April 17, 2025

Dear Educator,

The most powerful shifts in education happen when research and practice move together. Research offers evidence-based insights into what works, while practice brings those ideas to life in real classrooms.

When educators have the opportunity to test, reflect, and refine research-informed strategies in their own contexts, learning becomes deeper for both students and adults. This fuels innovation, builds educator capacity, and ensures change is both meaningful and sustainable.

Our LCC team has been deeply invested in understanding the impact of professional learning on the growth of systems, educators, and students in ways that honor the complexity of change. This week, I want to highlight the research findings from our cross-district Innovation Cohort in Western Pennsylvania.

With Gratitude,

The Incredible Impact of Cross-District Innovation Cohorts

Over the course of a year, educators in four Western Pennsylvania school districts aligned on a clear vision, set goals, and learned, implemented, and iterated on new instructional strategies. In collaboration with their colleagues, they received and reflected on feedback, and they revised and analyzed their ongoing impact to determine next steps. This ongoing cycle led to two significant findings from the cohort:

• In-person workshops allowed participants to understand and/or reflect on their roles in teaching and learning (e.g. personalized learning, learner-centered approach, having students co-create learning experiences, etc.).
• Educators appreciated the exposure to resources and ideas, including building personal connections with other cohort participants and listening to their insights.

Before joining the Innovation Cohort, educators rated their confidence in amplifying learner voice at an average of 5.2 out of 10. This included how well they engaged students as decision-makers, gathered feedback, and promoted equity of voice.

By the end of the cohort, their confidence jumped by 3.2 points on average—showing that ongoing, job-embedded learning made a big impact in how empowered and prepared educators felt to elevate student voice in their classrooms.

When educators feel confident in their craft, they are more likely to take risks, try new approaches, and create the kind of learning environments where students thrive. Confidence fuels creativity, deepens professional ownership, and strengthens the belief that change is possible. As we continue to invest in meaningful, ongoing learning, we’re not just building skills—we’re building the belief that every educator has the power to make a lasting impact.

What does professional learning look like in your school or district? Is it leading to innovation and growth? What's working? What's not? I’d love to hear your stories. Send a note my way by replying directly to this email!

Choice boards can take a variety of forms, but they are essentially a list of options of learning activities for learners to select from. They can provide choices in what, how, with whom, where, or when students learn. Many of them include “must do” and “may do” options, so learners are clear on expectations but also have room for personalization and learning based on interest. Explore real-world examples of Choice Boards on our strategy page. Dive in here.

Resources to advance your learner-centered practice

📖 NEW BLOG: The Impact of Innovation Cohorts: A Research-Based Perspective on Educator Growth. "18 out of 20 educators who had portfolios available to review successfully integrated what they learned in the cohort into their classrooms." Read more.

🎙️ Episode 43: The Case for Learner-Centered, Universally Designed Classrooms (with Katie Novak). "One of the things that I say all the time to teachers is you are doing way too much for kids that they are totally capable of doing themselves." Tune in to this episode.

👩‍💻 Amplify Learner Voice Online Course. "Learn how to deeply listen to learners by asking them to engage in classroom and school decisions, solicit their feedback about their learning experience, and promote equity of voice." Start learning here.