Projects: Professional Learning and Leading Collaborative

In its commitment to support educators and provide resources for teaching and learning, the Friday Institute has created resources for educators during this time of uncertainty.

This project focuses on the continuing education needs of special education teachers licensed through a residency program in NC; in particular, the supports that are needed for them to effectively work with exceptional children.

Professional development that is timely, relevant, and models expectations is essential to any school or district initiative.

This course empowers participants to enhance their digital learning content knowledge and further develop coaching strategies.

During the 2019-20 academic year, the Friday Institute established a modified research-practice partnership with Manning Elementary School (Roanoke Rapids, NC) and Centennial Campus Magnet Middle School (Raleigh, NC). 

The PLLC team has extensive knowledge and experience in instructional design and application of adult learning theory.

These two self-paced online professional learning modules are designed to get educators thinking about computer science and computational thinking strategies that apply to their content area and teaching practice.

Job-embedded professional development for administrators that enables the planning and implementation of learning initiatives.

These three free self-paced online learning modules for educators and leaders build understanding of learner agency and how put it into practice in the classroom.

This series is designed to help educators better understand learner variability and address diverse learning needs.

This MOOC-Ed introduces the idea of learner variability and digs deeply into three areas that impact how we learn differently. 

Bringing competency-based approaches into educator preparation, credentialing and professional development.

Educators, coaches and leaders gain access to the knowledge and resources necessary for implementing learning initiatives.

The Friday Institute is partnering with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction to provide professional learning opportunities for educators to support their implementation of remote learning during the COVID-19 crisis. Sessions will be run multiple times and will change week by week.

Professional learning opportunities that drive the implementation of Social and Emotional Learning in classrooms, schools and districts.

The Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) for Educators MOOC-Ed allows participants to build their own foundational understanding of how social and emotional learning (SEL) skills are essential to student learning.

Customized and responsive coaching and strategic planning support for schools and districts implementing new programs.

This student-focused course is based on the idea that we all learn differently.

Teaching Remotely: A Practical Guide will provide educators with best practices, resources and strategies to set their remote learning classroom up for success.

With a three-year grant from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, The Innovation Project (TIP) and its partners developed and supported an inter-district network focused on redesigning learning environments to better address the early learning needs of vulnerable children. In its first two years, the Early Learning Network (ELN) engaged school design teams and principals from 36 schools in 12 North Carolina districts in a cohort-based program defined by three interrelated activities that together enable transformative results: transformation through school design; coaching for entrepreneurial school leadership; and innovative district supports.

The core of the project focused on conducting focus groups that explored teachers’ and social workers’ experiences with the dual pandemic of racialized violence and COVID-19 using a trauma-informed framework and an interactive design method.

In January 2022, the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation and NCVirtual launched the Virtual Schools Network (VSN) to connect and support the myriad virtual schools in the state. The network will be designed in a responsive, innovative and sustainable manner to ensure the needs of stakeholders are paramount.

The Friday Institute Research and Evaluation Group led the evaluation of the Hill Center “Learning Collaborative" through design-based implementation research, engaging all partners in the design, implementation and iterative refinement of a scalable model for implementing and sustaining HillRAP in a variety of settings and contexts.