2024’s Most Impactful Webinars for Education Leaders 

December 27, 2024

Let’s take a moment to reflect on a year of impactful learning and innovative strategies aimed at creating the conditions for thriving learners and empowered communities. This retrospective highlights webinars that feature invaluable insights and transformative discussions with WestEd experts and partners.

WestEd’s Leading Together 30-Minute Webinar Series

The Leading Together webinar series features WestEd experts sharing research and evidence-based practices aimed at bridging opportunity gaps and supporting positive outcomes for both children and adults—all in 30 minutes.

View these webinars to learn key strategies for fostering collaboration, enhancing literacy, and creating inclusive environments in schools.

• Cultivating Classroom Community Through Literacy: Dive into strategies to foster a sense of belonging while promoting literacy skills with Heather Howlett and Linda Friedrich of WestEd’s Literacy team.
• Spotlight on Teacher Compensation Reforms: Insights and Innovations from State and District Leaders: Explore teacher compensation reforms aimed at attracting and retaining top talent in the education field with WestEd’s Dana Grayson, Sarah Barzee, and Tara Bergfeld along with state and district leaders.
• Three Essential Practices for Creating Family-Friendly Schools: Learn how to create environments that welcome and support families as active partners in their children’s education with WestEd’s Maria Pare.

Improving Education for Secondary English Learners

The National Research & Development Center to Improve Education for Secondary English Learners at WestEd helps educators, policymakers, and researchers to serve students who are English Learners by bridging research and practice. In 2024, the Center offered the webinar series Where the Evidence Leads: Preliminary Findings From IES-Funded English Learner Research Studies.

• The Development of Teacher Expertise in Secondary Contexts to Support English Learners: Preliminary Findings: This session highlights early findings on how teachers can build expertise in secondary settings to better serve English Learners, offering insights into professional development and classroom practices, and features WestEd experts Aída Walqui, Lee Hartman, and Mary Schmida.
• Levers for Improving Access to Core Content for Multilingual Students: Access to core content is critical for multilingual students. In this webinar, Ilana Umansky and Karen Thompson explore practical tools and policies that can make a difference in your school or district.

Promoting Equitable Education Opportunities and Resources

The Western Educational Equity Assistance Center at WestEd partners with schools, districts, and states on equity issues, including desegregation and chronic absence. Their 2024 webinars focused on the critical topic of data governance in Tribal communities.

• Leadership, Advocacy, and Building Data Capacity: Delve into the unique challenges of data collection in Tribal communities and receive guidance on leadership and advocacy to strengthen data capacity. Presented by Jackie White, Waquin Preston, and Chief Benjamin Barnes.
• Principles of Practice and Partnerships: Learn about actionable principles for building effective partnerships in Tribal data governance, with real-world examples and strategies. Presented by Dr. Michele Suina, Hollie J. Mackey, and Jerad Koepp.

High-Quality, Relationship-Based Practices in Infant and Toddler Care Settings

WestEd’s Program for Infant/Toddler Care (PITC) and Partners for Area Responsibility System (PARS) is a resource for observing, documenting, and reflecting on key aspects of infant/toddler group care, including caregiving interactions, environments, and program policies.

• Introducing the PITC PARS: This webinar introduces early childhood professionals to the PITC PARS system. Presenters Peter Mangione, Kerry Kriener-Althen, Gabriela Lopez, and Bianca Rodriguez-Reyes explain the origins of the PITC PARS and how family childcare providers, infant/toddler care program staff, coaches, and others can use this tool to support quality care for children birth to 3 years old.

Don’t miss out on opportunities to learn, grow, and connect—stay tuned for more webinars on the cutting edge of education and human development in 2025!