Professional Learning

Teachers have an up-close view of schools in action—and they have firsthand knowledge of how the systems within a school can help them and their students succeed. That’s why we asked a group of teachers and teacher-leaders for their thoughts on what these systems mean to them and how leaders…

Leaders in successful school systems know that professional learning is more powerful when it’s connected with and embedded within a teacher’s everyday work, such as understanding the curriculum and planning lessons that engage students. Igniting the Learning Engine, a recent report from Education Resource Strategies, spotlights school systems that are…

When teachers have access to powerful professional learning opportunities, their students learn more, too. That’s not surprising—we know that great teaching can have an invaluable impact on a child’s life. But for many teachers, professional development continues to fall well short of expectations. The reasons for this are many. From…

Glimpse into any classroom in the country, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see students interacting and working together, engaged in group projects or other forms of collaboration. But in the Fulton County Schools system in Atlanta, Georgia, it’s equally common to walk through a school building and see teachers…

Research tells us that high-quality, aligned instructional materials is important in helping teachers support their students in mastering the skills, knowledge, and experience they need to be college and career ready. But too often, teachers do not have access to the tools and materials they need to grow and improve…

When it comes to professional development, teachers are the experts on what works and what doesn’t. But teachers often face insufficient time and inadequate resources, making their desire for meaningful professional learning experiences fall short of reality. Our teachers—and our students—deserve better. As one of 14 districts and charter management…

Last year, Kay Staley and Jessica Scherer, literacy coaches in the Kettle Moraine district in Wisconsin, led groups of teachers in a book study on close reading—a complex and important skill emphasized in the Common Core State Standards. Participants were paired with a coach and peers as they wrestled with how to…

From leading Australian researcher Ben Jensen, the new report Beyond PD: Teacher Professional Learning in High-Performing Systems analyzes the way four high-performing systems provide professional learning to their teachers. Shanghai, British Columbia, Singapore, and Hong Kong all score near the top of all jurisdictions tested in mathematics, reading and science…

By Renee Boss, Initiative Director at The Fund for Transforming Education, and Amy Spicer, Director of Professional Learning at The Colorado Education Initiative What happens when teachers trade isolation for collaboration? Teachers in Colorado and Kentucky wanted to find out so they created the Common Assignment Study (CAS) to show…

Education First’s report, Giving Teachers the Feedback and Support They Deserve, describes how five leading districts (Aldine, TX; Fulton County, GA; Greene County, TN; Salem-Keizer, OR; and St. Bernard Parish, LA) are working to provide high-quality feedback and support for their teachers in order to improve student outcomes and evaluation systems. The districts…