Just like in a classroom, a professional learning facilitator needs to base planning and instruction on assessment. Adult learners need the learning experience to be as focused as possible on their questions and their teaching circumstances. Whether the professional learning is a half-day session or extends over multiple school years, leaders can…

In many cases, teachers shy away from including much writing because of the many hours it requires to read and provide substantial feedback on such papers. Yet writing is widely understood as critically important to learning (Applebee & Langer, 2013; Mayher, 1983; Zinsser, 1989). This article describes a program from the Northwest Arkansas…

The New Jersey Department of Education supports all districts with a tool kit of valuable resources for planning and creating collaborative learning structures that focus on getting results for all students. This tool kit was the basis for the creation of Learning Forward's "Becoming a Learning School" (2009). The tool kit helps…

This article focuses on how educators could design professional development to empower the learning of individuals to serve the growth of an organization that was all about student success. The leadership team at Mapleton Expeditionary School for the Arts (MESA) in Thornton, Colorado, responded to this with its version of a teaching and learning…

Sparking a flame of mutual professional development at Twin Groves Middle School, in Illinois' Kildeer District 96 was a formative assessment. "Formatives," as the practitioners call them, are a technique usually adopted as a safety net for struggling students. But as districts are finding out, they are also effective at honing teacher…

In recent years, educators have noted the critical role district leadership plays in school improvement efforts. While district leadership is a critical factor in all areas of schooling, it is particularly important in adult learning. Simply put, student learning is positively affected by the quality of adult professional learning, and the quality…

Consider the challenges facing one district: 27,000 students in 44 elementary schools in a southern California border district. Most students--72%--are classified as English language learners (ELL) as measured by the California English Language Development Test (CELDT). Although 65% of the students are Hispanic/Latino and speak Spanish as a first…

Just when educators are learning more about what constitutes effective professional development, a collaborative team of education researchers and practitioners have developed, tested, and implemented a cost-effective method of measuring and reporting on the quality of teacher professional development. The teacher professional development analysis…

When teachers work toward the goal of using evidence of student learning to improve teaching, they typically use test scores, student work, portfolios, and a variety of formative assessments. Videotapes of teaching are another valuable form of evidence. Research has shown that analysis of videotaped teaching cases is effective in promoting teacher…

Accountability is now a requirement in education, and that extends to professional development. Leaders must understand what evaluation is, what its purposes are, and the critical levels of professional development evaluation to be able to provide meaningful data that demonstrate the difference professional learning makes.

"Is this design powerful enough to get the results we intend?" This question is the logical place to start evaluation of a professional development program. Planning groups often pass the draft plan to a few stakeholders to peruse, but don't typically assess the draft's potential in any systematic way. This article deals with the "Level 0"…

An international study of mathematics and science education tells us more about what we need to know to improve math and science professional development. Students need regular opportunities to explore mathematical relationships to develop high levels of understanding in addition to developing skills. Teachers in high-achieving countries offer…