualitative evidence, learn from real district examples, and avoid common root cause analysis pitfalls. Engage in a guided simulation to conduct a root cause analysis with outcomes data and apply the influencer circle to identify high-leverage, actionable causes for improvement.

Participants will:

• Explain the core components of the Influencer Circle Method and how it strengthens root cause analysis by focusing teams on high-leverage, actionable causes rather than symptoms;
• Use quantitative and qualitative data within the Influencer Circle process to surface patterns, test assumptions, and inform improvement decisions;
• Practice facilitating and participating in root cause analysis through a guided simulation using real outcomes data and the Influencer Circle tool; and
• Apply the Influencer Circle Method with school or district teams to support improvement planning, professional learning design, and data-informed decision-making.

Examine how Baltimore City Public Schools’ homegrown Design and Facilitation of Adult Learning (DFAL) course shifted the large urban district from fragmented professional development toward coherent, standards-aligned professional learning. Experience a modeled DFAL adult learning segment grounded in cognitive science, psychological safety, and active learning. Leave with concrete strategies, tools, and system-level design considerations for replacing episodic professional development with sustained professional learning that drives educator performance and district improvement.

Participants will:

• Strengthen an existing professional learning experience by applying core DFAL principles and adult learning strategies to increase engagement and transfer to practice;
• Use a structured reflection tool grounded in Learning Forward’s Standards for Professional Learning to identify opportunities for improving coherence and alignment across professional learning structures in your school or district; and
• Identify one or two actionable next steps to begin shifting from one-time professional development toward sustained, aligned professional learning.
   

Learn from a nationally recognized turn-around principal how to sustain focus on the instructional side of your leadership. Develop strategies for building a skillset of instructional leadership proficiency and increase the probability that continued improvement of instruction will become your school’s norm. Explore creating a schoolwide culture of instructional leadership that is conducive to sustaining instructional leadership engagement.

Participants will:

• Apply strategies to prioritize time and increase focus on instructional leadership and coaching;
• Implement practical coaching approaches to support the teachers they supervise; and
• Evaluate and redesign the use of assistant principal roles to ensure you are positioned as instructional leaders rather than primarily disciplinary managers.

Explore how the near-constant barrage of crises and threats school leaders face results in sacrifice, stress, and burnout. Consider what can be done to address this reality and promote sustainable leadership. See how one school district created intentional opportunities for principal renewal, utilizing emotional intelligence and fostering leadership centered on belonging and dignity.

Participants will:

• Discuss the challenges of school leadership and the sacrifice/renewal cycle;
• Examine school leader retention data as an issue of collective success;
• Review a model for developing emotionally intelligent and sustainable leadership practices; and
• Create a plan for personal and professional renewal.

Learn how Christina School District in Wilmington, Delaware, partnered with CPM Educational Program to align leadership, coaching, and instructional priorities to strengthen Tier 1 mathematics instruction. See how clarifying roles, balancing evaluative and coaching identities, and strengthening communication among leaders, coaches, and teachers fostered a shared instructional vision, elevated coaching practices, and built collective efficacy. Leave with transferable strategies to improve coherence and accelerate student achievement across content areas.

Participants will:

• Examine a replicable model for aligning leaders and coaches around a shared instructional vision that supports coherent teaching practice and improved student outcomes;
• Learn to design professional learning structures that foster a positive culture of coaching by strengthening communication and role clarity among leaders, coaches, and teachers;
• Be able to apply leadership coaching strategies that foster reflective dialogue, role clarity, and collective efficacy among administrators responsible for instructional leadership; and
• Articulate the purpose and impact of coaching for leaders, coaches, and teachers, and identify strategies to balance evaluative and coaching roles to sustain trust and instructional growth.
   

Review the New Teacher Center’s work supporting Hawai’i’s Math Teacher Leader Collaborative over multiple years. Consider how these sustainable support structures and strategies could positively affect student achievement in your school community and subject area. Examine multiple layers of capacity building, including teacher and leader content knowledge, and learn to build and leverage teacher and teacher leaders’ capacity to improve the culture of professional practice.

Participants will:

• Use a case study to analyze how leadership and coaching strengthen educator capacity;
• Understand how to create a plan to position coaching as a driver for instructional alignment and improvement; and
• Develop concrete next steps to implement actionable coaching structures that will support teacher development in your context.
   

Examine how professional development systems centered on belonging and dignity move educators from isolated efforts to collective impact for every student. Analyze district-level structures for collaborative data use, coaching, and inquiry that align roles, practices, and priorities across schools. Apply scalable strategies to design coherent professional learning systems that that provide shared accountability, continuous improvement, opportunities to learn for all.

Participants will:

• Understand how professional development focused on serving all students functions as a coherent system rather than a series of isolated initiatives, and how that system drives collective responsibility for student outcomes;
• Identify district-level structures and conditions, such as collaborative data practices, coaching models, and inquiry cycles, that align roles, practices, and priorities across schools;
• Analyze your own professional learning systems to surface gaps, misalignments, and opportunities for strengthening collaboration focused on collective success; and
• Design actionable, scalable strategies for implementing collective professional learning that sustains shared accountability, continuous improvement, and practices that reach each learner in your own context.
   

Explore five research-based strategies to create conditions for novice educator success, including belonging, targeted professional development, mentorship, peer observation, and workload management. Examine practical structures for school-based mentoring and differentiated supports that address the diverse needs of new educators while uniting them for learning across roles and pathways. Learn to apply actionable tools and planning ideas to strengthen retention, instructional practice, and school culture within your own contexts.

Participants will:

• Identify the five key strategies for creating conditions for new educator success;
• Explore and share strategies for creating and supporting well-structured school-based mentoring programs;
• Brainstorm authentic supports specific to your location; and
• Understand the diverse needs of different types of new educators you may have in your school.
   

Engage in evidence-based strategies that strengthen teacher collaborative learning cycles before, during, and after instruction. Explore how one district has partnered with campuses to develop protocols, including pre-lesson shares, unit planning ideas, learning walks, and debriefing templates, that align with the Standards for Professional Learning. Attendees will leave equipped with adaptable tools to enhance professional learning communities and improve teaching and learning for everyone.

Participants will:

• Deepen your understanding of how collaborative learning cycles promote continuous improvement aligned with the Implementation and Learning Designs standards;
• Adapt provided templates and facilitation strategies to meet diverse campus and district contexts, ensuring comprehensive access to professional learning;
• Develop an action plan to integrate before-, during-, and after-lesson practices within professional learning communities to enhance instructional coherence and impact; and
• Experience hands-on modeling, reflection, and collaboration that emphasize learning as a shared responsibility and driver of outcomes that serve all students and educators.
   

Analyze how teacher-driven professional learning days are intentionally designed as collaborative inquiry experiences that include student learning demonstrations, observation, and action planning grounded in student evidence, feedback, and artifacts. Examine how teachers across learning pathways debrief, reflect, adjust instruction, and lead professional learning for one another through collaboration and networking. Apply campus-based structures that support implementation, evidence collection, and sustained teacher-led learning, resulting in increased student engagement.

Participants will:

• Examine how teacher-driven professional learning structures use collaborative inquiry and student evidence to shift instructional practice and increase student engagement;
• Analyze multiple sources of student evidence (observations, feedback, and artifacts) to inform instructional decisions and refine multimodal engagement strategies; and
• Design a teacher-led professional learning plan that includes action planning, implementation, reflection, and evidence collection across learning pathways.

Imagine a school where every team is not just collegial but high-functioning and actually “United for Learning.” Clarify the role, responsibilities, assumptions, and mindsets necessary for teacher team leaders to be effective. Explore, practice, and plan for using simple go-to moves, techniques, and strategies to help teams get more done in less time and with greater joy.

