Session Descriptions
Sessions
The Future of Professional Learning
Audience: K-12 District Leadership (C&I, HR), Principals, PD Planning Teams
Speakers: Jennifer Abrams (Educational Consultant & author of Having Hard Conversations); Dr. Luvelle Brown (Superintendent, Ithaca City School District); Jim Knight (Senior Partner, Instructional Coaching Group); Kris Rouleau (Executive Director of Learning Services, McRel International)
About: 2020 has been a year of constant change. Building educator capacity is an urgent part of district work—a crucial lever for addressing student learning loss and confronting systemic racial inequities. During this panel, four education experts will reflect on the ways professional learning has shifted in 2020, weigh in on the tension between support and evaluation, and imagine the future of professional growth.
Building a System for Educator Professional Growth
Audience: K-12 District Leadership (C&I, HR), Principals, PD Planning Teams
Speakers:Erica Feldman (Partnerships Manager, KickUp); Gary Henry (Director, Personnel/Human Resources, Spring Branch ISD); Anna Jackson (Executive Director, Leadership and Professional Development, Lubbock ISD); Victoria Kinzig (Chief Operating Officer, KickUp); Brittany Walker-Meade (Account Executive, KickUp)
About: The world of professional learning has evolved—from mandatory PD and high-stakes teacher evaluation to personalized, job-embedded supports and holistic growth cycles. As educators increasingly demand growth opportunities, performance evaluation must also evolve. Join us for the live public launch of KickUp’s new Professional Growth module and hear two district leaders break down how they’re implementing a growth-based evaluation cycle in the midst of an uncertain 2020.
How to Assess and Improve Online Instruction - Lessons from a Virtual School
Audience: Directors and Coordinators of PD
Speakers: Christine Voelker (Director, K-12 Program, Quality Matters); Sarah Warnick (Director of Products and Services, Virtual Virginia); Cindy Hamblin (Director, Virtual Learning Leadership Alliance)
About: In a year where most districts are investing in some amount of online learning, what does it look like to set the bar? What strategies can we use to improve instruction both online and in a hybrid environment going forward? Learn how Virtual Virginia has introduced the National Standards for Quality Online Teaching to their faculty and connected the standards to PLCs, as well as their evaluation model. During the session we’ll talk about:
- Exemplars of online teaching
- Practices to plug in to your own program that encourage educators to develop and refine their skills
- Components you can adapt and include into your formative and summative assessments
Roundtables
Rethinking Teacher Evaluations
Audience: K-12 District Leadership (C&I, HR), Principals, PD Planning Teams
Speakers: Doug Starkey, Director of Technology & STEM Education, Camdenton R-III; Principal TBA, Camdenton R-III
About: Join Camdenton R-III School District for an open and interactive conversation about performance evaluation. In this roundtable you'll:
- Learn how Camdenton designed professional growth plans (PGPs) to align ongoing supports and formal evaluations
- Collaborate on strategies to improve scaffolded supports throughout the year that gradually grow educators
- Network with peers and share formative resources that can contribute to summative evaluations
Connecting Coaching with Growth
Audience: K-12 District Leadership (C&I, HR), Principals, PD Planning Teams
Speakers: Alana Morris, Coordinator for High School Humanities
About: Join Spring Branch Independent School District for an open and interactive conversation about using data to optimize coaching and drive professional growth. In this roundtable you'll:
- Learn how Spring Branch is leveraging their coaching program as a form of responsive support
- Discuss how to plan for a dual purpose data collection process: accountability reporting and driving change
- Network and discuss strategies with peers on the role of coaching in professional growth