I love connecting with rural Superintendents through #100DistrictConversations. Their innovations often emphasize community and culture-building over scale. Check out conversation #79 with Dr. Tiffany Rehbein, Superintendent of Anaconda Public Schools in Montana.

"I'm energized by the opportunity to reimagine professional learning in our district. Coming from a principal background, I have seen firsthand how the right types of support can transform teaching and learning. Our approach starts with teacher voice. We formed a professional learning committee of teachers who aren't just looking at calendars and contracts; they are asking ‘what's most important and special to us as educators?’ and using that to drive decision-making.

We have landed on High-Leverage Teaching Practices as our focus. We are differentiating based on what new teachers need versus veterans, as well as what principals need in order to give actionable feedback. It's like creating a bingo card of professional learning options where educators can choose pathways that resonate with their growth goals.

Montana's push toward competency-based learning aligns well with our vision of student agency, but that first requires greater levels of teacher agency. In particular, we are helping secondary teachers move beyond content-heavy approaches to embrace personalized learning where students can create and produce to demonstrate competency in multiple ways. We are also exploring how best to live the mission of Indian Education For All in both our professional development and our student-facing learning experiences.

Three non-negotiables anchor our work:

1. Students must know what they are learning and why when they enter classrooms;
2. Engagement through deep questioning and critical reflection is essential; and
3. Small group instruction with meaningful feedback is critical.

Artificial intelligence presents both challenges and opportunities. Instead of a product-centered mindset we are building foundational understanding first. We brought in experts from the Frontier Learning Lab to work with our principals to establish a common baseline understanding, show uses of our internal platform, and ask and answer questions. A next step will be to get teachers to jump in with expert support where and when they feel ready. The tools come after the adults understand the theory, establish a strong rationale, and have safeguards to manage use. Montana Digital Academy has been invaluable for policy guidance.

I am grateful to have had access to mentoring throughout my entire career. When I was in the classroom, I worked with and was an instructional coach, so I had a front row seat to the powerful work that can be accomplished in classrooms. Today, I have an executive coach, Sage B. Hobbs, who helps push my thinking. My gut instinct is often to 'let’s do this and figure it out!' My coach helps me pause and create more space for strategic thinking. I also appreciate staying connected to the national conversations, while still prioritizing the voices and needs of my local context."