Participants will:

• Clarify the role of a teacher team leader in creating a culture of collaboration and inquiry;
• Articulate the three responsibilities of a teacher team leader;
• Raise assumptions and frame mindsets that lead to increased teacher team leader effectiveness; and
• Explore simple ways to improve your practice and the effectiveness of your team.
   

Engage in a core set of student-centered instructional practices that are adaptable across grade levels and content areas and have contributed to improved student outcomes. Explore examples of how educators implemented and refined these practices within their unique contexts, monitored student learning alongside implementation data, and responded to challenges and unexpected outcomes throughout the process. Examine how adaptive integration and collaborative practice can strengthen instruction and support student growth as readers and writers.

Participants will:

• Explore student-centered instructional practices and identify ways to adapt them to meet the needs of diverse learners and instructional contexts; 
• Examine the research base supporting student-centered practices as drivers of student growth in reading and writing; 
• Reflect on the role of teacher collaboration in supporting instructional change and improving professional practice; 
• Identify multiple methods for assessing implementation and analyzing the impact of instructional practices on student learning and assessment outcomes.

Learn how a rural Alaska district unites for learning by implementing high-quality instructional materials grounded in the Danielson Framework for Teaching. Through intentional monitoring, leaders use classroom evidence to refine instruction, align curriculum across grades, and guide data-informed decisions. Coherent improvement and targeted supports replace fragmented practice and program churn, making barriers to learning visible and expanding access to rigorous literacy experiences for every student, even in remote contexts.

Participants will:

• Understand how implem    enting effective high-quality instructional materials advances the Learning Forward vision by connecting professional learning to clear standards for instructional quality, coherence, and learning for all across classrooms and schools;
• Analyze classroom evidence and monitoring data to distinguish between program design issues and implementation challenges, enabling more precise professional learning, stronger educator practice, and measurable gains in student achievement;
• Apply a replicable process for aligning professional learning, curriculum, and leadership actions (using look-fors, collaborative inquiry, and feedback cycles) to strengthen districtwide improvement efforts and reduce fragmented instructional practice; and
• Experience and model a high-impact adult learning design that emphasizes collaboration, reflection, and practical tools, offering an innovative approach for rural and resource-stretched systems to turn isolated efforts into collective success through unified, standards-based implementation.
         

Analyze seven core cognitive brain functions to bridge the gap between the science of learning and the classroom foundations of effective, daily instruction. Integrate sticky techniques including background knowledge, visuals, and storytelling to transform complex content into unforgettable student mastery that lasts long after the bell rings. Utilize AI-tools to design research-based mini-lessons that empower all teachers to deliver high-impact, engaging instruction in their classrooms the very next day.

Participants will:

• Be able to explain the seven core cognitive brain functions to understand how the science of learning dictates how students receive and store new information;
• Learn to transform passive lecture moments into active lessons by embedding impactful engagement structures that prevent cognitive fatigue and increase stickiness;
• Know how to build a bridge between immediate student engagement and long-term retention using research-based strategies that support learners at all readiness levels; and 
• Construct a strategic action plan using AI-powered tools and an instructional toolbox to refine lesson delivery, ensuring classroom routines prioritize student talk and visual processing for immediate next-day use.
   

Explore how districts can use AI avatars to extend professional learning and coaching support when staffing and resources are limited. Examine practical, human-centered use cases that preserve instructional quality, equity, and connection while scaling access to support. Leave with a decision-making framework and planning tools to design an avatar-supported professional learning or coaching strategy aligned with your local context.

Participants will:

• Identify high-impact scenarios in which AI avatars can effectively extend professional learning and coaching support in resource-constrained environments; 
• Apply a decision-making framework to determine when AI avatars can support educator learning and when in-person or human-led support is essential; 
• Design an avatar-supported professional learning or coaching use case aligned with their local context; and 
• Reflect on ethical considerations and guardrails that ensure AI avatars enhance learning while preserving trust, connection, and instructional integrity.

Learn to lead teachers in using AI strategically to create mathematics lesson plans that guide practice and include differentiation tools and strategies while maintaining mathematical rigor. Develop lesson plans using structured templates, discovering where AI excels as a planning tool and where teacher pedagogical expertise remains essential. Leave with facilitator-ready templates, customizable prompts, and protocols you can use to lead collaborative lesson planning in your context.

Participants will:

• Understand AI strengths in generating examples and differentiation strategies, and the critical role of teacher judgment in maintaining cognitive demand, making pedagogical decisions, and addressing equity;
• Be able to use a structured lesson planning system with templates and enhancement prompts to create or refine mathematics lessons based on high-quality curriculum and facilitate this process with teachers in collaborative planning settings;
• Be able to evaluate AI-generated lessons using quality criteria (language clarity, reasoning opportunities, differentiation) and coach teachers in refining lessons through targeted prompting and collaborative revision; and
• Apply these tools and protocols to support ongoing mathematics professional learning in your context, including use in professional learning communities, coaching cycles, and curriculum implementation efforts.
   

Learn how AI-supported professional learning can be used to develop learning strategies and identify barriers for neurodiverse students. Apply AI tools to generate suitable lesson plans and specially designed instruction that clarifies roles for multiple adults supporting classroom learning. Implement responsible AI practices that mitigate bias, serve all students, and ensure student privacy by preventing the entry of personally identifiable information.

Participants will:

• Learn to use AI tools to develop comprehensive learner profiles for differently abled students, enabling you to quickly identify student strengths, needs, and personalized supports that inform instructional decisions;
• Be able to leverage AI to produce specially designed instruction that benefits all learners, applying evidence-based professional learning strategies to differentiate instruction in K-12 classrooms;
• Explore how AI can generate lesson plans that clearly define roles for multiple adults in the classroom, improving collaboration among educators, paraprofessionals, and specialists to support student learning; and
• Learn key strategies to mitigate bias and safeguard student privacy by implementing technical safeguards that prevent personally identifiable information from being entered into AI systems.
   

Examine how instructional feedback can be intentionally designed as job-embedded professional learning that both celebrates effective practice and grows teaching. Engage in hands-on learning using the Point, Prove, Explain structure to analyze, practice, and refine leader feedback across observation and coaching cycles. Leave with practical learning designs, tools, and protocols leaders can embed immediately to strengthen instruction and educator growth.

Participants will:

• Differentiate feedback designs and coaching moves for teacher leaders, assistant principals, principals, and district leaders to build coherence across leadership roles;
• Apply Point, Prove, Explain tools and protocols to analyze, revise, and calibrate written and verbal feedback aligned to high-quality Tier 1 instruction; and
• Implement sustainable feedback routines that embed professional learning into observation, coaching, and leadership development systems.
   

Examine and experience the HOPE Professional Learning Model to understand how a coherent, evidence-based process—Hear, Observe, Plan, and Enact—supports sustained changes in instructional practice through aligned learning designs, instructional coaching, and leadership coaching. Engage with high-leverage instructional practices and analyze how these practices foster student understanding and discourse while promoting sense-making through productive struggle across content areas. Apply structured observation and reflection tools to support teacher learning through evidence-based dialogue, peer observation, and collaborative planning. Identify leadership actions that protect and sustain teacher learning, including aligning professional learning community structures, observation processes, and coaching support.
 

Participants will:

• Describe the HOPE Professional Learning Model and explain how professional learning, instructional coaching, and leadership coaching work together as a coherent system to support sustained instructional improvement; 
• Identify high-leverage instructional practices grounded in Principles to Actions and analyze how these practices foster student understanding and discourse while promoting sense-making through productive struggle across content areas; 
• Apply structured observation and reflection tools to support teacher learning through evidence-based dialogue, peer observation, and collaborative planning; and 
• Identify leadership actions that protect and sustain teacher learning by aligning PLC structures, observation processes, and coaching supports.

