This guide aims to present district instructional leaders and staff with a core set of criteria for what high-quality professional development entails. What makes this particular document different and useful is the focus on practical issues of district-level implementation in multiple teaching and learning environments. This is a guide designed by practitioners for practitioners. It includes not only a discussion of the research, preconditions, and design principles for effective professional development programming, but annotated exemplars from districts around the country to ensure that a district's professional development programming meets the new and changing needs of teachers and maintains common, high expectations for all students. At the same time, it endeavors to create a forward-looking, values-driven blueprint for the kind of professional learning opportunities that can propel instructional excellence and equity in the nation's urban public schools.