“When the crisis struck in March, we immediately thought: ‘Will we need to tap the brakes?’” Brielle Brewick, an Associate Director of Networks at Leading Educators, reflects. “We thought there would be no way teachers could keep up with a virtual professional learning cycle on top of so many new responsibilities.”

The COVID crisis was a wrench thrown into an ambitious professional learning partnership between Baltimore City Public Schools and Leading Educators. Launched in fall 2019 as part of the Gates Foundation’s Professional Learning Partnership (PLP) portfolio, the partnership was designed to expand curriculum-based professional learning support around middle school math teachers. At the heart is a unique strategy to leverage expert Academic Content Liaisons (ACLs) who coach teachers across multiple schools to facilitate recurring adult learning and planning tied to the Eureka curriculum. Simultaneously, they develop the capacity of school-based content leaders to eventually do the same. Teachers at three pilot schools were participating in sessions about upcoming curriculum topics until the pandemic forced a pause.

But when school closures pushed classrooms into lonely virtual spaces, City Schools teachers craved learning and collaboration with their peers more than ever. Recognizing the importance of the moment, an ACL and their teachers asked LE to finish their learning cycle virtually.

After reshuffling the content to respond to new time constraints and the unique aspects of online instruction, LE led teachers, ACLs, and Academic Planning Facilitators through an optional virtual cycle that wrapped just days before the school year ended. Even in such unfamiliar conditions, roughly 80 to 90 percent of teachers attended the sessions each week. Teachers gave the sessions positive feedback, a big win for the first-time process.

It’s difficult to work on the structural shifts that build a better school system while responding to urgent needs of the moment. By doubling down on professional learning, City Schools is seeing success with both. Here are key takeaways that are worth carrying forward.

  1. Virtual learning spaces break down walls and expand perspective.
  2. Virtual learning spaces can shorten linear professional learning structures, change practices in classrooms faster.
  3. A strong, shared curriculum anchors teachers when things get stormy.

Read the full article about virtual learning collaboration by Jake Ramirez at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.