Many professional learning systems still mirror a factory model that is linear, compliance-driven, and isolating. Use patterns from nature like waves, spirals, and fractals to design learning systems that are abundant, adaptive, and relational, like the forest. Using practical design tools, redesign professional learning that unites educators across roles, schools, and systems and strengthens coherent improvement work through a learning ecosystems approach.

Participants will:

• Diagnose where your current professional learning system operates like a factory versus a forest, identifying implications for coherence, equity, and educator agency;
• Apply wild design patterns to redesign one professional learning experience or cycle in your context;
• Align redesigned professional learning for at least two Standards for Professional Learning, especially Learning Designs and Evidence, with attention to Implementation for transfer into daily practice; and
• Develop a practical 30- to 60-day evidence and feedback loop to assess educator learning, 

Explore how professional learning can be designed to occur in the flow of educators’ daily work, using AI as a human-centered support rather than a management tool. Examine practices that establish purpose, ethical guardrails, and shared language for AI use through real-time reflection, dialogue, and application to authentic instructional and leadership tasks. Apply practical strategies to reduce cognitive load, strengthen professional judgment, and incorporate job-embedded learning into everyday practice.

Participants will:

• Identify principles for embedding AI-supported learning into daily work;
• Examine how purpose, ethical guardrails, and shared language guide responsible AI use; and
• Apply job-embedded strategies to reduce cognitive load and support instructional practice that reaches each learner.

Discover how instructional coaches can empower new teachers to build confidence and thrive in the classroom. Explore the needs of today’s novice educators and learn effective coaching strategies, tips for fostering growth, and ways to support early-career educators on their journey to success. Leave with a plan to help new teachers shine by cultivating their skills and confidence.

Participants will:

• Explore the unique needs of new teachers and how coaches can tailor support to address common challenges such as classroom management and work-life balance;
• Identify key strategies for instructional coaches to support and build confidence in new teachers during their first years in the classroom; and
• Develop actionable plans for ongoing mentorship and personalized guidance that cultivates long-term success in new teachers.
   

Examine what true implementation means by exploring the history of implementation science and why evidence-based practices often fail to produce results. Analyze the research-to-practice gap through the lens of implementation drivers and a real-world case study from a large urban district, including impact data. Apply implementation principles and tools to strengthen leadership decisions, improve fidelity, and support sustainable practices that positively impact student outcomes.

Participants will:

• Explain the foundational principles and history of implementation science, including the distinction between training, adoption, and true implementation of evidence-based practices;
• Analyze a case study of a large urban school district that implemented evidence-based instructional practices in elementary classrooms, resulting in measurable and meaningful improvements in student outcomes;
• Apply implementation tools and strategies to evaluate current initiatives, identify strengths and gaps, and improve fidelity of practice within their school or district; and
• Plan actionable next steps that address both technical and adaptive leadership components to support sustainable implementation and improved student outcomes.
   

When it’s clear the status quo is no longer working and change is needed, leaders often feel overwhelmed by where to start. Learn the strategic, evidence-based approach one district used to fully transform its teacher professional learning, and how those steps can serve as a blueprint for systemic change. Craft a clear vision for a new direction and develop a roadmap with immediate, actionable steps that make system-level innovation feel accessible.

Participants will:

• Articulate a clear, evidence-informed vision for systemic change that feels possible and worth pursuing to others, 
• Develop a practical roadmap for change that identifies obstacles and outlines actionable next steps; and 
• Learn how to leverage existing influence to build momentum and move the change forward.

Explore Aldine Independent School District’s SHINE (supporting, honoring, inspiring novice educators) program and its positive impact on teacher retention and student success. Learn how to build a robust support system for novice educators through research-based strategies, practical examples, and inspiring testimonials. Apply these best practices to enhance your own induction and mentoring programs, fostering a supportive, collaborative environment for new teachers.

Participants will:

• Be able to identify key components of an effective teacher induction program;
• Understand the impact of various coaching models on teacher growth and development;
• Learn strategies for fostering a supportive and collaborative environment for new teachers; and
• Be able to apply research-based best practices to enhance your own induction or mentoring programs.
   

Lead lasting impact with coaching strategies that turn professional learning into powerful, year-round practice. Whether you’re guiding a campus, shaping systems, or stepping into leadership, explore a 6-step model and ready-to-use tools to drive teacher growth. Walk away with the clarity, confidence, and calendar to launch your year strong and keep educator excellence at the center of student success.

Participants will:

• Apply 10 leadership moves to coach teachers to mastery after professional learning;
• Self-assess current strategies for supporting teachers post-professional learning and identify opportunities for growth;
• Analyze a sample monitoring tracker and design a customized tool to track teacher progress, provide targeted coaching, and ensure accountability after professional learning sessions; and
• Examine a sample leadership calendar and develop your own to strategically plan coaching, support, and accountability activities for the start of the new school year.
   

Help teachers move from resistance to readiness with AI tools by equipping instructional coaches and leaders with a practical system for engagement, skill-building, and meaningful integration. Examine common barriers to AI adoption and explore strategies for scaffolding teacher growth through modeling, coaching, and structured support. Apply a step-by-step approach to designing implementation strategies that move AI from exploration to effective classroom use. Leave with tools, coaching strategies, and a blueprint for building your own AI Solutions Lab in your school or district.

Participants will:

• Develop a practical coaching framework to engage educators across the spectrum of AI readiness, from enthusiastic explorers to cautious resisters;
• Design a replicable AI Solutions Lab model tailored to your context, focused on educator growth and instructional impact; and
• Apply ready-to-use facilitation tools and strategies to reframe resistance, spark curiosity, and support sustainable professional learning around AI.

Improve student outcomes by evolving your instructional leadership team into a high-capacity engine for professional growth. Learn how Portland Public Schools in Oregon transformed the collective efficacy of school instructional leadership teams through a multi-year process of professional learning and coaching. Leave with actionable strategies to foster collective efficacy and bridge the gap between vision and classroom implementation.

Participants will:

• Assess your team’s c   urrent placement on an instructional leadership team continuum, identifying specific behaviors and structures needed to transition from administrative management to instructional leadership;
• Establish rigorous protocols for collaborative inquiry that shift the team’s focus from “what teachers are doing” to “how student learning is responding” to professional learning;
• Operationalize a systematic cycle of professional learning that empowers the instructional leadership team to lead school-wide implementation of high-leverage instructional strategies; and
• Cultivate a culture of shared responsibility and collective efficacy, applying the continuum’s benchmarks to monitor the long-term impact of leadership decisions on student growth.
     

Building teacher capacity is not about adding initiatives, it’s about strategic alignment, instructional clarity, and leadership coherence. Explore how one middle school improved instructional practice and student engagement with focused professional learning and coaching. Examine leadership decisions, teacher actions, and student outcomes while leaving with practical tools to support effective instruction and sustainable improvement across schools.

Participants will:

• Understand how aligned leadership actions and professional learning systems support continuous improvement in educator practice and student engagement;
• Analyze evidence-informed professional learning structures including coaching, feedback, and collaborative practice using multiple data sources to assess their impact on educator performance and student outcomes;
• Apply a professional learning design that models effective adult learning through structured reflection, collaboration, and problem-solving; and
• Develop an action plan outlining next steps for strengthening professional learning coherence at the school or district level.
   

Explore how one district leader partnered with multiple campus guiding coalitions to transform professional learning from isolated events into collective practice. Examine how guiding coalitions equip staff leaders to design aligned learning, provide feedback, and support accountability through collaborative planning. Leave with practical strategies to unite departments, strengthen implementation, and move professional learning into classrooms.

Participants will:

• Create a differentiated action plan for building collaborative systems between campus leaders, teacher leaders, and district departments; 
• Develop a framework for launching or strengthening a campus guiding coalition; and
• Design strategies for teacher-led professional learning planning and monitoring.

