Alabama approves new PD provider

Learning Bridges®, a provider of research-based, online K-12 professional development programs, today announced that the Alabama State Department of Education has named it an approved external provider for School Improvement Grants provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

Alabama schools can use their school improvement grant funds to purchase Learning Bridges’s Tiered Teacher Support System, a blended model of onsite and online products and services.

Based on years of research, the Learning Bridges Tiered Teachers Support System encompasses online and onsite professional development, online Decision Tools, and onsite coaching customized for teachers and administrators based on their needs, experience and student performance goals.

According to a 2009 study by McREL (Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning), a nonprofit, nonpartisan education research organization, students whose teachers participate in Learning Bridges courses score 13 to 21 percentile points higher than other students on district and state tests. Further, English language learners, and students living in poverty whose teachers participate in Learning Bridges courses achieve 5 to 17 percentile points higher than their counterparts.