Time and collaborative learning experiences are key to successful implementation of literacy standards. Leadership is just as important. What do system and school leaders do that teachers value most and identify as most helpful in their efforts to ensure high-quality literacy and standards-based instruction for all students? According survey…

Being a school leader in any role is hard, gratifying, and a gift of love. While it can be enormously satisfying to serve students, teachers, families, and school communities, leaders need to refill themselves in order to continue giving to others. This article highlights a learning-oriented model of leadership development and capacity building…

The Minnesota Elementary School Principals' Association offered Minnesota principals professional learning that placed a high priority on literacy instruction and developing a collegial culture. A key component is the literacy classroom visit, an observation protocol used to gather data to determine the status of literacy teaching and student…

Ask educators what they need for their own learning, and more time to collaborate with colleagues generally ranks high on the list. Educators know that when they encounter specific student learning or instructional challenges, their peers typically have insights and solutions that will be helpful. Every school has an enormous body of expertise,…

In the current, very complex, and even conflicted discourse about schools, one thing is clear: Schools need to be about student learning. Schools need to ensure that students are good readers, proficient writers, capable mathematicians, competent scientists, and knowledgeable historians. Students also need to learn to work together, be healthy, be…

In many schools and businesses today, the pressure to produce results is far greater than attention to employee learning. If continued learning impacts service for business customers and their communities, then what lessons can be learned from business to support and advocate for educator learning? This article is a collection of lessons learned…

In April 2011, the Journal of Staff Development (JSD) published "Lessons from Bhutan: Embrace cultural differences to effect change" (Levine, Telsey, & McCormack, 2011), which described the experiences of several U.S. educators who learned their own transformative lessons while leading professional learning in special education…

Learning and leading happen everywhere, and technology unlocks access to information. For teachers, becoming proficient with digital tools is not enough. With the exponential rate of innovation, and the creation of websites, apps, and devices, roles are changing. The person whose disposition is to be curious, confident, and eager to try something…

This article describes a comprehensive strategy for developing a larger corps of effective principals, "The Principal Pipeline Initiative," launched by the Wallace Foundation in 2011. Its purpose is working to strengthen school leadership by documenting and evaluating leadership development in six urban districts (Charlotte-Mecklenburg…

This article describes a professional learning plan created in the Fort Wayne Community Schools (Indiana, USA) for principals working and learning together on the RISE Indiana Teacher Effectiveness Rubric. This training plan ensures that principals are observing instructional practice in the same way and in agreement with the district's instrument…

The School-University Research Network (SURN) Principal Academy at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, has a mission to build a leadership development program that increases principals' instructional knowledge and develops mentor principals to sustain the program. The academy is designed to connect and empower principals…

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…

Imagine, for a second, a school where teachers see themselves as leaders and work together to ensure that all children have access to engaging, high quality instruction every day. How might these teachers define teacher leadership and articulate its purpose? What suggestions would they offer about how teacher leadership can be grown and supported?…

This article describes a program instituted by the Northern Valley Schools (New Jersey, USA) Curriculum Consortium's Coaching Academy. This program was born in mid-2012 with the goal of building a cadre of instructional coaches who could provide increased classroom support for teachers to navigate 21st-century educational demands. Planning began…

This article describes the role of the skillful leader and what practical solutions are needed to overcome hurdles. What distinguishes the skillful team leader from a less-effective leader is his or her approach to overcoming hurdles, and are rooted in the leader's values, mindset, intelligence, and skill. When faced with hurdles to team…