Research highlights the importance of individualized approaches and coaching to ongoing professional learning (Darling-Hammond, Wei, Andree, Richardson, & Orphanos, 2009). The purpose of this article is to describe an initiative that set out to help all students become proficient readers by 3rd grade. It demonstrates how coaching can support…

Like many school districts across the nation, Solon (Ohio) City Schools is committed to improving the quality and depth of student learning while simultaneously fostering the growth of leadership in the district. To achieve these goals, the district is investing in sustained professional learning designed to build leadership among faculty and to…

In the North Middlesex Regional School District, located in north central Massachusetts near the New Hampshire border, teachers knew that the district had urgent challenges. Isolated programs provided rigor to only some students, student achievement scores showed room for improvement, and a recent accreditation review had raised questions about…

Current high school reform often focuses on small schools, small learning communities, and alternative paths to post-secondary education. While these reforms are necessary, recent evaluations of improving high-poverty high schools in urban districts (American Institutes for Research & SRI International, 2004 & 2005) suggest these changes are not…

Professional development in Rockwood School District, a suburban school district outside St. Louis, Missouri, in 1997 was focused on individual teacher development rather than organizational development. Staff learning activities were fragmented. Teachers participated in a variety of unrelated topics the district offered from month to month. An…

Describes the Pittsburgh Public Schools' efforts to institutionalize a shared decision-making model in secondary schools to provide more supportive educational and professional environments. The article examines the Schenly High School Teacher Center staff development program, noting that organizational development takes time and effort by the…

We know how to address individual learning, but what are the characteristics of organizational learning? How can you tell if your organization is adaptable and changing? Ten characteristics describe organizations that are learning, and examples show each characteristic in practice.

Procedures used by the Eugene (Oregon) Public Schools to train staff members as organizational development specialists are described. School employees volunteer time to work as internal consultants, using organizational management concepts to help colleagues in the school system improve their organizational capabilities, interact effectively,…

Staff developers used data-gathering tools to help one high school community deal with decision making for improving programs, organizational climate, and student learning. The school/university collaboration involved collecting data about how the organization and the people within it worked, then using the data to change the organization. (SM)

The Eugene (Oregon) Cadre develops school teams that can work together toward common goals. This volunteer group of teachers, administrators, staff, and parents is trained in organizational development. The paper describes the cadre and summarizes practices it has found useful in working with groups to promote teaming and collegiality. (SM)