edWebinars
«Back to all edWebinarsAnchor. Train. Sustain: Building Your SY26 Educator Development Plan
Thursday, May 15, 2025 @ 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm EDT
Presented by Valery Dragon, School Improvement Strategist and VP of Strategic Partnerships, UnboundEd
Moderated by Clay Willis, VP of Growth Marketing, UnboundEd
Sponsored by UnboundEd
Learn more about viewing the live presentation and the recording, earning your CE certificate, and using our new accessibility features.
Don’t wait for talent—build it. Before the school year begins, leaders have a powerful window to shape the conditions for success. Join us as we reflect on the impact of outcomes from this academic year to assess your team’s overall readiness. This edWebinar will guide school leaders through intentional planning to create a development plan anchored in the three must-haves for today’s educators.
You’ll leave with a sample development arc for your pre-service time with teachers and a practical planning tool to help you identify what your team truly needs to design meaningful learning experiences before teachers walk into classrooms. Because excellence doesn’t come from relying on talent—it’s something you build.
Three key must-haves for educators in today’s climate:
- Clarity on instructional expectations. Teachers need more than inspiration—they need crystal-clear, consistent instructional frameworks that anchor their daily practice. Without it, even the most talented educators drift. Support should focus on aligning pedagogy, lesson planning, and execution with schoolwide outcomes.
- Structured time for skill development. Professional learning must be ongoing and embedded. Teachers need real, protected time to rehearse, get feedback, and improve—especially around instructional delivery, classroom culture, and responding to student data.
- Protocols for collaboration and accountability. High-functioning teams don’t happen by accident. Educators need structured ways to collaborate, solve problems, and hold one another accountable. That means consistent meeting norms, clear roles, and feedback loops that help everyone grow.
This edWebinar will be of interest to K-12 school and district leaders.
About the Presenter
Valery Dragon, VP of Strategic Partnerships at UnboundEd, has worked for over a decade in the Washington, D.C. area as an ELL specialist, language teacher, and instructional coach before leading a PK-8 school as a principal. Both New Leaders and RELAY trained, she then transitioned to a national organization as a managing director of instructional support to focus on leadership actions and practices. In this role, Valery crafted development for leaders through targeted improvement cycles anchored in operationalizing instructional improvement plans, auditing systems, and structures through the lens of internal coherence and equity, as well as modeling and developing coaching practices anchored in content-specific pedagogy. It is Valery’s belief that fidelity to our mission will empower educators to own their input in school-based outcomes and allow them to intentionally launch their influence as change agents in hopes that their affirmed identities and leveraged leadership position them to build a strong coalition for change.
About the Moderator
Clay Willis is a mission- and results-driven marketing and communications leader committed to making education work for every single learner. As UnboundEd’s Vice President of Growth Marketing, Clay advances the organization’s reach and impact by forging meaningful connections with visionary educators.
Learn more about viewing the live presentation and the recording, earning your CE certificate, and using our new accessibility features.
Join the Leadership Practices for Innovative Leaders community to network with educators, participate in online discussions, receive invitations to upcoming edWebinars, and view recordings of previous programs to earn CE certificates.
UnboundEd empowers educators to meet the needs of every single student through evidence-informed, engaging, affirming, and meaningful grade-level instruction.
