Michael Fullan's insights on what it takes to make professional learning stick--in other words, Learning Forward's Implementation standard--have long helped leaders at the school and system level create change in ways that lead to better outcomes for students. In his full thought leader essay in "Reach the Highest Standard in Professional…

This article describes the use of standards to guide the reform of a struggling high school in Grant Michigan. The author describes the challenges and obstacles that the school was facing, and admits that school reform was difficult. Turnaround seemed impossible, but it held the promise of something larger than life: successful students who become…

Following the Department of Education's announcement of the $3.5 billion in Title I funding, 831 of the nation's "persistently lowest-achieving schools" received federal funding during the 2010-11 school year to embark on significant change in the form of a School Improvement Grant (U.S. Department of Education, 2010). The Department of…

Introducing new practices alone seldom results in new practices being incorporated into ongoing classroom practices. The Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) provides a way to transfer new practices into the classroom. This article presents the Implementation Bridge, a metaphor for moving from the earlier or less advanced stages to the later or…

Learning Forward's Standards for Professional Learning have the potential to influence educational policy and practice in profound ways for the systems that are courageous enough to take them seriously, and the Data standard is a critical element systemwide. Schools are overwhelmed with data warehouses, colorful charts and graphs, and endless…

In this article, the author describes how an Oregon district redefines coaching roles to find a balance between school and district goals. As director of improvement for North Clackamas School District in Milwaukie, Oregon, near Portland, the author's role of coaching the coach was new, and the coaches welcomed the immediate feedback. Through the…

In most discussions of "what works" in education, the focus is on rules (such as class size limits) or on programs and their various components. These are clearly important. No matter what the reform, implementation is key. This article discusses five challenges to achieving and sustaining social and intellectual engagement in implementing…

A basic weakness of many national educational reports is that they focus on what is wrong with the education system and overlook how the schools can be improved. Research-based guidelines to be used in change efforts are offered. (DF)

Types of changes being recommended by various national educational reports were compared with actual changes reported in a national sample of high schools. Implications for staff developers are offered. (DF)

When the standards movement began more than 15 years ago, most educators welcomed the prospect of having clearly articulated student learning goals. The publication of the first set of standards by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics in 1989 was greeted with unprecedented optimism. Standards offered educators a direction for reform…

This study examined the role of staff development in implementing full inclusion in three rural kindergartens. Participant interviews, observations, and document reviews over seven months indicated that staff development must be closely linked to teacher concerns regarding inclusion, and teachers must perceive the interventions as providing things…