How does one overcome the challenges to finding time for meaningful professional learning? The authors asked seven experts in the field, and these practitioners offer powerful strategies for making better use of educator time. An example from Illinois centers student data in school systems as an essential component of a school's overall commitment…

Standards for Professional Learning are forward-looking by nature because they drive continuous improvement in educator practice. But taking a brief look at the history of the standards is important for understanding their impact on the field and their role in today's professional learning. As the field has shifted philosophy from staff…

Most people associate summer with activities that have nothing to do with school, or, if they do, summer school comes to mind -- the remediation variety. Historically, summer school is for struggling students who need to relearn and firm up skills from prior years or for those required to retake a class. But what if it could be reimagined how to…

A school is much more than a collection of individual classrooms. Fostering a collaborative and learning-oriented culture can improve teachers' and students' success. In model classrooms, teachers who have participated in professional learning open their classroom doors and agree to have others observe as they work to integrate the targeted new…

At a time when it is unpopular to publicly stand up for equity, diversity, and inclusion, Learning Forward demonstrated its unwavering commitment to ensure equitable outcomes for all students by centering equity in its newest iteration of Standards for Professional Learning. The three equity standards push professional learning facilitators to…

Investing in high-quality, effective mentoring programs is a key, research-based strategy to increase teacher retention and new teachers' effectiveness. But not all mentoring programs are created equal. This article presents the following 3 strategies to upgrade mentoring programs for new teachers: (1) Focus mentoring on instructional improvement;…

Friday, March 13, 2020, was a professional learning day for many school districts in Connecticut. The timing was fortuitous because it gave educators a chance to make plans for the coming weeks. In the previous few days, they had learned that schools were going to be closed for a couple of weeks due to the rising threat from the pandemic that…

In this article, a two-year partnership aims to disrupt inequities in curriculum and instruction by supporting teachers' efforts to better teach American Indian studies. The authors focus on the foundations of the partnership and how they implemented their professional learning, as well as important lessons about facilitating teacher professional…

When Noline Martin became assistant principal at Thurgood Marshall Elementary, a pre-K-6 school in Richardson, Texas, in 2017, the school was working its way up from being declared a failing campus two years earlier. It had recently improved to a "met standard" rating, but Martin knew the school could do more to help its students. Her…

To make a difference for educators and students, workshops must be an integrated part of a larger professional learning strategy. In working with schools and districts, the authors have seen how workshops can go wrong -- but also how they can go right, anchoring and forwarding a professional learning strategy that is grounded in Standards for…

Curriculum-based professional learning is not just having teachers read curriculum materials, but rather includes carefully crafted experiences to support their sensemaking, deep understanding of the curriculum and its pedagogy, and ability to transfer that knowledge into practice. This instructional model requires that teachers be responsive to…

This article summarizes lessons and examples from a learning community of leaders from 78 large and medium school districts across the U.S. that has been meeting monthly throughout the pandemic, that other educators might apply to their work as they continue to navigate difficult and ambiguous times. The learning community members have identified…

Last month, the U.S. government lifted the emergency designation put in place three years ago to address the COVID-19 pandemic. But the impacts of the pandemic live on, especially in schools, where there is a dire need to address the interrupted learning students experienced and continue to wrestle with now that they are back in classrooms. The…

Howell Township Public Schools in Monmouth County, New Jersey, has reimagined the roles of teachers, school leaders, and all educational professionals around the concept of a team of learning engineers who, through their students, make the world a better place. While education has long required teachers to work in groups, professional learning…

Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Deborah Gist and her team, along with school-based leaders, have worked with the district's school leaders to implement a comprehensive strategy to improve instructional quality for all students in Tulsa. Grounded in a clear vision for instruction and starting with the introduction of new curricula aligned to…