Professional Learning Services
WestEd is a nationally recognized leader in improving practices, policies, and processes to meet the needs of communities to advance equitable student learning outcomes.
We offer a variety of on-site and virtual services that develop educators’ capacity to support principals, assistant principals, and central office staff members. These services can be fully customized to meet the needs of leaders and their systems.
Throughout our work, we provide leadership support in these three primary domains:
Educational leadership professional learning, coaching, and school and central office system design
We develop leadership efficacy in creating conditions for excellence and equity in schools, teacher retention, and community support.
Educational leadership system development
We consult with leadership to document and improve systems in ways that enhance capacity and responsiveness to students, staff, and communities.
Educational leadership research and evaluation
We conduct policy-relevant research on best practices for principal evaluation, preparation, and professional development. Using this research, we inform and measure the impact of our own professional development services.
Our Core Services
Our team is trusted to deepen understanding, skill, and capacity for principal, teacher, and district leaders to improve equity and excellence for schools, districts, and communities. Our services are known and trusted to effectively improve outcomes.
School Leadership Team Network
Instructional Leadership
The School Leadership Team Network provides training, tools and processes leaders can replicate with their own site and district teams. The following topics inform the focus of the facilitated planning and implementation support sessions.
Equity
District leaders will engage in training, tools, and processes they can replicate for greater impact. Leaders will have an opportunity to automate equity within the systems they lead by meeting regularly to identify and address a current equity challenge.
Learning Networks for Site and District Leaders
Lead the Learning – Build Your Leadership Playbook
The workshop series builds and enhances the leadership capacity of certificated or classified site and district office leaders across districts at every experience level. The series helps assess and grow current leadership and learning strategies.
Over the course of the series, leaders will experience learning based on Professional Standards for Leaders that will align leadership practices across the system to ensure a more equitable experience for students and adults.
Leading From the Middle
This series provides a safe and supportive learning space for district leaders from across districts to share strategies and solutions to pressing challenges facing educators today.
The series helps leaders navigate the politics of senior leadership roles while managing effective change with an emphasis on reviewing effective project leadership and team development strategies and inspiring equity-focused strategies and innovation.
Sessions
- The Pivotal Role of Central Office Leader
- Distributing Leadership: Breaking Down District Silos
- Creating and Leading Agile Teams
- Managing the Leadership Pipeline
- Leadership Transitions: Managing Organizational Knowledge
Outcomes for Leaders
- Share strategies and solutions to pressing challenges facing district offices
- Navigate the politics of senior leadership, “managing up”, and the reality of constant change
- Review effective project leadership and team development strategies
- Analyze how to make sense of it all and inspire for equity and innovation from the middle
Leading Data Conversations
This series supports leaders across districts in leveraging the use of data in teams to improve student achievement.
Leaders will come to an understanding of data and its uses to generate new knowledge, support action planning, and lead to more effective improvement practices. They will practice using an observation rubric to better leverage the most important technology of their school or system: conversations among educators.
Sessions
Outcomes for Leaders
The Role of Data Teams
- Understand the definition and purpose of data teams
- Distribute responsibility for data
- Agree upon data teams they would like to observe
Continuous Improvement Cycles
- Define continuous improvement in the local context
- Consider continuous improvement questions: Third loop learning
- Agree on what they are trying to improve
Usable Data
- Reflect upon the types of data currently used to inform their work
- Identify strengths and limitations in available data and data accessibility
Facilitating Group Conversations
- Understand the role of andragogy in productive meetings
- Develop a checklist for preparation and facilitation of an effective data team meeting
Data Team Observation Rubric
- Analyze the rubric
- Prepare to collect video or observation data on data team facilitation
Planning for Implementation
- Analyze videos or observation data on team facilitation
- Consider data teams’ common focus and process
- Plan for implementation with school teams
Supervisors of Principals Academy (SOPA)
Excellent supervision is essential to retaining and growing leaders. The Supervisors of Principals Academy supports central office administrator coaching and evaluation of principals in charter or public schools. The Supervisors of Principals Academies are offered statewide, regionally, or to larger school districts through WestEd.
Visit our website to discover learning opportunities
Information sessions offer leaders an opportunity to learn about our offerings, ask questions, and meet other leaders who are looking to expand their network and grow their leadership skills.