One of the most impactful things a leader can do is empower professional learning communities and teams to improve Tier 1 instruction by working toward meaningful change. Examine how this is crucial in Title I and turnaround schools, where addressing instructional gaps and increasing student success are top priorities. Discover strategies designed to help professional learning communities identify a collective focus and elevate Tier 1 instruction for lasting school improvement.

Participants will:

• Learn how to meet the challenge of maintaining alignment and focus in professional learning communities and teams and keep progress from being derailed;
• Discover how instructional leaders can hold teams accountable without micromanaging; and
• Leave equipped with tools and strategies to increase teacher ability to affect learning.
   

Redesign middle school math collaborative planning using a research-backed tool that brings the formative assessment cycle to life, reducing grading time, lowering cognitive load, and turning data into actionable instruction. Experience data reports that surface student thinking, replacing lengthy data meetings with focused conversations about student needs. Transform team planning from curriculum-driven checklists into learning-centered collaboration where educators leverage collective strengths to create responsive learning pathways so every student feels seen.

Participants will:

• Lead a transformed model of collaborative planning in middle school math by guiding teams through the full formative assessment cycle, from designing purposeful tasks to using student evidence to plan responsive instruction;
• Coach teachers to design meaningful formative assessments that generate clear, actionable data, reducing grading load and replacing lengthy data meetings with high-impact instructional conversations;
• Use instruction-ready data reports to facilitate team dialogue focused on which students need what and why, shifting analysis from spreadsheets to instructional decision-making; and
• Leverage teacher expertise and instructional strengths to design responsive strategies and customized learning pathways that ensure students feel seen and supported.

Strengthen professional learning leadership and facilitation to build communities of practice focused on collective success through intentional accountability that facilitates representation. Examine and practice approaches to addressing harm, and explore reflection and mindfulness strategies that support relational trust. Gain concrete tools, facilitation protocols, and decision-making frameworks for immediate application to improve engagement, belonging, and learning culture in virtual and in-person community of practice settings.

Participants will:

• Differentiate between calling in and calling out and select appropriate approaches for addressing harm, assumptions, or misalignment in professional learning spaces; 
• Implement facilitation strategies that strengthen belonging, psychological safety, and shared accountability within communities of practice; 
• Use mindfulness-based facilitation techniques, including pausing, grounding, and intentional language, to respond constructively to challenging moments in group learning settings; and 
• Develop an actionable plan that includes facilitation language, meeting structures, and follow-up practices to improve engagement and relational trust in virtual, hybrid, or in-person professional learning contexts.

Much of today’s classroom practice is shaped by norms from an industrial-age model of education, often resulting in learning environments where students mimic rather than think. In this workshop, participants will explore over 15 years of research on transforming classrooms into spaces that foster deep student thinking. Through interactive experiences and practical examples, educators will learn strategies to move from task completion to meaningful engagement and critical thinking.

Participants will:

• Recognize what thinking looks like in a math classroom; 
• Understand what it takes to foster student thinking in math; 
• Begin the process of building a thinking classroom; and 
• Support teachers in creating and sustaining thinking classrooms.

Many teachers are simply and understandably burning out! The fire and passion that once sparked for teaching are simply becoming extinguished. Is it any wonder? All teachers are being asked to do is appropriately manage students while engaging the brains of those students in quality curriculum. They are also asked to meet the physical, social, and emotional needs of those same students and all while simultaneously attempting to maintain some semblance of a quality personal life. In this highly-engaging workshop, educators will not only learn how to restore their passion for teaching, they will also explore 12 brain-based principles for avoiding burnout, increasing optimism, and supporting physical well-being.

Participants will:

• Identify the factors that contribute to teacher burnout and learn how to determine purpose and restore the passion inherent in the profession;
• Discover the correlation between humor, optimism, games, and increased immunity;
• Value the importance of quality nutrition, exercise, and sleep to support physical well-being; and
• Create a classroom that engenders optimal student success. 

Bring your team, or collaborate with new colleagues, as you engage in an interactive simulation designed to teach the implementation of the Standards for Professional Learning. Throughout this experience, participants will make decisions and immediately see the outcomes—spoiler alert: not every choice positively impacts educators and students. Explore what it takes to provide high-quality professional learning that drives visible growth in educator knowledge, skills, and practice. See the Standards in action and reflect on how to operationalize them within your own districts and schools.

Participants will:

• Engage in a simulation game developed by WestEd and Learning Forward to build capacity in implementing the Standards for Professional Learning;
• Identify and make key implementation decisions that support high-quality professional learning;
• Deepen understanding of how these decisions impact outcomes through immediate feedback; and 
• Commit to applying their learning in their own districts and schools.

Explore meaningful, collaborative strategies for evaluating the impact of professional learning programs and experiences that target context-specific improvements. Learn how to use AI tools to determine the effects of professional learning on teaching practices and student learning outcomes. Finally, develop efficient procedures for gathering crucial evidence on those experiences to verify results and guide future improvements.

Participants will:

• Explore the evidence-based factors that contribute to the effectiveness of professional learning;
• Learn the five levels of evidence that are essential in evaluating professional learning practices and experiences;
• Consider different AI tools for gathering crucial evaluation evidence; and
• Develop strategies for planning effective professional learning experiences that impact teaching practices and result in improved student performance.

Transforming teaching and learning in schools and districts doesn’t happen by accident; it calls upon educators to make instructional choices grounded in a robust understanding of how learning happens. Join two experts from the field of applied learning science as we bridge research to practice, examine foundational findings from cognitive science that can be applied in real classrooms, and empower teachers to foster more inclusive, impactful learning environments.

Participants will:

• Articulate a simple model of the mind to ground understanding of how learning happens;
• Identify key learning science principles that ensure instructional effectiveness and equity;
• Analyze identified components of successful evidence-to-practice implementation in teacher induction and professional learning; and
• Develop a Theory of Change plan that begins to outline initial steps for building capacity for evidence-informed professional learning in your school or district.

Examine how leaders can design schools that center voice, identity, and belonging while coaching for agency among both students and educators. Explore the Pedagogies of Voice framework and leadership strategies that cultivate agency and support participation for all in learning. Apply practical tools for professional learning and instructional leadership that help educators leverage the framework to build classrooms and school cultures where voice drives learning.

Participants will:

• Analyze how student voice, identity, and belonging influence agency and learning outcomes, and identify leadership moves that cultivate these conditions across classrooms and schools;
• Apply the Pedagogies of Voice framework to design professional learning and coaching structures that support educators in cultivating agency for both students and teachers;
• Develop practical strategies for coaching educators to strengthen disciplinary thinking and equitable participation through voice-centered instructional practices; and 
• Design actionable next steps for implementing voice-driven learning cultures within their own schools or districts.

Recommended book (optional): https://www.corwin.com/books/pedagogies-of-voice-288927

Classrooms are busy places—students are engaged, teachers are working hard, and lessons move forward. But do students truly know what they are learning, why it matters, and how they will know they’ve succeeded? Explore how teacher clarity shifts instruction from task completion to deep learning. Examine how learning intentions, success criteria, relevance, and aligned assessment increase achievement and engagement, and leave with practical strategies to design clearer lessons and support clarity through coaching, planning, and leadership.

Participants will:

• Understand the research behind teacher clarity and its impact on student achievement, engagement, motivation, and self-regulation;
• Analyze the core components of teacher clarity—learning intentions, success criteria, relevance, and aligned assessment—and distinguish clarity from compliance-based practices;
• Apply a clarity framework to lessons, units, or systems, strengthening alignment between standards, instruction, and evidence of learning; and
• Develop an actionable next step to refine classroom practice, enhance PLC conversations, or embed clarity into schoolwide improvement efforts.

