Research advances in neuroscience and the developmental and learning sciences have provided us with important insights about how people learn and develop. The knowledge we now have points to important transformations in teaching practice, which in turn require transformations in educator development in order to support all educators in developing…

Teacher professional learning is of increasing interest as one way to support the increasingly complex skills students need to succeed in the 21st century. However, many teacher professional development initiatives appear ineffective in supporting changes in teacher practices and student learning. To identify the features of effective professional…

Teacher professional learning is of increasing interest as one way to support the increasingly complex skills students need to learn in preparation for further education and work in the 21st century. Sophisticated forms of teaching are needed to develop student competencies such as deep mastery of challenging content, critical thinking, complex…

Many educators have created successful innovative models but have had difficulty sustaining, re-creating, and scaling these models. Classrooms and schools characterized by student-centered learning practices typically deviate from the norms of transmission teaching and the many structures and procedures that David Tyack and Larry Cuban called the…

One of the mysteries of education reform is how leaders and educators can successfully instantiate, sustain, and spread student-centered pedagogical practices from a few schools to many others. Advocates for "deeper learning" grapple with this mystery as they seek to transform teaching and learning to prepare students to meet the demands…

Research indicates that state pre-k programs with higher teacher qualification requirements improve children's school readiness so states get the most out of their investment in early education. This 2010 report, authored by Marisa Bueno, Linda Darling-Hammond and Danielle Gonzales, reviewed research on training for pre-k teachers and concluded…

This paper discusses how policymakers can support teaching to high standards. It explains that teacher education significantly influences teacher effectiveness. The United States offers fewer supports for teacher learning than do other industrialized countries, and many U.S. teachers are inadequately prepared for the classroom. The United States…

Schools and teacher education programs have begun to rethink preservice and inservice professional development to take into account the need for teachers to work effectively with students learning English. New approaches to teacher education are based on the belief that English language learners' access to challenging content can be enhanced…

Sets the context for examining a series of articles that highlight California's work on beginning teacher induction, discussing restructuring to connect teaching and learning, knowledge of student learning, teacher performance expectations, standards of practice, the role of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, implications for…

This compilation brings together three previously published papers on the role of professional development in school restructuring. The three papers articulate a new paradigm for professional development in teaching which sees opportunities for teacher development residing in collegial work settings, team teaching environments, school improvement…

This book discusses the challenges to developing a teaching force that is competent to work with immigrant students, arguing that professional development should be re-thought and teacher educators should move far beyond traditional inservice and teacher training. A framework is developed for considering what teachers of immigrant youth need to…

Describes Connecticut's ongoing school reform efforts, which began around 1985. The reform process involves creating, supporting, and revising a coherent set of policies for improving teacher learning that are also aligned with standards for students. Planning includes state department staff in collaboration with teachers and principals. The state…

This paper suggests specific changes in Chapter 1 legislation (up for reauthorization in the fall of 1993) to make it more responsive not only to schools and students, but also to current school restructuring initiatives and new understandings of teaching, learning, and assessment. Recommendations are made in the areas of greater equity in access…

The four papers presented here address teacher development from an international viewpoint. In "Professional Development and Standards" (Linda Darling-Hammond) it is suggested that U.S. educators engage in new kinds of collaborations with universities, and it proposes a shift from information transmittal to "co-construction" of…

This report gauges progress toward achieving high quality teaching in every classroom, using data about teaching conditions that are new since publication of an earlier report by the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future. Section 1, "Doing What Matters Most: Investing in Quality Teaching," describes the Commission's original…