To Accelerate Student Learning
Written by Sarah Johnson
Photo by Etty Fidele on Unsplash
Every day, as we endure another spike in COVID infections, grapple with the wrought politicization of our school systems, and undergo the existential threat of teaching as a profession, we are seemingly and constantly staring down at the crossroads of two eternities — one being the past and the other being the future.
This perpetual feeling of being under fire is not only spurred by what’s going on around us, but also what we are doing as a result of it.
And so when I sat down with “Findings For The Field: Accelerate Teacher Learning = Accelerate Student Learning,” the most recent research report by Teaching Lab, I contemplated how we can learn from it in a meaningful way, and, importantly how we can use it to meet the demands of the current moment.
What the report tells us is that the past was certainly lived in a meaningful way and that the future is brighter for our beloved profession of teaching — and the main reason why we’re all reading this in the first place — for the love of our nation’s students. Specifically, when we take teacher learning seriously, we take student learning seriously.
So please follow me in this journey to learn from the past as we plan for the future by reading sections from “Findings For The Field” like:
Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Education (CRSE), where you can learn how conducting PL with a focus on both CRSE and curriculum resulted in larger teacher, knowledge and practice shifts.
State-level Partnership, where you can learn how Teaching Lab supported theWisconsin Department of Public Instruction to lead the charge of educational equity through building leadership capacity to adopt and use high-quality curriculum.
Content Knowledge and Pedagogical Content Knowledge, where we show that teacher professional learning improves teacher content knowledge and pedagogical content, necessary to accelerate student learning.
And get lost in the entire report, knowing that it is possible for teachers to learn in difficult conditions and when we focus on treating teachers like professionals, students benefit. If we truly embrace accelerating learning for students, then let’s plan to provide teachers with the support they deserve to advance educational equity.
If you want to learn more about how Teaching Lab can support your school or system in putting this research into practice, we still have capacity to bring on more partners. Reach out to us to learn more.
As always, thank you for advancing educational equity with us.
