Arkansas educators know what their students and schools need to be successful. The LeARner Collective provides educators with dedicated time, space and tailored support to identify opportunities to improve learning for all students. Through effective collaboration and personalized coaching, Forward is helping empower school teams to develop innovative solutions to address the challenges they face.
Phase I: Creating Conditions for Student Success
In January 2024, Forward convened two cohorts of school teams from the Arkansas Delta and Northwest Arkansas for Phase I of the LeARner Collective. Over the next five months, participating educators received customized coaching from Forward and 2Revolutions to explore ideas and deploy pilot solutions to create conditions for student success. Through this process, three primary focus areas emerged—durable skills, literacy and school culture.
Phase I included Ardis Ann Middle School (Bentonville), Explore Academy (Pine Bluff), Friendship Aspire Academy (Downtown Pine Bluff), Gentry Middle School, Gentry Primary School, Grimsley Junior High School (Bentonville), Jerry “Pop” Williams Elementary School (Farmington), Lowell Elementary School (Rogers), Marvell-Elaine Elementary School, Marvell-Elaine High School, Northside Elementary School (Rogers), Oakwood Preschool(Pine Bluff), Pea Ridge Intermediate School, Pea Ridge Primary School, Pine Bluff Junior High Academy, Southwood Elementary School (Pine Bluff), Randall G. Lynch Middle School (Farmington) and White Hall High School.
Phase II: Furthering the Impact
Phase II of the LeARner Collective will enable participating schools to broaden the scope and impact of their efforts. Set to launch in the 2024-2025 academic year, the second cycle will include two pathways:
CONTINUATION: Grouped by focus areas, school teams will participate in monthly virtual sessions led by Forward and 2Revolutions to build capacity, foster inter-school collaboration and support collective knowledge and skill-building. The nine participating schools include Ardis Ann Middle School in Bentonville, Explore Academy in Pine Bluff, Gentry Middle School, Gentry Primary School, Jerry “Pop” Williams Elementary School in Farmington, Northside Elementary in Rogers, Pea Ridge Primary School, Pine Bluff Junior High Academy and Randall G. Lynch Middle School in Farmington. Forward will provide a $8,000 grant to support school teams’ progress.
SCHOOLWIDE TRANSFORMATION: School teams will receive individualized support and on-site visits for a deeper, more comprehensive experience. The pathway will begin with a community-wide visioning process to gather feedback from stakeholders and determine the greatest needs and priority areas. The five participating schools include Grimsley Junior High School in Bentonville, Lowell Elementary School in Rogers, the Marvell-Elaine School District, Pea Ridge Intermediate School and White Hall High School. These teams will receive a $50,000 grant to support their work.
Both pathways will have access to regular professional development learning sessions and collective leadership development. These opportunities will be available to any participating schools’ staff members.
For more information about the LeARner Collective, please contact Meghan Thompson (mthompson@forwardarkansas.org).
