This article describes the Literacy Design Collaborative, a network of teachers committed to developing literacy-rich instruction in the content areas and building expertise from teacher to teacher. Drawing on research of adult learning and leveraging new technologies, Literacy Design Collaborative provides the design system, tools, and supports…

Snapshots of two Colorado districts in the Redesign PD Community of Practice: Denver Public Schools' professional learning partners help subject-matter experts and others provide educators with a high-quality learning experience. In Jefferson County, Learning Forward's Standards for Professional Learning guide educators to make teacher…

Communities of practice have become important tools for districts striving to improve teacher quality in a way that improves student outcomes, but scaling the benefits of these communities requires a more rigorous, intentional approach. That's why Learning Forward, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, created the Redesign PD…

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…

How do educators at a systems level know that professional learning is impacting teacher practice in a way that leads to improved student outcomes? California's Long Beach Unified School District, a member of Learning Forward's Redesign PD Community of Practice, partnered with other districts from across the country to answer that question. As…

When teachers who deeply understand the needs of their students and colleagues lead professional learning in their schools, everyone benefits. In this article, five educators and their perspectives on teacher leadership are featured. These educators have all taught low-income urban children in elementary grades for several years, but in different…

As they write about the Learning Communities standard in "Reach the Highest Standard in Professional Learning: Learning Communities," authors Ann Lieberman and Lynne Miller consider why communities have gained widespread attention and support and summarize the established research base about them. They also describe three contexts in…

When school district leaders attend instructional sessions about professional learning, they might take away a few ideas and strategies they want to try. But when experts provide those districts with ongoing coaching, the educators are more likely to gain the ability to create strong professional learning systems that benefit all educators. That…

Teachers matter. Do our actions show that we believe this to be true? When treated as professionals and given the opportunity to participate in building and extending the profession, teachers rise to the occasion. Beyond Our Own Walls, a series of cross-school instructional rounds, was born out of a conversation that focused on what would happen…

Educators have begun to use protocols to facilitate professional development in online spaces--partly because people need to connect from different places, but also to take advantage of new environments for learning. For example, asynchronous tools, such as discussion forums, blogs, or Google+, where participants post messages to one another at…

At Marylin Avenue School in Livermore, California, student achievement more than doubled from 2006 to 2013, even as the number of socioeconomically disadvantaged students increased from 66% to 88% and English language learner populations from 57% to 64%. Key to this continued growth in student achievement was the evolution of strategies that…

In this article, the author highlights the methodology, analysis, findings, and limitations of Marsh, J., Bertrand, M., & Huguet, A. (2015), "Using data to alter instructional practice: The mediating role of coaches and professional learning communities," "Teachers College Record," 117(4), 1-40. This exploratory research…

Professional learning communities have long been considered a powerful form of collaborative professional learning, as the Learning Communities standard in Learning Forward's Standards for Professional Learning attests (Learning Forward, 2011). This focus on communities can engage teachers in ongoing professional dialogue and examination of…

What is--or should be--the purpose of a teacher evaluation system? To compare teachers? To inform the public? To help teachers improve? Legislators might say that a teacher evaluation system's purpose is to remove bad teachers. Administrators might say that it is to assist them in matching teacher skills to specific groups of students. Parents…

What types of talk promote teachers' professional growth? In the following vignettes, 4th-grade teachers and instructional leaders examine student work and observe classroom instruction. These learning designs encourage teachers to talk in ways that develop a shared understanding of teaching, which is instrumental to their professional growth…