Webinars

Access to deeper learning is essential in a knowledge-based economy, but most schools, especially those serving low-income students and students of color, still focus on routine lower-level skills. The inequalities are so deep-seated that clearing a path to deeper learning for marginalized young people has required—and continues to require—considerable engagement in civil rights litigation, enforcement, and advocacy, as well as education reform.

With California’s expansion of transitional kindergarten and the development of a p-3 credential, the state has a pivotal opportunity to build a teacher workforce that has deep expertise in working with its youngest learners and families. Panelists at this webinar explored strategies to transform early childhood teacher preparation in California to ensure p–3 educators are well prepared to provide high-quality learning experiences to students across a range of settings.

Strong school leadership is critical for shaping productive learning environments, supporting teachers, and influencing student outcomes. This webinar, co-sponsored by AASA, explored district policies and practices that can lead to the presence of strong leaders in schools and shared examples of districts that have successfully implemented such practices.

Effective principals produce better outcomes for their schools. Two comprehensive studies on principal learning, commissioned by The Wallace Foundation, explore the roles universities, states, and districts all play in ensuring that principals get the preparation and ongoing support they need to be successful. Researchers from the Learning Policy Institute and RAND Corporation shared highlights from these studies, followed by a panel discussion on research implications.

Making timely, effective connections between research, policy, and practice can be a difficult task for researchers, policymakers, and educators alike. In this webinar, leaders in education discuss the challenges and opportunities in putting evidence into practice to improve outcomes for children and students—including showcasing different models being developed in California.

California's commitment to expand transitional kindergarten (TK) to all 4-year-olds in the state by 2025-26 will require the addition of up to 11,000 new lead teachers. In this webinar, experts from across the state discuss how teacher residencies can play an important role in expanding a well-prepared TK workforce to help meet this need.

With the return to school in the wake of COVID-19, it is critical that educators and families be able to appropriately and equitably assess young students. At this webinar, we connect and dig deeper into the characteristics of high-quality assessment in the early grades. Presenters share examples of high-quality assessment practices from preschool through the early elementary grades and recommendations to support their implementation.

Experts share examples of effective student-centered approaches being used in schools, focusing on the social, emotional, and mental health of students. They also discuss mentoring to develop social and emotional learning skills and ways that districts can utilize federal COVID-19 relief funds to meet short-term needs, accelerate learning, and develop relationship-centered schools.

Panel members discuss the policies and practices that can ensure high-quality early childhood education and care for all children. They also discuss five main policy levers, focusing particularly on curriculum and pedagogy, and workforce development. The webinar took place in conjunction with the release of a new OECD report on meaningful interactions in early childhood education and care.

Between historic bipartisan investments to stabilize and expand access to child care in 2020 and new proposals from Congress and the Biden Administration, the nation is poised to significantly increase access to quality early childhood education. To do this, we need a vision for a new and better system. In this webinar, experts discussed long-term federal policy solutions to build a comprehensive, equitable, and integrated early learning system.