TLA Blog

The field of education is constantly innovating as schools across the country search for the best ways to improve learning for each student. On the TLA Blog, The Learning Accelerator team and guest experts investigate and help you navigate the latest research, commentary, and useful tools to push the field forward.

Help Your School Leaders Succeed (And Retain Them for the Long Haul)

by Ashley Fellows on August 15 2022

For the last three years, I led my school’s pandemic response — from drafting and rolling out COVID protocols to implementing building health and safety measures — all while leading a community of 600 students and educators through a full return to in-person learning. It was the honor of my professional career but came at a cost to my mental and...

Help Bring TLA to SXSW EDU 2023

by Samantha Artukovich on August 10 2022

It’s that time of year once again! The public voting period for SXSW EDU’s PanelPicker has arrived, and we would appreciate your help in bringing The Learning Accelerator (TLA) back to Austin. As you consider sessions to support this year, please take a few minutes to look into TLA’s sessions below, featuring topics ranging from virtual and hybrid...

Step 4: Championing Sustainable Change - Creating systems for leaders, teams, and their initiatives

by Nicole Assisi & Shelli Kurth on August 3 2022

The never-ending cycle of growth and change in schools often elicits mixed reactions. Some see these new trends as much-needed progress, while others “see déjà vu all over again.” Evolving science and research, alongside increased complexity that spurs new trends, bring advancement to the field – but also challenges that can affect the whole...

There’s No Digital Equity Without Data Privacy

by Beth Holland on July 25 2022

Whether consciously or unconsciously, apps, internet service providers, and even schools could be selling or releasing data related to students’ — and teachers’ — locations, browsing habits, email content, and even direct messages. Over the past several months, the White House and Congress have called on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to...

Supporting LGBTQ+ Students and Staff All Year Long

by Taylor Bowers on July 21 2022

At The Learning Accelerator, we believe an inclusive and welcoming environment is critical to push learning forward and create spaces that allow students and educators alike to engage, grow, and develop as members of our local and global communities. The classroom should be a safe place for all students and faculty, no matter how they identify....

Ryan Mick: A Conversation on Equity-Driven Leadership

by Lacey Gonzales on July 13 2022

Ryan Mick joins The Learning Accelerator in the newly created role of Chief Program Officer, tasked with managing the execution, improvement, and development of TLA’s core programs while orchestrating a compelling vision for our next phase of programmatic impact. Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ryan. Welcome to TLA, Ryan. To start,...

Step 3: Powering Up - Developing a Team Focused on Collective Action

by Nicole Assisi & Shelli Kurth on June 30 2022

“In organizations, real power and energy is generated through relationships. The patterns of relationships and the capacities to form them are more important than tasks, functions, roles, and positions.” – Margaret Wheatley. In any industry, the team of people we work with matters, and in schools, where the goals we are working toward are often...

Flexibility in the Face of Volatility: Three Shifts for Managing Enrollment Fluctuations in District-based Virtual Schools

by Rashida Kimbrue Major & Nate Kellogg on June 28 2022

In response to pandemic-induced school closures, virtual schools across the country saw enrollment rates skyrocket. At Highline Public Schools’ Highline Virtual Academy in Washington state, for example, enrollment increased from 200 students in grades 6-12 to over 600 in just two weeks during September 2021 – a substantial three-fold increase. As...

Step 2: Learning to Sprint - Leveraging Small Wins Along the Road Toward Large-Scale Change

by Nicole Assisi & Shelli Kurth on June 16 2022

Referring to all aspects of life as a marathon has become something of a cliche. While the metaphor may feel harmless in many ways, this perspective is problematic for a few reasons. For starters, Pheidippides – the soldier who ran about 25 miles to Athens in 490 BC to announce a victory at the battle of Marathon and thus gave us the name...

New Tools Support Our Strategy Lab: Virtual & Hybrid Cohorts

by Beth Holland on June 9 2022

In March 2022, The Learning Accelerator (TLA) launched the first of three Strategy Lab: Virtual & Hybrid cohorts to tackle the challenge of developing more effective, engaging, and equitable virtual or hybrid learning environments. Working through our Real-Time Redesign process, district teams started to conduct needs assessments to understand and...

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