Adapted from the brief "Meet the Promise of Content Standards: Investing in Professional Learning," this article draws on the work of Learning Forward's initiative, Transforming Professional Learning to Prepare College- and Career-Ready Students: Implementing the Common Core. This multidimensional initiative is focused on developing…

This article seeks to answer the following questions: (1) What is keeping educators from moving districts and schools to high-performing data cultures? and (2) What vital role does leadership play? Three years ago, as a senior designer and facilitator, Jennifer Unger developed a data leadership academy to address challenges for leaders, whether…

The author spends a lot of time thinking about good professional learning vs. typical professional development. Based on her 20-plus years of experience, as well as a bit of inspiration from Reuben Duncan, assistant superintendent in School Administrative Unit 29 in Keene, N.H., she shares what she considers to be the ten best ways to waste…

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…

In Charlotte-Mecklenburg (N.C.) Schools, educators have leapt into the Common Core with both feet, creating an internal website for teachers to share performance tasks and implementing systemwide, school-based professional learning that has put the standards into practice and tested students on them in the 2012-13 school year. The district began…

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…

E.A. Johnson High School is located in Mt. Morris, Michigan, near Flint, where the city has felt deeply the impact of the area's economic decline. 72% of the student population qualify for free and reduced lunch. The staff was willing to make the changes necessary for success, but needed more than a book study. Many of the structures for…

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.

A fundamental problem that continues to plague educators is the achievement gap between low-income and higher-income students. In the ongoing search for solutions, one of the more promising approaches is expanding opportunities for learning, particularly in the summer. This article describes a project funded by The Wallace Foundation that offers…

New educator evaluation systems demand a focus on effective teaching and learning while promoting the professional growth of all teachers. By identifying and leveraging the contributions of high-performing teachers as instructional leaders, problem solvers, and decision-makers to lead improvement at the classroom level, the system builds capacity…

To improve the quality of instruction and the achievement of all students, effective school leaders develop capacity, advocate, and create support systems for professional learning. Creating a team of teachers to share leadership, responsibility, and accountability for achieving collective goals is essential. This was the task of a first-time…

The "Boston Teacher Leadership Certificate" program was designed in 2010 to build Boston's teachers to be stronger professional resources for one another, their schools, and district reform. The program's key strategy has been supporting experienced teacher leaders to design and facilitate graduate-level leadership development…

This article describes a program instituted by the Northern Valley Schools (New Jersey, USA) Curriculum Consortium's Coaching Academy. This program was born in mid-2012 with the goal of building a cadre of instructional coaches who could provide increased classroom support for teachers to navigate 21st-century educational demands. Planning…