Even though the West Linn-Wilsonville School District in Tualatin, Oregon was posting good results at all levels, when a new superintendent arrived, one of his first initiatives was to re-align progress from goals to a coherent system of professional development that would lead everyone to feel confident and competent in their work to reach all students, especially the neediest. They decided to come up with a theory of action which is defined as a story that describes the steps a district will take at all levels of the system to reach the outcome of improved student learning. Its development should be based on evidence. It should explain the specific changes that participants across the system should make to address the identified problems of practice. In short, developing a theory of action requires a disciplined approach that involves four key principles: (1) start with students; (2) focus on contributing problems; (3) scrutinize strategies and evidence; and (4) identify supports. Through a clearly articulated theory of action, the school district has been balancing the learning needs of everyone in the system to produce impressive results.