Are you looking to design high-quality, interactive, and relevant professional learning that can escalate changes in educator practice leading to improved student outcomes? Explore the specific learning needs of adults while experiencing a plethora of highly engaging processes to ensure those needs are met, all while extending your understanding of quality professional learning design. Collaborate with peers using a learning design template that can up your game in quality design.

Participants will:

• Explore a framework for designing and facilitating powerful professional learning that is directly aligned to the Standards for Professional Learning;
• Experience a learning environment that meets the physical, social/relational, and learning needs of adults;
• Engage with facilitators as they model brain-friendly strategies that capture and hold learners' attention and increase retention; and
• Apply tools for the future design of high-quality professional learning.

Transform the way adults experience learning in this interactive session! Using the “Know, Do, Feel” framework, participants will explore key types of adult learning and design experiences that are engaging, relevant, and actionable. Bring a professional learning experience you’ve designed—or are preparing—to refine it with dedicated reflection, feedback, and structured processing. You’ll also learn strategies to intentionally build and sustain a culture of learning across teams, classrooms, or organizations, leaving with a strengthened professional learning plan ready to implement.

Participants will:

• Identify key types of adult learning and apply them to professional learning design;
• Use the “Know, Do, Feel” framework to create engaging and actionable learning experiences;
• Refine a professional learning experience through reflection, feedback, and structured processing; and
• Develop strategies to intentionally build and sustain a culture of learning in teams, classrooms, or organizations.

The true power of coaching lies in coaching the person, not the problem. When coaches help clients surface and explore their deep-seated beliefs, they unlock meaningful insights and innovative thinking—leading to new approaches to challenges and lasting changes in behavior. Experienced coaches will strengthen their ability to consistently create high-trust conversations, recognize opportunities for shifts in thinking, and move beyond surface-level dialogue to foster meaningful changes in educator practice.

Participants will:

• Clearly articulate the concept of “coaching the person, not the problem” and its potential to foster meaningful changes in thinking and behavior; 
• Increase their ability to recognize opportunities to invite clients to examine underlying beliefs during coaching conversations; 
• Learn strategies for deepening safety and trust in coaching interactions to create a receptive environment for exploring limiting beliefs; and 
• Practice using safe, respectful language when challenging assumptions and beliefs.

Develop clarity on the purpose and foundational steps for instructional coaches, with an emphasis on the importance of building relationships through coaching to enhance teacher practice. Explore strategies to improve instruction, promoting student growth and achievement for all learners. Collaborate and reflect with others to gain confidence in establishing impactful coaching relationships and driving instructional improvement in your setting.

Participants will:

• Define the purpose and responsibilities of instructional coaches; 
• Identify initial steps for building coaching relationships and fostering trust;
• Explore strategies for enhancing initial instruction to boost student growth and achievement; and
• Increase confidence and clarity in navigating the coaching role within current systems.

What does truly effective instructional coaching look like—and how does it translate into better outcomes for students? This session distills three decades of research and practice into a clear, actionable framework for coaching that works. Explore the beliefs that drive effective coaching, the skills that foster strong learning partnerships, and the expertise needed to support teachers’ growth. Be introduced to a simple, powerful coaching cycle that helps teachers adopt and refine new strategies to improve student engagement, achievement, and well-being. Leave with practical tools, proven strategies, and access to curated resources to support your next steps.

Participants will:

• Describe the core beliefs, skills, and knowledge that underpin effective instructional coaching;
• Apply a structured coaching cycle to support teachers in implementing and refining new instructional strategies;
• Identify practices that strengthen collaborative, trust-based coaching partnerships; and
• Access and utilize research-based resources to support ongoing coaching and professional learning.

While many systems are exploring AI, implementation is often disconnected and uneven. This interactive session supports leaders in moving from isolated efforts to a unified, systemwide approach, with multiple entry points designed to meet participants based on their current and desired level of AI implementation. Assess their current reality, design a professional learning continuum, and build a system that ensures consistent access across all classrooms and roles, sustained use, and meaningful impact on teaching and learning, aligned to the Standards for Professional Learning. Building on this foundation, participants will consider how this work can extend to students. Explore one district’s continuum for student AI use and its connection to the adult learning continuum, and discuss connections between educator and student use in their own systems.

Participants will:

• Assess current AI implementation and professional learning systems for coherence, access, and alignment to district priorities; 
• Develop a continuum of AI professional learning from awareness to integration;
• Explore how the educator AI continuum can lay the foundation for a student-facing AI continuum; and
• Build a system-level roadmap for aligned, sustainable AI implementation.

Unlock the game-changing communication skills that will transform how you present, lead meetings, and deliver professional development. In this dynamic, hands-on session, you will dive deep into the key skills and techniques that build trust, strengthen rapport, elevate your listening abilities, and empower you to recover with grace when things don’t go as planned. By the end, you’ll have a powerful toolkit of actionable skills, strategies, and a ready-to-use template to implement for your next event.

Participants will:

• Uncover the skills and structures that impact the first 5-minutes;
• Explore listening and inquiry skills to strengthen relationships, build trust, and create a culture of inquiry; 
• Connect the importance of building community to learning; and
• Practice skills for credibility and rapport to build relationships and connect you and your passion to your audience.

Recommended book (optional): https://www.corwin.com/books/the-choreography-of-presenting-284395

Gain step-by-step guidance to maximize collaborative learning time for teachers to solve specific student learning challenges by implementing a five-stage cycle of teacher-led professional learning. Examine a process for using student data to craft student and educator learning goals leading to learning plans, implementation steps, and progress monitoring. Focus on the role of learning teams in implementing high quality instruction and what that means for student and educator learning goals.

Participants will:

• Make the connection between collaborative, teacher-led learning and improved instruction and student learning;
• Take steps to launch a learning team cycle with five key stages and examine how to implement each with specific strategies and supporting protocols;
• Adapt the cycle to fit specific school and district calendars and initiatives; and
• Leave with a road map to focus on the day-to-day actions in classrooms among students, educators, and instructional materials for maximum impact.

Hard conversations and candid feedback are unavoidable in healthy schools - yet many educators feel unprepared to either give or receive feedback well. This session builds skills for engaging directly and productively, helping participants offer clear, professional feedback while receiving input with greater emotional regulation and less defensiveness.

Participants will:

• Prepare for and engage in hard conversations using clear, responsible, and professional communication strategies;
• Offer candid feedback in ways that maintain relationships while addressing concerns directly;
• Recognize and regulate emotional responses when conversations become challenging; and
• Receive feedback with less defensiveness and greater curiosity.

Explore the existential tensions AI poses for education—and discover a clear path forward. Ground your practice in three core principles: designing for student agency, listening to learners, and centering pedagogy to inform the strategic use of AI and other forms of technology. Examine real classroom pedagogies where student voice is centered and AI becomes one tool among many, then leave with a compass for navigating AI's rising tide while keeping human ingenuity and radical imagination at the heart of learning.

Participants will:

• Consider the implications of centering technology over pedagogy and articulate why student voice must anchor any school’s approach to AI;
• Explore three guiding principles for centering student voice and agency in this moment of rapid change;
• Examine real classroom examples of learning experiences that awaken student voice; and
• Identify one small, actionable shift to strengthen learner voice and agency in daily practice.
   

Coaches, like teachers, face numerous decisions about which “talk moves” to use in each coaching interaction, yet there is little research-based guidance to support these decisions. Examine what current research and evidence reveal about these choices and how coaches can be supported in making intentional coaching decisions. Explore the Coaching Moves Framework, which synthesizes this evidence into a practical tool for coach reflection, planning, and program improvement.

Participant will:

• Identify connections between language use in coaching conversations and teacher development; 
• Interpret current research on coaching practice to inform coaching decisions and support continuous improvement; and
• Leverage the Coaching Moves Framework to reflect on, plan, and strengthen coaching practice and program effectiveness.

