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.…

This article describes a school district administrator's research on optimal coaching experiences for classroom teachers. This research was done with the intent of gaining a better understanding of how coaching affects student learning. The author defines coaching as the assistance given to a teacher to improve on teaching practices in order to…

Key findings from a new study highlight how Learning Forward's long-standing position on professional learning correlates with practices in high-performing systems in Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and British Columbia. The purpose of this article is to share key findings from the study so that educators might apply them to strengthening…

As the cultural and experience gap between an increasingly diverse student population and predominantly white, female educators widens, schools continue to rely heavily on the pedagogies, curricula, assessments, and interventions that more effectively served a homogeneous group of educators than they do a heterogeneous student population. The…

The critical role that leadership plays in student learning is documented in a six-year research study funded by The Wallace Foundation that examined the effect of leadership on learning. From that research, professional development emerges as a primary vehicle for authentic and sustainable school improvement. The voices in interviews of nearly…

This article describes the collaborative efforts of the Webster Central School District in New York, USA, and the Learning Forward's Center for Results consultants, in the fall of 2010 in a focus to improve the elementary literacy program. The School District realized it was vital to have a strong, sustained foundation of professional and student…

This article describes an initiative designed to improve the content-area literacy skills of all students at a Massachusetts high school and to demonstrate the important role teacher leaders play in bridging the various elements of school improvement efforts. Meeting students' language and literacy needs within content-area classrooms is becoming…

Implementing teacher evaluation systems across the United States has created both challenges and opportunities to improving teacher quality. Lessons learned at the state level illustrate a wide range of challenges with system implementation, including value-added growth scores, implementation timetables, and human capital demands (McGuinn, 2012),…

Vicki Phillips from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation talks with Learning Forward about the foundation's investment in effective teaching and the role of professional learning. Phillips said great teachers are the most important school-based ingredient for student success. So they are committed to ensuring teachers have the supports and tools…

When the author became principal of Acton Elementary School in Acton, Maine, in 2003, he spent the summer interviewing staff members. Staff in this small, rural elementary school overwhelmingly expressed a desire for opportunities to learn collaboratively. The teachers described a school culture where staff did not work together but instead worked…

This article presents an interview with Chris Dede, the Timothy E. Wirth Professor in Learning Technologies at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. His research interests include the use of emerging technologies in education, with emphases on online professional development, scaling up innovations, and immersive interfaces for learning. He is…

Beverly Hall has been superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools since 1999. Before coming to Atlanta, Hall was state district superintendent of Newark Public Schools, deputy chancellor for instruction of New York City Public Schools, superintendent of Community School District 27 in New York City, and a principal in Brooklyn. Hall chairs Harvard…

An interview with Robert Garmston, California State University professor, details the cognitive coaching model for supervision or peer coaching of principals, department heads, and teachers. The model is based on the principles that all people can change and therefore develop intellectually, and that teacher performance is based on decision-making…

Two professors in the University of Oregon's College of Education reflect upon their consultation and research experiences and share their insights about organization development in education. They discuss such areas in organization development as self-study, value systems, budget, peer cadres, teamwork, conflict management, and staff development.…

In an interview, business professor Jane Dutton talks about her book, "Energize Your Workplace: How to Create and Sustain High-Quality Connections at Work" (Jossey-Bass, 2003). She organized her book around what she describes as a "deceptively simple" premise: "The energy and vitality of individuals and organizations alike depends on the quality…