Learning Forward Conference

Take the Leadership Compass assessment to identify which of four leadership styles you embody. Examine any weaknesses in your own leadership styles that you could supplement through cooperation with leaders who have complementary strengths. Discuss examples of your own advocacy experiences and identify ways in which that work could be enhanced by drawing on the different strengths of other leaders.

Participants will:

• Identify and understand their personal work/leadership styles so they can build more effective teams with colleagues who have complementary strengths;
• Provide feedback to one another on advocacy work going on in states and understand that work to identify ways in which it could be improved through an awareness of leadership styles; and
• Identify one issue in their current professional environment that they could address through advocacy and with collaboration with other professionals.

Discuss how high growth for all is an outcome of equitable and excellent opportunities to learn. Explore the role of formative conversations in helping learners grow and make meaning from their experiences. Engage in routines that activate funds of knowledge, encourage thoughtful discussions, and promote continuous reflection. Leave with tools to implement and sustain high-impact teaching and learning in literacy and math.

Participants will:

• Understand the impact of the national conversation around literacy, mathematics, and learning recovery for students and teachers;
• Align on the components of high-quality professional learning;
• Experience the power of formative conversations in situating learning; and
• Explore practical tools for equitable and excellent instruction.

Learn how Lubbock (TX) ISD is on track to exceed its ambitious goal of increasing the percentage of students in A- and B-rated schools from 42% to 80% by 2026. Engage in a discussion about the strategies used by instructional leaders at every level to fuel educator growth and student achievement. Explore three main strategic areas: data practices for informed decision-making; what the district stopped doing to focus on what matters most; and personalizing professional learning.

Participants will:

• Understand the data collection and analysis practices that helped breakdown silos, ground leaders throughout the district in fact-based conversations, and make decisions faster with confidence;
• Acquire strategies for conducting their own de-implementation process to help them spend more time on doing the things that matter most to support teachers and drive student achievement; and
• Acquire strategies for how to scale the personalization of professional learning to meet the unique needs of all educators.

Unpack how DEI mission-driven work requires team members to be forthcoming about their own assumptions, instructional missteps, student struggles, and hesitancy to adopt change without fear of judgment from their colleagues. Explore the role of psychological safety in building trusting teams. Learn how skillful team leaders make intentional moves to strengthen trust and encourage diverse voices to speak up in ways that lead to shifts in practice and improved student outcomes.

Participants will:

• Explore a learning-centered framework for leading and observing teacher and leadership teams;
• Expand their notion of what trust looks like in the classroom and on a team; 
• Explore the research-based need for psychological safety in a group; and
• Gain facilitation moves to strengthen team trust.

Explore how data can play a critical role in guiding instructional practice. Be intentional about the data teachers collect to improve how they interpret assessment results and improve instruction. Learn about a framework for data collection and interpretation that includes meaningful measures of student learning that puts classroom assessments at the center of the discussions.

Participants will:

• Identify high-quality measures of student learning from curriculum-embedded assessments;
• Design a plan for considering and interpreting assessment data as a part of PLC, MTSS, and other collaborative frameworks; and
• Understand how classroom data can provide powerful information for your data-driven instructional efforts.

Imagine what’s possible when academic success is a nonnegotiable for all students. Learn how to support teachers in their continuing education around equity and build a culture of equitable teaching and learning. Leave with knowledge that will help you think about equity from a different perspective and position you to engage in deep reflection, dialogue, and more equitable practices.

Participants will:

• Understand how academic identities relate to equitable teaching and learning;
• Explore the Entry Points for Equity Framework and examine how to leverage them in educational settings; and
• Discuss their current equity needs and barriers to implementation.

Explore the role of books in educator professional learning and how books can amplify and outline critical lessons. Join a panel of authors who will share their writing experience and the impact their books are making on educators and ultimately student success. Ask questions of the panel and pitch your own book ideas.

Participants will:

• Discover the process to move research and evidence-based practices into a published book;
• Gain insights into topics needed by educators; and
• Acquire strategies that first-time writers need to ensure their book is practical, focused, and user-friendly for educators.

Explore how people react to the introduction of new technologies and how their ways of thinking influence their reactions. Discuss how those who think in binary, either-or, ways, tend to resist and even ban the use of certain technologies, such as ChatGPT. Learn how to help educators engage in slower, more reflective thinking that will help them evaluate and use new technologies more effectively.

Participants will:

• Learn how educators are thinking about, and dealing with, the introduction of new technologies such as artificial intelligence;
• Learn how binary thinking can lead to bad decisions about technology and how to avoid it; and
• Learn specific strategies and tactics to avoid engaging in binary thinking, especially around use of technology in education.