Guidelines for conferences before an observation almost always call for the teacher to start with a statement of the objective. In this article, the author advises teachers to dwell for 10 to 15 minutes on conferring with a singular focus on the actual content and no dialogue at all yet about the activities or other aspects of a lesson. This…

To implement the Common Core State Standards, teachers will need a broader knowledge base, a more diverse tool kit for teaching and learning, and greater experience with teaching in a standards-based environment. The growth required over the next three years seems to be large. The author works in a district that has provided an ongoing, continual…

Time for collaborative learning is an essential resource for educators working to implement college- and career-ready standards. The pages in this article include tools from the workbook "Establishing Time for Professional Learning." The tools support a complete process to help educators effectively find and use time. The following…

Common Core State Standards are raising expectations nationwide about what teachers impart to their students and the depth of knowledge those students attain. The goal is for students to receive instruction that enables them to synthesize and creatively use what they have learned, thus equipping them for post-secondary school challenges. Quality…

Teachers, curriculum experts, and other educators work together using online tools developed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to create high-quality, useful lessons and research-based instructional tools incorporating the Common Core State Standards.

To ensure that all students learn at high levels, teachers must collaborate with colleagues to examine student achievement data, plan or adjust instruction, and track student progress. By meeting in professional learning communities, teachers continually examine instructional strategies and improve student learning. This school-based,…

Every day, teachers and administrators come to work and do the best job they know how. In the book "School Systems That Learn" (Ash & D'Auria, 2013), the authors argue that most school systems, as they are currently designed, have reached or nearly reached the limits of their capacity and that systemic change is necessary to…

Rural schools face challenges that are very different from their urban or suburban counterparts. Fewer resources supporting rural schools mean smaller staffs and larger responsibilities for everyone. At the same time, rural schools and districts must meet the same standards as their larger, better-funded counterparts. One key to making the most of…

The idea of teacher leadership holds an immense and intuitive appeal. Most educators agree that teacher leaders are essential to fostering a climate of authentic and robust leadership and learning across a school. Teacher leadership is peer leading at its most authentic, demanding, and empowering. While the value of teacher leadership may be…

Everyone is appalled at reports of rampant cheating among high school and college students, primarily by cutting and pasting from the Internet without providing citations. There are situations in real life where an individual suffered serious consequences for plagiarizing work. Many schools incorporate such scenarios in character education…

Teachers are leaders when they function in professional learning communities to affect student learning, contribute to school improvement, inspire excellence in practice, and empower stakeholders to participate in educational improvement. From an equity perspective, teachers also lead when they serve as change agents who collaborate to use…

Teachers in the United Kingdom (UK) are often supported in the classroom by teaching assistants (TAs)--paraprofessionals whose roles have changed significantly in the last several years. The 2003 National Agreement: Raising Standards and Tackling Workload, known as the workforce remodeling initiative, was designed to raise standards in schools in…

The "culture of nice" is the underlying culture that inhibits a team of teachers from reaching a level of rigorous collaborative discourse where teachers are challenging each other's and their own thinking, beliefs, assumptions, and practice. This article discusses how honest discourse can be the key to shifting school culture. The act of…

Having data about student academic performance motivates school leaders to perform better as educators, and tells them where they need to concentrate their efforts to improve. As principal of Ernie Pyle Middle School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, this author finds that the constant use of relevant data helps him stay focused on his instructional…

Much has been written about the value, need, and complexity of differentiating learning within every classroom based on student readiness, motivation and interest, apparent skills, learning preferences or styles, and identified cognitive needs. Teachers are encouraged to look at differentiation for students not as a formula for teaching, but…