Improving Professional Learning Systems: Aligning Instruction, Technology, and Funding

The Center for Digital Education will host a 30-minute webinar featuring SETDA and invited panelists examining how states and districts can improve professional learning (PL) systems to better support today’s educators. The discussion will draw on SETDA’s 2025 guidance on closing the "digital design divide," the gap between having access to technology and having educators prepared to use it in ways that deepen learning and strengthen student outcomes.

SETDA and panelists will review what research shows about current PL practice, and the conversation will then focus on practical leadership strategies, such as anchoring PL in instructional frameworks (e.g., NETP/ISTE/UDL), building cross-functional leadership across curriculum, edtech, and PL teams, braiding Title II-A with other funding streams for sustainability, investing in durable models like coaching and PLCs, and using richer evidence beyond attendance counts to guide continuous improvement.

Who should attend / what you will gain:

• State education leaders and regional service agencies will learn how Title II-A and related funding can be structured to create coherent, scalable PL systems that support technology-enabled instruction. 
• District superintendents, CIO/CTO teams, and curriculum/teaching leaders will leave with practical approaches to align professional learning, instructional priorities, and digital strategy so technology investments translate into classroom impact. 
• Professional learning directors, instructional coaches, and school-level leadership teams will gain examples of sustainable PL models and clearer ways to measure whether training is improving practice, not just participation. 
   

Participants will come away with a concise, action-oriented view of how stronger PL systems can prepare educators to integrate technology including emerging tools like AI in equitable, engaging, and instructionally meaningful ways.