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    Virtual Classroom Walkthroughs: 7 Tips for Effectively Observing Online Instruction

    By Julia Ramsey

    Virtual walkthroughs can provide clear, actionable feedback about how professional learning efforts are translating into practice. Check out our top 7 tips for creating a walkthrough program in your district’s online classrooms — or download the free guide of practical look-fors adapted from the National Standards for Quality Online Teaching.
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    Ebook: Using actionable data to fuel professional learning

    By Julia Ramsey

    A free ebook on the six most common obstacles to practical data use in PD administration — featuring examples, documents and case studies from real-life school district offices.
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    Virtual Classroom Walkthroughs : Practical Look-Fors for Online Classrooms

    By Julia Ramsey

    Guide to building an online walkthrough program, plus a bank of practical look-fors adapted from the National Standards for Quality Online Teaching.
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    Coaching During COVID: 6 Key Takeaways from Jim Knight and Diane Lauer

    By Julia Ramsey

    Are you registered for April 17th's live Coaching During COVID conversation? We'll be talking district strategy, coach-teacher communication, and much more in a live Q&A with Jim Knight of the Instructional Coaching Group and Diane Lauer of St. Vrain Valley Schools. To tee up that conversation, we pulled some highlights from Jim Knight on adapting instructional coaching in a virtual context.
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    Implementing Evidence-Based Programs with Fidelity [Part 2]

    By Julia Ramsey

    The story of the last decade of professional learning has been around the idea of “evidence for practice.” With ESSA’s definition of professional learning, it’s clear that programs have to be linked to research that shows impact on students. But choosing a research-backed framework is the easy part. Translating it into practice — also known as “implementing with fidelity” — is a taller order. Find out how two real-life practitioners optimize these drivers in a school district setting, track implementation success in real time, and understand what works and why.
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    Actionable data: Building momentum with consistent data checks

    By Julia Ramsey

    A good foundation is critical to your professional learning plan's success — but all the value alignment, calendar coordination and guiding philosophy in the world won’t guarantee a good outcome. Without clear intention for what the final product will actually do, the people it's serving won’t be able to make sense of the “why do we have this?,” let alone the “how do we use this?” Today: simplifying data presentations for accessibility, understanding and buy-in.
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    Implementing Evidence-Based Programs with Fidelity [Part 1]

    By Julia Ramsey

    The story of the last decade of professional learning has been around the idea of “evidence for practice.” With ESSA’s definition of professional learning, it’s clear that programs have to be linked to research that shows impact on students. But choosing a research-backed framework is the easy part. Translating it into practice — also known as “implementing with fidelity” — is a taller order. Find out how two real-life practitioners optimize these drivers in a school district setting, track implementation success in real time, and understand what works and why.
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    Actionable data: Helping your team understand and use data

    By Julia Ramsey

    A good foundation is critical to your professional learning plan's success — but all the value alignment, calendar coordination and guiding philosophy in the world won’t guarantee a good outcome. Without clear intention for what the final product will actually do, the people it's serving won’t be able to make sense of the “why do we have this?,” let alone the “how do we use this?” Today: simplifying data presentations for accessibility, understanding and buy-in.
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    Actionable data: How to clarify, consolidate, and centralize collection systems

    By Julia Ramsey

    The secret to maintaining any routine is making it easy for yourself. Want to squeeze in more early-morning workouts? Pack your gym clothes the night before. Trying to keep the mail from piling up? Keep a wastebin next to the mail table. And if you're trying to build a habit among a group of people — like consistently and thoroughly responding to feedback surveys, for example — the trick is to simplify and streamline wherever possible, for both the audience and yourself. Today in our Actionable Data series: running large-scale data projects while respecting your teachers' time — and your own.
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    Actionable data: Plotting robust but realistic timeframes for PD data collection

    By Julia Ramsey

    Short, intermediate and long-term change can look very different in both pace and types of indicator — not to mention the the complex task of balancing the existing demands of the school year with your program's data needs. Let’s explore how to build robust yet flexible calendars for data accountability: