Learning Forward Conference

Hear how Alaskan educators have collaborated to bring professional learning to a new level. See our responsive and coherent statewide system of professional learning for all educators. Explore how a variety of organizations can develop a statewide professional learning calendar, quarterly professional learning roundtables, and statewide inservice days. Learn how diversity and broad partnerships in this project have created synergy, strength, and different perspectives to this work.

Examine how schools and systems can learn from teachers’, students’, and families’ experiences with high-quality curriculum and curriculum-based professional learning to strengthen implementation. Preview a framework and tool kit based on the Concerns-Based Adoption Model that helps practitioners understand the effectiveness of high-quality instructional materials and professional learning implementation, uncover disconnects between intended and actual implementation, and design tailored supports. Join a data-based strategic planning simulation, and identify steps to harness your stakeholders’ experiences to improve implementation.

Draw on research and expertise from the fields of communication and behavior science to improve communication. Increase trust and equity with effective messaging for busy families, overworked educators, and diverse communities. Explore communication theory and practice that drives effective school communication, both internally and externally, through a 5 Pillars Framework. Examine and evaluate communication and learn practical, applicable skills for improvement by applying lessons from communication research and practitioners.

Confront and challenge the assumption that the randomized control trial is the gold standard in large-scale quantitative studies by examining the strengths and limitations of these methods. Come away with a framework for evaluating what forms of evidence are right for your own work.

Learn about a model for school-university partnerships that can lead to school improvement and change. Hear how a K-8 district reached out to the local university to partner on an ambitious project to transform learning for students and teachers through professional learning communities (PLCs) and coaching. Apply the strategies as you develop a plan for your own school or district.