Communities of practice have become important tools for districts striving to improve teacher quality in a way that improves student outcomes, but scaling the benefits of these communities requires a more rigorous, intentional approach. That's why Learning Forward, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, created the Redesign PD…

Eleanor Drago-Severson's research, writing, teaching, and coaching has helped show that supporting adult learning and professional development improves outcomes for students. Given the mounting adaptive challenges educators face in education today, teachers and school leaders must continuously learn and grow as they manage these tremendously…

Rather than merely dusting and polishing the old comfy stuff, these authors have spent 35 years trying to find out how people can learn to use new curriculums and ways of teaching. They have done some studies that would meet high standards of design, learned from peering at correlations, and stumbled on important things while teaching kids and…

In her full essay exploring the Leadership standard in "Reach the Highest Standard in Professional Learning: Leadership," author Karen Seashore Louis offers keen insights into the question of how leaders affect the learning of other adults in a school. She writes particularly about how "school leaders can create a school culture in…

Effective professional learning evaluation requires consideration of five critical stages or levels of information. These five levels, which are presented in this article, represent an adaptation of an evaluation model developed by Kirkpatrick (1959, 1998) for judging the value of supervisory training programs in business and industry.…

The education industry has produced volumes of research describing what professional learning should look like, and, for the most part, researchers agree about many of the critical components. In 2011, Learning Forward updated--and most states since have adopted--Standards for Professional Learning that align with this research. The standards call…

This article describes the Literacy Design Collaborative, a network of teachers committed to developing literacy-rich instruction in the content areas and building expertise from teacher to teacher. Drawing on research of adult learning and leveraging new technologies, Literacy Design Collaborative provides the design system, tools, and supports…

Snapshots of two Colorado districts in the Redesign PD Community of Practice: Denver Public Schools' professional learning partners help subject-matter experts and others provide educators with a high-quality learning experience. In Jefferson County, Learning Forward's Standards for Professional Learning guide educators to make teacher…

The major challenge with time is finding it. Current school-day schedules and school-year calendars are leaner than ever because of budget reductions. States and districts have implemented furlough days to balance lean-and-mean budgets that show no sign of improving. Few are willing to take the leap toward reducing instructional time to improve…

Policymakers and education professionals have emphasized the importance of literacy in a global economy many times this century. The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) updated its own definition of 21st-century literacies, noting that "[a]s society and technology change, so does literacy. Because technology has increased the…

For more than a century, teachers in Tennessee's Loudon County School District have come together before the start of the school year for a professional development day. For the first time this year, professional learning in the district will be based at each individual school -- a result of the district's use of a new rubric, which states that…

This article focuses on the "learning leader," exploring "What is professional learning leadership at its core?" Leaders of professional learning come to their responsibility from many roles, from teacher to district administrator, to instructional coach. They set the agenda for professional learning by aligning it to…

Equity in teacher development means that all students have a right and a need to be exposed to excellent teaching. This is dependent on ensuring that all teachers have access to high-quality professional learning. This article discusses both what Learning Forward means when using the term "equity" and why examining equity is crucial to…

A total of 39 states have adopted, adapted, or endorsed the Standards for Professional Learning, including the standards issued in 2011 (labeled in red) and those published earlier (labeled in blue). Making a commitment to the standards is a commitment to continuous learning for all educators in a school.

Succeeding at learning, and at life, takes more than academic ability. Studies on the importance of qualities like "grit" grabbing headlines, help to foster a growing conviction that encouraging the right mindsets and social-emotional skills in students will lead to better school achievement and post-secondary success. Policymakers are…