The Learning Principal

As the new school year gets underway, it’s OK to admit your inaugural professional development may not be your favorite part of the season.

During Learning Forward’s Curriculum-Based Professional Learning (CBPL) Symposiums, we spend a considerable portion of the learning sessions focused on implementation that’s personalized to the attendees’ current work happening in their districts. Invariably during the intensive two days, they share a common challenge: How do we sustain and support teachers over time as they do the day-to-day work of implementing curriculum with their students?

Effective coaching requires a true partnership. Some teachers are slow to warm up to coaching and others offer reasons why they do not wish to engage. To reach all teachers, coaches need a variety of ways to invite them into a productive coaching partnership focused on solving their problems of practice. In a previous blog, I offered ideas for starting coaching conversations with hesitant teachers.

Research has long shown that principals can have a major impact on teaching and student learning, but The Principal Effect, a new report commissioned by The Wallace Foundation dives into the details of why and how principal leadership matters. At the center of those mechanisms is a consistent thread: ongoing professional learning and growth.

Over the past year, the Leadership Team Institute 2026-27 brought together over 30 leaders from seven teams from state and regional organizations and districts in Maryland and Delaware to learn about high-functioning team leadership, build their leadership team capacity, implement solutions to problems of practice, and create actionable professional learning plans that support growth at all levels.

Sustainability is an important but often elusive goal in educational improvement. Too often, even successful initiatives follow a predictable pattern: They begin with great promise and enthusiasm only to fade away after pilot projects and initial trainings end, funding runs out, or leaders move on to new roles.

As the flowers bloom in Washington, D.C. and the temperatures climb, Congress once more turns its attention to education funding. Like each year in recent memory, education advocates must again make the case that professional learning merits federal investment.

Springtime signals all types of transformation. Mother Nature shifts from browns to greens, communities emerge from winter routines, and in schools, educator turnover triggers a domino effect. One predictable byproduct of turnover is gaps in knowledge about the steps needing to connect this year’s improvement efforts to a logical sequence for next school year. When leadership transitions occur, improvement work can easily stall through omissions, lost momentum, and unnecessary restarts.

Media contact: Gail Paul, gail.paul@learningforward.org NEW YORK CITY– Education publisher and professional learning organization Learning Forward announced its newest issue of The Learning Professional magazine is a recommended resource for professionals attending a national education conference focused on the science of learning.

Coaching is most effective when it builds problem-solving skills and self-efficacy in coachees. To achieve this, effective coaches structure their coaching conversations in intentional ways to promote and support a client’s thinking rather than simply offering advice or suggestions to address the immediate problem. These coaching decisions not only promote professional growth but foster ownership and accountability for implementation and ownership of outcomes.