Much like the MetLife Foundation-NASSP Breakthrough Schools that came before them, the honoree schools this year are remarkable. In addition to offering students safe and challenging learning environments, the schools also afford their adult members a respectful, collaborative place to work and grow, and they give their diverse communities an…

Three foundational elements are key to improving student achievement: a coherent curriculum, intensive literacy practices, and well-structured lessons. There is stunning--in the author's view, indisputable--evidence for and agreement on the unrivaled power of sound curricula, authentic literacy, and effectively structured lessons. For schools to…

Effective professional development can support efforts to increase rigor in one's school. From the authors' research on the schools that won the U.S. Department of Education's Award for Staff Development, they found seven key characteristics that were apparent in staff development at these schools: (1) A clear purpose that is linked to research,…

This article features Robert M. Finley Middle School, a school that is considered by the entire Glen Cove, New York, community as important and successful. Gaps in student achievement have decreased significantly and all student achievement has improved over the last five years in this school, where nearly half of the 652 students are from…

For 40 years, elementary and middle level schools in West Hartford, Connecticut, have dismissed students early on Wednesday afternoons so that teachers can spend two hours a week engaged in learning. Last fall and winter, the district interviewed high school teachers about what they would like to see happen in professional development. Under the…

Changing the culture of a large, diverse high school from a place of teaching to a place of learning requires determination and the commitment of the entire school staff. Documented academic growth for all students and reduced achievement gaps over the last five years have demonstrated that Bloomfield (New Jersey) High School has made this…

Many schools are turning to response to intervention (RTI) models to meet the needs of their students. The promise of RTI is that it will enable schools to better and more efficiently meet the learning needs of a large continuum of students by providing evidence-based schoolwide instruction, supplemental supports, and intensive individualized…

This article describes various aspects of school principal evaluation. The authors note that many states and school districts use evaluations that do not consider existing standards for principals or proven practices. It asserts that principal evaluations must be tools for professional capacity building that leads to improved teaching and…

Two district leaders developed a set of processes for their district's principals, assistant principals, and curriculum directors. The professional development model they created included summer workshops, monthly seminars, observations, and workshops on effective hiring. The results affirmed that developing effective educational leaders is a…

The Kent School District in Kent, Washington, adopted the use of video study groups (VSGs) during the 2008-09 school year to help teachers apply research-based strategies to support struggling math students. This form of embedded professional development has been around since the 1960s but is getting renewed attention because video equipment is…

This article presents an interview with Michael Shepherd, the 2011 NASSP/Virco National Assistant Principal of the Year. In the interview, Shepherd shares how the role of assistant principal is defined at his school. He also talks about how he practices instructional leadership. He puts a strong emphasis on instructional leadership and…

Day after day, teachers hand out reading assignments; students ignore them; and both groups spend another day at school discouraged, less than enthusiastic, and bored. While principals struggle with stagnant test scores, teachers wonder how they can possibly work more diligently toward instructional outcomes. Getting students excited about reading…

The language that students and teachers use to describe what they like best about M. O. Ramay Junior High School is strikingly similar. Both groups talk at length about how they are treated with respect and given freedom. Teachers describe the freedom to teach and students describe the freedom to be an individual. Both groups quickly add that with…

How are administrators leveraging the expertise and passion in their buildings? How do they inspire enthusiasm in their teachers and improve student achievement? How do they act as an agent for change? Those are the tasks the authors are given as instructional coaches. In the beginning, they were unsure how to tackle those tasks--or even if it was…

Wyoming Park High School in Wyoming, MI, is working to improve its instructional and professional development processes to foster student success. Wanting to do more than repeat failed efforts at improvement, the members of the leadership team found the "Breaking Ranks" framework to be the right fit for their needs and approached NASSP…