Teacher teams focused on developing collective expertise in high-leverage, equity-promoting practices can chip away at low expectations, racism, and cultural biases that marginalize special education students, English language learners, students of color, and other at-risk students. With appropriate professional learning on formative assessment,…

Collective efficacy refers to the shared perceptions of educators that, through their combined efforts, they can "organize and execute the courses of action required to have a positive effect on students" (Goddard, Hoy, & Hoy, 2004, p. 4). Tschannen-Moran and Barr (2004) expand on this definition, describing collective efficacy as…

Most worthwhile improvements in teaching practice are not simple, and the change process is complicated. It can also take a long time if it involves breaking long-established habits and modifying belief systems. Not only is adoption at scale difficult, but transfer into practice "at all" is often tricky, even with the best professional…

States and local communities are increasing access to preschool, but there is a significant divide when it comes to the quality of these early learning programs. Education and training requirements for preschool educators vary based on setting and state regulations, and while districts and nonprofits may offer professional learning, effective…

Project-based learning is a successful way to engage students in learning in the classroom, and research reports increases in student achievement data. This article asks: If both students and teachers are more engaged when project-based learning is used, why aren't the elements of project-based learning being used to engage teachers in…

The COVID-19 pandemic required that nearly all P-20 teaching and learning move quickly to virtual formats. In many cases, educators were teaching exclusively online for the first time in their careers. Schools suddenly needed to train and support all educators on how to teach, engage students, and support families from a distance. This created an…

In Penn State's work with aspiring teacher leaders over the last decade, two core strategies have emerged that hold significant promise for fostering teacher leadership: (1) provide teachers with the skills they need to create their own jobs; and (2) provide training and extended (e.g. post-graduate) support in developing ongoing professional…

Early childhood centers and classrooms perpetually dance between being a "center" or a "school." To many educators, the word "school" usually presumes K-12 students. It often means the school is part of a larger entity, like a district or a school board. To parents, school might connote importance or deference to a…

Niamh McQuillan, development and instructional coach at Windsor Mill Middle School in Baltimore County Public Schools, Maryland, writes here that, as a teacher, she always liked new learning, but more often than not, it was like a barnacle on her practice. She attended professional development sessions and took the handout back to the to-do tray…

At its core, inquiry--whether conducted with students or teachers--is a process of making observations, asking questions, working with evidence, and interpreting data. Even though research shows well-documented benefits to understanding content, secondary teachers often hesitate to incorporate inquiry for learning. This article presents two…

The learning team cycle as described in "Becoming a Learning Team: A Guide to a Teacher-Led Cycle of Continuous Improvement" by Stephanie Hirsh and Tracy Crow was created to support teams of teachers working on particular lessons and instructional challenges within classrooms. Even as the day-to-day work of classroom teaching continues,…

Policymakers and the public are increasingly asking educators to approach instruction from a STEM perspective, integrating science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to prepare students for future careers. At the same time, administrators are directing teachers to make learning more communal and student-driven, emulating the workforce…

A networked improvement community can be a tremendous resource for people who share a common interest and desire to learn from each other, and, thanks to technology, this can occur even when participants are separated by a large distance. This article discusses Virginia Advanced Study Strategies' Rural Math Innovation Network, a four-year project…

This article describes a project initiated to address the challenges of providing high-quality professional development to teachers in rural schools. Spread over the vast northwest corner of Colorado, where it takes over two hours to drive from one end of the region to the other, the Northwest Colorado Board of Cooperative Educational Services (NW…

Iheoma Iruka is founding director of the Equity Research Action Coalition at Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute and research professor of public policy at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Her work focuses on supporting the optimal development of children from low-wealth and marginalized communities and ensuring excellence…