Why does some professional development fall flat, while others resonate with teachers and make a real difference? How can professional learning be made better and lead to lasting changes in teacher practice? Schools and districts can get more out of their investment in professional learning for teachers (and principals) by creating PD systems,…

Research on effective teaching and learning shows that when students set and monitor their own learning goals, it significantly narrows achievement gaps. While teacher-written objectives are important for clarity, when these objectives are re-written as personal statements, they evolve from what a teacher needs to teach to what students want to…

Research on effective teaching and learning confirms that thoughtfully designed unit plans and lesson plans can help all students learn more deeply, especially when teachers shift how they think about and approach their lesson planning, moving away from a teacher-centric perspective and toward a student-centric one. A teacher-centric perspective…

Effective school-level leaders impact student achievement. McREL's analysis of research found that effective leadership is not about leader personality or style; rather, it's about a set of 21 specific actions and behaviors that are significantly associated with higher levels of student achievement. This report translates the 21 actions into a…

The Literacy Footprints Digital Reader provides elementary grade students and teachers with online access to books and resources from the Literacy Footprints Complete System of Guided Reading. Teachers can create a bookshelf of appropriate books for students to read independently and can create assignments for individuals or groups of students.…

Pioneer Valley Books (PVB) contracted McREL International to investigate the effects of the third grade Literacy Footprints (LFP) guided reading system on English language arts (ELA) performance on state assessments. LFP is a research-based, comprehensive, small-group literacy tool that facilitates explicit and systematic guided reading…

Policymakers and educators have attempted to "reform" or fix schools in different ways. However studies suggest these reforms have produced, at best, mixed results (Fullan, 2011; Taylor & Tyler, 2012; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2015) and did little to close racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps…

The challenges of virtual learning have been well documented during the last year as districts have focused on providing students with devices and internet access, debated developmental appropriateness of virtual learning, engaged teachers in professional development activities about how to design and deliver meaningful online lessons, worried…

All principals can learn and implement the actions and behaviors that have the biggest effect on student learning outcomes, namely: (1) to establish a clear schoolwide focus on delivering quality instructional experiences for all students; (2) to initiate, lead, and manage change in school processes, programs, personnel, professional learning, and…

Purpose: In January 2015, the Northwest Board of Cooperative Educational Services (NW BOCES) received a five-year Investing in Innovation (i3) grant to develop and implement the System for Educator Effectiveness Development (SEED) program--an innovative professional development (PD) system designed to provide geographically isolated educators an…

Approximately 40 to 60 percent of America's high school students are chronically disengaged (i.e., inattentive, exert little to no effort, do not complete tasks, and claim to be bored; National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, 2004). Disengagement is so widespread that it has been labeled the "Silent Epidemic" (Bridgeland et…

The current study examined the effect of a web-based literacy program, Raz-Plus, that serves as a resource for blended learning instruction in K-5 classrooms. Following a 13-week implementation period at three rural elementary schools, comparisons of the treatment (21 teachers and 249 students) and control (18 teachers and 198 students) groups…

Online teaching and learning can be more engaging and effective for students and teachers alike if districts take into account several key considerations when formatting their digital plans and processes. Combining and building on ideas from change management, improvement science, and inside-out systems development, Dr. Kris Rouleau from McREL's…

While districts and policymakers focus on sweeping changes to schools, teachers can get big results by making comparatively small changes to their daily practice. This companion piece to the McREL book "Tilting Your Teaching" introduces you to the seven Simple Shifts--adjustments that every teacher can make immediately to turn dodgy…

Here's the book for every teacher who feels "this" close to excellence in the classroom. What if you could keep doing what you're doing...but do it just a tiny bit differently...so that student engagement and achievement skyrocketed--not to mention your own sense of accomplishment? That's what Glen Pearsall and Natasha Harris have…