Richard DuFour, a leading advocate for creating professional learning communities in schools, shares his insights on why teaching has become an "embattled profession" and the steps teachers and school leaders can take to enhance teachers' practice and their working lives. DuFour explains how recent reforms aimed at educators themselves…

Even the most effective teachers have room to grow, but it's not always easy for principals to give adequate guidance through short observations. High school principal Jenne Colasacco decided to bring more depth to her observations by observing each of her teachers during one class for an entire week. The new observation structure, which included…

As a high school principal, the author came to realize that the traditional teacher observation and evaluation model did not help teachers become reflective and improve their practice. Because his own use of brief, frequent principal walk-throughs had given him valuable insights into the need for instructional improvements, he decided to offer…