Discover practical strategies for supporting neurodiverse students through inclusive and engaging classroom practices. Explore how Universal Design for Learning (UDL), multisensory approaches, and technology tools can reduce barriers and personalize instruction for diverse learners. Engage in hands-on activities and leave with actionable ideas to strengthen learning experiences and support success for all students.

Participants will:

• Identify evidence-based strategies, including scaffolding and multisensory techniques, that support neurodiverse learners;
• Design an inclusive learning activity that incorporates UDL principles to increase engagement and accessibility;
• Select and apply digital tools that personalize instruction and support diverse neurocognitive profiles; and
• Develop practical approaches for creating more inclusive and responsive classroom learning environments.

Explore the Illinois SLD Support Project online learning opportunities, including on-demand webinars, microcredentials, learning pathways, and a fully virtual conference. Examine how these resources align with evidence-based practices for supporting students with specific learning disabilities and translate into classroom practice. Apply strategies to design personalized professional learning plans that strengthen instruction and improve outcomes for students with learning differences.

Participants will:

• Identify and differentiate among online learning opportunities offered by the Illinois SLD Support Project, including webinars, microcredentials, learning pathways, and virtual conferences; 
• Describe how these resources align with evidence-based practices for supporting students with specific learning disabilities and apply that understanding to instructional contexts; 
• Select appropriate learning options aligned to individual or team professional learning goals; and
• Develop a personalized professional learning plan that uses session content to support ongoing instructional improvement and student outcomes.

Explore how instructional rounds can move beyond compliance to become a catalyst for sustainable school improvement. Examine a practical leadership playbook grounded in coaching, reflection, and capacity building while connecting instructional leadership practices to professional learning standards and schoolwide goals. Engage in application and reflection activities that strengthen relationship-centered, data-informed, and equity-driven approaches to leading change.

Participants will:

• Apply a leadership coaching cycle to strengthen instructional capacity in alignment with student learning goals;
• Analyze systems-based approaches to instructional rounds that support reflective practice, coherence, and adult learning;
• Recognize the belief shifts, relational practices, and leadership structures that support continuous improvement over compliance-driven leadership; and
• Develop a next-step action plan using the BUILD framework to address a local implementation challenge.

Discover how microlearning and asynchronous professional development can deliver meaningful growth in efficient, manageable formats. Learn from a district’s micro-course approach that empowers educators to learn anytime, at their own pace. Implement practical strategies to create flexible, high-impact professional learning that boosts engagement and supports ongoing professional learning.

Participants will:

• Identify key principles of microlearning that support adult learners and enhance engagement;
• Examine how a district-created tech hub increases educator autonomy, access, and confidence with professional learning tools;
• Apply practical strategies for designing or integrating microlearning into existing PL systems; and
• Use clear pathways to request additional resources and expand platform supports to sustain ongoing professional learning.

Examine how implementation and monitoring practices determine whether tiered academic supports lead to measurable student gains or result in cycles of repeated remediation. Analyze an “implementation-to-impact” framework and diagnostic indicators that reveal breakdowns across classrooms, teams, and systems. Apply practical tools to strengthen Tier 1 instruction, refine Tier 2 interventions, and improve Tier 3 decision-making to increase coherence and student outcomes.

Participants will:

• Identify common implementation breakdown points in Tier 1–3 academic supports and explain how weak monitoring can obscure instructional gaps and slow student progress;
• Use a diagnostic process to analyze a case scenario and determine whether challenges stem from instruction, intervention design, fidelity, progress monitoring, or decision rules;
• Review and apply a monitoring plan with roles, timelines, look-fors, and decision thresholds to strengthen Tier 1 instruction and Tier 2 intervention targeting.

Explore how a structured morning meeting routine strengthens classroom community, builds teacher–student relationships, and increases academic engagement. Examine a practical model that integrates daily prompts, interpersonal learning alignment, and student voice, grounded in findings from an eight-week action research study. Apply ready-to-use templates, survey tools, and discussion strategies to implement impactful morning meetings in classroom or school settings.

Participants will:

• Identify research-based evidence on the impact of structured morning meetings on student engagement, interpersonal learning, and classroom culture, and examine connections to Learning Forward Standards for Professional Learning and whole-school improvement; 
• Analyze practical implementation tools—including templates, daily routines, discussion prompts, and student survey instruments—to determine your role in strengthening relationships, increasing academic participation, and promoting equitable learning environments; 
• Design a preliminary implementation plan to integrate morning meetings into instructional practice using collaborative reflection, modeling, and evidence-based strategies; and 
• Apply strategies for using student perception and engagement data to monitor impact and inform instructional adjustments

Rethink school culture as a powerful ripple effect that shapes every aspect of a school community. Explore how culture can serve as either a unifying force or a barrier to student learning, staff well-being, and family engagement. Engage in reflection and dialogue about the beliefs, norms, relationships, and practices that influence achievement, morale, retention, and trust, and examine how misaligned cultures contribute to burnout, disengagement, and inequities.

Participants will:

• Explain the impact of school culture on staff outcomes, including job satisfaction, self-efficacy, collaboration, and retention, based on current research;
• Identify how school culture influences student outcomes such as academic achievement, engagement, behavior, and social-emotional development;
• Understand the role of school culture in shaping parent perceptions, communication, and engagement; and
• Analyze indicators of positive and negative school culture within their own contexts.

Learn how a small rural district built a coherent system of collective efficacy in mathematics instruction across all educators. Leaders from Mountain Views Supervisory Union share their journey, including successes, challenges, and key lessons learned in strengthening mathematics learning for all students. Examine the district’s implementation map, engage in dialogue about practical action steps, and connect the approach to Learning Forward’s Standards for Professional Learning.

Participants will:

• Understand how a rural district built systems to support educator collective efficacy in mathematics through a coherent professional learning approach;
• Analyze a systems map of implementation and connect it to their own context;
• Compare the district’s approach to Learning Forward’s Standards for Professional Learning; and
• Identify and develop actionable next steps for application in their own system or school.

Connect durable skills to the four dimensions of entrepreneurship and explore how entrepreneurial competencies extend learning far beyond business creation. Engage in hands-on experiences with agile routines such as brainstorming, Kanban boards, and project sprints to strengthen problem solving, communication, and student agency. Develop and pitch an actionable plan for applying these tools with students or educator teams to enhance instruction and collaboration.

Participants will:

• Explain how the four dimensions of entrepreneurship develop durable skills that extend beyond business creation to support student learning and educator practice;
• Experience agile routines, including brainstorming, Kanban boards, and project sprints, and connect them to problem solving, communication, and student agency;
• Identify opportunities to use entrepreneurial tools to strengthen collaboration, project management, and instructional practice; and
• Create a focused action plan to implement one entrepreneurial routine within a classroom, PLC, or school setting.

Explore a multicomponent model for adolescent reading instruction that strengthens Tier 1 literacy practices across all content areas. Examine how evidence-based strategies for word recognition, word knowledge, sentence analysis, and verbal reasoning work together to improve comprehension. Learn practical approaches for building background knowledge and student self-efficacy to make literacy instruction more accessible and effective for all secondary learners.

Participants will:

• Examine the foundational components of adolescent reading comprehension and their implications for school-wide literacy instruction;
• Describe the research base supporting evidence-based practices that strengthen adolescent literacy development; and
• Identify actionable strategies leaders can use to support effective Tier 1 instruction for struggling readers across content areas.

Explore the role vocabulary plays in comprehension and academic achievement across content areas. Examine research-based, high-impact instructional vocabulary strategies. Apply AI as an instructional support to design intentional, meaningful, and differentiated vocabulary lessons that deepen student understanding and increase engagement.

