The Critical Friends Group, a highly articulated model of professional learning, posits that, in order for teachers to learn together in ways that change their practice, the content and nature of their conversations must change (National School Reform Faculty, 2012). The content needs to change from externally driven agendas that address (in a…

The Greece Professional Learning Center, a New York State Teacher Center in Greece Central School District, works to ensure all district employees have access to high-quality professional learning that supports and facilitates their learning and ultimately advances student achievement. The center is an integral part of the district -- the state's…

Susana Velasco always thought she designed lessons for her kindergarten students to help them meet the academic standards for their grade. But now she feels better equipped to adapt instruction to meet the needs of all the children in her class--a skill she has developed through her school's participation in the Literacy Design Collaborative…

Teachers, curriculum experts, and other educators work together using online tools developed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to create high-quality, useful lessons and research-based instructional tools incorporating the Common Core State Standards.

This article describes the collaborative efforts of the Webster Central School District in New York, USA, and the Learning Forward's Center for Results consultants, in the fall of 2010 in a focus to improve the elementary literacy program. The School District realized it was vital to have a strong, sustained foundation of professional and student…

The experiences in the school districts highlighted in this article clarify a set of broad goals that all professional learning communities can use to assess their effectiveness: (1) Culture; (2) Knowledge; (3) Practice; and (4) Achievement. These schools and districts have an ongoing commitment to all four goals. All of them have instituted…

Teachers are leaders when they function in professional learning communities to affect student learning, contribute to school improvement, inspire excellence in practice, and empower stakeholders to participate in educational improvement. From an equity perspective, teachers also lead when they serve as change agents who collaborate to use…

Well-designed, thoughtfully planned, and adequately supported professional development is a necessary ingredient in all educational improvement efforts. This article reports on the result of a survey conducted in 11 public schools in two suburban New York districts which was based on Guskey's five levels of evaluating professional development and…

This paper discusses the importance of evaluating state assessment data in order to improve learning. The Glens Falls City School District in upstate New York began in-depth analyses of state assessment data and Terra Nova scores over the last three years. Teachers and administrators work together in a new way to highlight strengths and weaknesses…

In this article, the authors describe how the quest for continual growth has taken its root at Vestal Central School district. Located at the heart of upstate New York, educators at Vestal Central School district have created a spirit of "kaizen," a Japanese word meaning the relentless quest for continual improvement and higher-quality…

To improve instruction, administrators and teachers in one New York school district have adapted portfolio assessment techniques for use in administrative evaluation of teachers. The paper describes the Portfolio Self-Assessment for Teachers, which accelerates the professional growth of novice teachers by creating a medium for guided reflection.…