Participants will:

• Understand the role vocabulary plays in improving comprehension and student achievement across content areas and grade levels;
• Identify and apply research-based, high-impact vocabulary strategies to strengthen daily instruction;
• Design intentional vocabulary lessons using AI as a planning and differentiation tool to increase student access, engagement, and ownership of learning; and
• Apply practical AI-supported strategies to create scaffolds, examples, and practice opportunities that enhance vocabulary instruction while maintaining instructional rigor and teacher decision-making.

Discover how character-based storytelling can simplify complex Biology concepts while increasing student engagement, understanding, and retention. Explore practical classroom strategies that use narrative and visuals to make abstract STEM content more accessible and memorable. Learn how to design and adapt storytelling approaches that can be immediately applied to create more meaningful, student-centered Biology instruction.

Participants will:

• Explain how character-based storytelling supports learner-centered, equity-driven instruction that strengthens content understanding in Biology and STEM;
• Design and implement a structured storytelling process that can be applied to instruction and adapted across contexts;
• Apply storytelling techniques to improve instructional clarity, student engagement, and formative assessment opportunities; and
• Use classroom evidence and reflection to evaluate the impact of storytelling on student learning and identify adaptations for their own practice.

Explore why students often appear to understand content during instruction but struggle to retain or apply it over time. Drawing on cognitive science, examine how “false mastery” and predictable forgetting patterns emerge from common instructional design choices. Learn and apply small, high-impact adjustments to existing lessons that strengthen retention and support durable, long-term learning.

Participants will:

• Distinguish between observable performance during instruction and durable learning that supports retention and transfer;
• Identify instructional decisions that can create the appearance of mastery without long-term understanding;
• Analyze instruction and PLC discussions through a cognitive science lens to identify where learning breakdowns are likely to occur; and
• Apply small, high-impact instructional design changes that strengthen retention and durable learning.

Book studies can drive school improvement when grounded in authentic staff buy-in and shared purpose. Explore how to design and implement book studies that engage educators, build leadership capacity, and strengthen collaborative school culture. Examine research-informed practices, learn from real school examples, and apply strategies for selecting texts and structuring learning that leads to sustained, job-embedded improvement.

Participants will:

• Identify research-informed book study practices that strengthen instructional and leadership outcomes;
• Explore strategies for building collective ownership, collaboration, and staff buy-in through shared learning experiences;
• Analyze how book studies can support leadership development and continuous, results-oriented improvement; and
• Apply practical approaches for selecting texts and structuring book studies that are job-embedded and aligned to school goals.

Wondering how schools and districts worldwide are building staff, student, and community capacity to effectively leverage AI? Reflect on and share past, present, and future approaches to AI integration. Leave with new ideas, practical resources, and meaningful connections as we collectively work toward ethical, appropriate, and transformative AI implementation.

Participants will:

• Reflect on and share elements of your school or district’s past, present, and future work supporting AI integration;
• Apply new ideas, strategies, and resources to support ethical and effective AI integration efforts; and
• Build connections that support continued collaboration around AI integration.

Professional learning leaders are asked to design experiences that are research-aligned, context-responsive, and scalable across diverse systems. Use signature stories as a sensemaking tool to examine professional learning design in practice. Drawing from four real-world implementations through Arizona State University Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation and the Professional Educator Learning Hub (PELH), explore design decisions, tradeoffs, and adaptations across varied professional learning contexts.

Participants will:

• Analyze how professional learning design principles are interpreted and adapted across organizational, cultural, and policy contexts;
• Identify common design features that support coherence and educator learning across varied professional learning models;
• Apply signature stories as a tool for professional learning planning and reflection in your own practice; and
• Articulate an insight or guiding question to apply, test, or explore further in your professional learning work.

Explore strategies that sustain high-impact instructional implementation and align teams around student learning. Examine structures for planning, reflection, collaboration, and data use that support coherent instructional decision-making. Engage with practical tools, protocols, and examples you can apply immediately to strengthen implementation and drive lasting improvement in your schools or districts.

Participants will:

• Analyze structures that support sustained implementation, such as pacing guides and unit unpacking protocols, and identify ways to incorporate reflection and feedback checkpoints;
• Describe principles of distributed leadership and collaborative learning, including roles for administrators, coaches, and teacher leaders in ongoing improvement efforts;
• Interpret instructional data to identify strengths and areas for focus and use a reflection protocol to inform next instructional steps; and
• Engage in collaborative problem-solving and identify at least one protocol or tool to support sustained collective learning in your context.

Building capacity for change requires a structured process that helps stakeholders connect to a shared vision, develop the necessary skills, and access the right resources. Creating and using an action plan is essential for managing complex change and sustaining implementation over time. Examine a district-based change process and leave with practical tools to support implementation in your own context.

Participants will:

• Design a structured approach for leading change using a district-based model of vision, skills, and resource alignment;
• Apply district processes and protocols to evaluate how a structured change framework can be adapted within their own school or district context; and
• Collaborate with peers to analyze implementation challenges and generate a context-specific draft model for sustaining change.

Examine how structured data-driven instructional conversations improved literacy outcomes in a resource setting. Explore a scalable professional learning framework that integrates analytic tools into weekly decision-making cycles. Leave with a replicable model for accelerating growth while reducing instructional overload and strengthening educator confidence.

Participants will:

• Identify structures for implementing consistent, data-driven instructional conversations within existing professional learning systems; 
• Explore how analytic tools can support formative instructional decision-making without increasing educator workload; 
• Apply a structured data-review protocol to align accommodations, grouping practices, and literacy interventions; and 
• Develop an actionable site-level plan for accelerating reading growth using existing assessment systems.

Explore a research-informed micro-learning experience designed to support meaningful professional learning within limited timeframes. Engage in a structured learning sequence that includes a clear beginning, three intentional 15-minute micro-learning cycles, and a defined closing, each grounded in the Experience, Reflect, Apply framework. Drawing from research and design principles, micro-learning is explored as a way to increase relevance, coherence, and transfer into practice. Leave with a replicable structure for designing micro-learning experiences that support adult learning, continuous improvement, and sustained impact across schools and districts.

Participants will:

• Experience a complete micro-learning sequence using the Experience–Reflect–Apply framework;
• Understand core design principles of effective micro-learning experiences grounded in research and adult learning theory; and
• Apply the micro-learning structure to draft or adapt a professional learning experience for their own school, campus, or district context.

Examine how professional learning often emphasizes compliance over capacity and identify design elements that limit instructional transfer. Experience a capacity-building professional learning framework grounded in adult learning principles that prioritizes inquiry, reflection, and application. Apply a practical redesign tool to strengthen instructional practice and support sustained change.

Participants will:

• Understand key differences between compliance-based and capacity-building professional learning, and how adult learning principles influence educator engagement and instructional transfer;
• Analyze current PD, PLC, or coaching structures to identify design elements that limit sustained changes in instructional practice;
• Apply a capacity-building professional learning framework to redesign an existing professional learning experience to include inquiry, reflection, rehearsal, and contextualized application; and
• Identify at least one actionable leadership move to strengthen professional learning at the classroom or school level and support transfer into instructional practice.

Explore how regional networks leverage Learning Forward’s Standards for Professional Learning to advance accomplished teaching and educator growth. Examine collaborative structures and practices that support reflection, leadership development, and aligned instructional expertise. Apply practical strategies to strengthen professional learning systems, support accomplished teaching, and scale data-driven impact across school districts, regions, and the state.

Participants will:

• Explore how Learning Forward’s Standards for Professional Learning align with the design of regional networks that promote accomplished teaching and sustained educator growth;
• Discuss practical, network-based strategies to strengthen professional learning systems and support accomplished teaching across districts, regions, and statewide networks; and
• Share data-driven approaches to scale the impact of collaborative professional learning across districts, regions, and statewide networks.

Intentional efforts to cultivate connection and belonging among early career teachers are essential to their retention and success. Learn strategies that helped Taylor Independent School District early career teachers feel valued, effective, and energized from their first day on the job through the end of their first year.

Participants will:

• Explore approaches for cultivating connection and belonging among early career teachers;
• Examine the role belonging plays in teacher retention, well-being, and self-efficacy; and
• Create an action plan to implement or adapt community-building strategies within their own districts or campuses.

Spark collaborative problem-solving through a survival game that reveals team strengths, workflows, and prioritization strategies for Professional Learning Communities. Compare and annotate PLCs, Professional Work Communities (PWCs), and Professional Learning using the Last Word protocol to craft a focused PLC action plan. Build team resilience through scenarios and coaching moves, then commit to one concrete action and a derailment response strategy to sustain purposeful PLC work.

Participants will:

• Distinguish PLCs, PWCs, and PL by identifying key characteristics and roles to accurately classify their current team and inform future meeting design;
• Demonstrate collaborative problem-solving skills by applying team roles and prioritization strategies from the survival game to real PLC tasks and decision-making;
• Create a clear, actionable PLC plan that specifies goals, the proportion of time allocated to PLC/PWC/PL, and concrete implementation steps for their school context; and
• Apply resilience strategies and coaching moves to anticipate and respond to derailments, sustaining momentum and continuous improvement within PLCs.

Examine how school leaders can rebuild relational trust while designing coherent learning systems in fragmented organizational contexts. Through analysis of a real-world case study, identify leadership moves that strengthen collective efficacy, adult learning, and instructional coherence. Explore practical tools and collaborative structures that support sustainable systems change and improved educator practice in complex school environments.

Participants will:

• Examine how relational trust supports effective professional learning, collective efficacy, and systems change; 
• Use a practical trust and systems assessment framework to identify barriers to collaboration, coherence, and instructional improvement; 
• Explore collaborative learning structures, such as leadership teams, inquiry cycles, and data protocols, that align professional learning with improvement goals; and 
• Identify evidence-based leadership strategies that strengthen collective capacity, support educator growth, and promote student outcomes for all.

Examine research on how classroom conditions influence mathematics learning, with attention to outcomes for all students. Analyze the role of student-perception data and professional learning in strengthening instructional practice and improving classroom environments. Reflect on current efforts in your school or district, connect research-based insights to ongoing instructional improvement work, and identify opportunities and barriers to change.

Participants will:

• Learn how classroom learning conditions influence students’ mathematics outcomes; 
• Explain the importance of collecting and analyzing student-perception data to inform instructional improvement, including common barriers to implementation; 
• Reflect on current practices in their school or district in relation to research findings; and 
• Identify opportunities to strengthen classroom conditions through professional learning and improved data use.

Engage coaches, teacher leaders, and administrators in examining a shared problem of practice related to coaching effectiveness, with a focus on supporting teachers at varied levels of pedagogical readiness. Analyze authentic coaching scenarios, reflect on your own contexts, and engage in structured peer dialogue. Apply reflection, data use, differentiated coaching, and collaborative inquiry to strengthen instructional practice and professional learning systems.

Participants will:

• Design and refine coaching practices that support educators at varied levels of readiness;
• Apply a structured coaching process that integrates reflection, data analysis, and collaborative inquiry to identify high-leverage instructional needs and next steps for teacher growth;
• Analyze authentic coaching scenarios to select coaching goals and match strategies within instructional frameworks; and
• Use peer feedback and reflection to strengthen coaching decisions and improve instructional impact.

Explore how instructional coaches can support science teachers in implementing the new Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) through 3D learning. Experience a short phenomenon-based lesson, analyze key instructional moves, and connect them to effective coaching practices. Leave with practical strategies to support integration of Scientific and Engineering Practices (SEPs), Recurring Themes and Concepts (RTCs), and content through purposeful coaching conversations.

Participants will:

• Understand the components of 3D science instruction, including phenomena, SEPs, RTCs, and content integration; 
• Identify instructional look-fors and student evidence that signal effective TEKS-aligned 3D learning; 
• Apply coaching strategies that support teacher reflection, lesson refinement, and instructional shifts; and 
• Use coaching tools and conversation stems to strengthen science instruction in coaching cycles, PLCs, and classroom observations.

Examine how intentionally designed professional learning systems grounded in the Science of Reading and Structured Literacy enhance teachers’ instructional practice and early literacy outcomes. Using school-based cases, analyze leadership actions, learning designs, and data structures that support coherent, job-embedded professional learning. Apply high-leverage leadership practices that create the conditions for sustained improvement in literacy instruction.

Participants will:

• Understand how professional learning systems grounded in the Science of Reading and Structured Literacy influence teacher knowledge, instructional practice, and early literacy outcomes; 
• Examine how leadership decisions, learning designs, and implementation supports contribute to coherence and sustainability in literacy-focused professional learning using school-based examples; and 
• Interpret multiple sources of evidence—including teacher learning, instructional practice, and student literacy data—to inform instructional and leadership decision-making.

Build capacity to intentionally support teacher resilience, well-being, and retention. Explore strategies that strengthen commitment and effectiveness by promoting balanced, sustainable professional systems. Gain actionable leadership tools and mindsets to cultivate resilient school cultures, support educators, and enhance student success.

Participants will:

• Identify key personal and professional stressors that impact teacher resilience, effectiveness, and retention; 
• Apply leadership strategies that promote balance, well-being, and professional fulfillment within school systems and structures; 
• Implement sustainable practices that strengthen teacher commitment and support long-term career growth; and 
• Use practical tools and mindsets to cultivate a resilient school culture that supports educator morale and student success.

Connect the Learning Forward Standards for Professional Learning to the Follow Me Forward learning loop model through guided conversation and shared examples that highlight teacher leadership and professional growth. Experience a collaborative table-talk process that models effective adult learning by centering voice, reflection, and authentic professional learning challenges. Through this experience, identify practical shifts and meaningful evidence that strengthen collective responsibility and continuous improvement in your own contexts.

Participants will:

• Connect the Learning Forward Standards for Professional Learning to a coherent, research-informed model for designing professional learning that supports educator practice and system improvement. Participants explore how learning design, leadership, evidence, and implementation function as an integrated system; 
• Experience and reflect on a professional learning process that models effective adult learning through collaborative dialogue, inquiry, and reflection on authentic challenges; 
• Apply a learning-cycle framework to analyze or refine a professional learning initiative, identifying one practical shift to strengthen coherence, transfer, or shared responsibility; and 
• Identify meaningful evidence indicators to assess the impact of professional learning on educator practice, collaborative culture, and student learning.

Student success is strongest when educators are united in purpose, practice, and learning. Explore how the collective use of data, shared instructional language, and collaborative planning routines strengthens alignment across classrooms and teams. Examine how working together around common goals leads to more consistent instruction and improved student outcomes. Learn practical strategies to strengthen coherence, sustain professional learning, and support high-quality teaching through a unified approach to learning.

Participants will:

• Identify ways to use shared data and instructional language to align practices across classrooms and teams; 
• Engage in collaborative planning and reflection protocols that strengthen collective efficacy and instructional consistency; and 
• Develop actionable next steps that support sustained professional learning and shared ownership for student success.

Discover how structured collaborative support transforms PLCs from data meetings into drivers of instructional improvement and student achievement. Explore practical tools, including team assessment protocols, planning templates, and feedback schedules, alongside action research findings that demonstrate measurable impacts on teaching practice and student learning. Learn how evidence-based inquiry, when embedded in PLC structures, leads to meaningful classroom change beyond surface-level data review.

Participants will:

• Design structured PLC practices that foster collaborative inquiry and collective responsibility for connecting instructional decisions to student learning outcomes; 
• Apply evidence-based tools to strengthen team collaboration and instructional coherence; 
• Use action research findings and evaluative evidence to move PLCs from data review to continuous improvement cycles focused on classroom impact; and 
• Identify strategies to sustain effective PLC structures within existing time and resource constraints.