# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Education Week - Peter DeWitt's Finding Common Ground

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Today's guest post is written by frequent Finding Common Ground contributer Lisa Westman. Lisa is an instructional coach specializing in differentiation for Skokie School District 73.5 in suburban Chicago. She taught middle school gifted humanities, ELA, and SS for twelve years before becoming a coach.
A few years ago, I read The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less by Barry Schwartz. I was fascinated by the effect choice has on the human psyche. My learning from this book has changed my approach to simple tasks like grocery shopping and more complex manners like child-rearing and teaching. Schwartz writes:

"When people have no choice, life is almost unbearable. As the number of available choices increases, as it has in our consumer culture, the autonomy, control, and liberation this variety brings are powerful and positive. But as the number of choices keeps growing, negative aspects of having a multitude of options begin to appear. As the number of choices grows further, the negatives escalate until we become overloaded. At this point, choice no longer liberates, but debilitates."

In other words, having choice is vital, but, too many options to choose from is destructive.

In the field of education, choice is a commodity frequently cited as one most valued by teachers. The 2014 study Teachers Know Best: Teachers' Views on Professional Development conducted by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation , found:
"those [teachers] who choose all or most of their professional learning opportunities are more than twice as satisfied with professional development as those with fewer options."
Additionally, there has been quite a bit written, both formally and informally, on educators' desire to discontinue "one-size-fits-all/sit and get" professional development as this method is met with resistance and is ineffective at producing change. Instead, self-directed professional development options are being promoted for teachers.

Choice in professional development allows educators to learn more about areas of interest and tap into perceived strengths. Both of these factors build teacher self-efficacy and in turn positively impact student growth. Fortunately, in today's educational landscape there is not a shortage of choice (for professional development and otherwise). Let's take a look at some numbers:

2174 - number of EdTech Products available for educators (most with PD/training options)

4,050,0000 - number of Google Search results for "Instructional Strategies"

Too many to count - number of EdCamps, Voxer Chats, Pinterest boards, books, blogs, podcasts, YouTube tutorials, etc.

The mere quantity of choices available to teachers could overwhelm even the most resolute of educators. Schwartz suggests that being faced with too many options causes many people to choose nothing which, ultimately, leads to disappointment:

" When asked about what they regret most in the last six months, people tend to identify actions that didn't meet expectations. But when asked about what they regret most when they look back on their lives as a whole, people tend to identify failures to act."

Here we see a paradox. How can we accommodate teachers' desire for choice and minimize the insurmountable task of evaluating all the available options?

The answer to this question is yet another reason why instructional coaching programs are crucial components to successful professional learning and growth of students. (You can read about other reasons for instructional coaching programs .)

Instructional coaching's foremost thought leader, of the Kansas Coaching Project says,

" Effective coaching makes it easier for teachers to learn and implement new ideas. Indeed, without follow-up such as coaching, most professional learning will have little effect."

Knight's research is corroborated by the meta-analysis done by John Hattie author of Visible Learning For Teachers . Hattie found that when instructional coaching is conducted over-time in conjunction with data team analysis of how students learn to inform instruction student growth is impacted with an effect size of .51 (anything with an effect size above .4 is considered effective).

Instructional coaches form long-term, non-evaluative, mutually beneficial partnerships with teachers and administrators to support the implementation of research-based best practices through coaching cycles. Choice is an essential part of coaching cycles and is one of the seven instructional coaching partnership principles outlined by Knight.

When teachers (individually or in teams) partner with a coach, the coach supports the teacher to identify a goal. The teacher may have already come to the coach with an idea they want to explore. Or, sometimes the coach will engage in some preliminary learning on behalf of the coachee(s) to determine options. Instructional coaches are not experts on all things content and instruction, but, they do have significant training on how to determine if resources are aligned to research-based effective strategies and can decipher suitability of strategies. Either way, the coach and the teacher will discuss the possible courses of action and the coachee will choose how and what they will do to achieve their goal.

The learning phase continues with the coach modeling and/or co-teaching the chosen strategy followed by the teacher putting the strategy into action. The learning portion of the coaching cycle culminates when quantifiable improvement on the stated goal is noted. Typically, growth is confirmed by comparing evidence collected before the cycle, during the cycle, and at the end of the cycle. Sustainability of the goal can also be ascertained by continued check-ins and partnership on subsequent goals.

With the paradox of choice teachers face on a daily basis, instructional coaching as the primary vehicle for professional development makes perfect sense. Whether a teacher is well-versed in the available options and readily participating in self-directed professional development or conversely if a teacher does not know where to begin, an instructional coach will accommodate the needs of the teacher and ensure that teachers reach and sustain their goals.

In the words of my favorite coach, Mike Ditka, "I think it's a wise choice."

Questions about this post? Connect with Lisa on Twitter.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Instructional Coaching: Finally, an Easy Choice

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Today's guest post is written by frequent Finding Common Ground contributer Lisa Westman. Lisa is an instructional coach specializing in differentiation for Skokie School District 73.5 in suburban Chicago. She taught middle school gifted humanities, ELA, and SS for twelve years before becoming a coach.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Wasted Opportunities

I am not alone. According to the Center for Public Education's Teaching the Teachers report (PDF), almost all teachers participate in PD throughout the year. However, a majority of those teachers find the PD in which they participate ineffective.

Thinking about this in the car on the way home after another wasted opportunity made me angry. Why is so much of the teacher professional development that I attend such a waste of time? Because, as Teaching the Teachers reports, a majority of PD is provided in a workshop model. And workshop models are inherently ineffective. It amounts to giving everyone the same information, regardless of their prior knowledge, skills, experience, and leaving it up to them to determine how (or if) it is implemented.

For us teachers, think of this in terms of teaching a lesson. I'm going to teach you how to add fractions, regardless of how much you know or don't know about the concept. For those who don't even know what a fraction is, you'll be so confused that the whole lesson will pass you by. For those who already know how to multiply and divide fractions, you'll spend the whole lesson bored to tears. Either way, I'm most likely never going to ask you about fractions again.

We wouldn't teach our students this way. And if we don't expect our students to come to class at the same level and learn in the exact same way, why do we expect it from teachers?

4 Suggestions for Differentiation

Why don't we differentiate teacher professional development like we differentiate our classroom? Building off the ideas of differentiation guru Carol Tomlinson, I came up with some simple but effective strategies to improve teacher professional development sessions through differentiation:

1. Gauge teachers' readiness.

Take a survey of your teachers to see what they know about a professional development topic, and how skilled they consider themselves in that area. While you probably already have a sense of this from knowing the teachers in your building and being in their classrooms, like any good principal or administrator, getting their reflective feedback is important as well.

This information will also allow you to tailor the PD session to meet teacher needs, designing smaller group sessions with flexible groupings to instruct teachers at their varying readiness levels. For example, maybe you want teachers to implement a new executive-functioning curriculum. Novice teachers can attend a curriculum overview session to learn about what it is and what it will entail for them. Instead of providing this overview for all staff and boring those teachers who might already have experience with such a curriculum, more experienced teachers can get together to problem solve difficulties they might be having, or compare and share strategies they've used. This way, teachers of all readiness levels are engaged.

2. Utilize teachers' interests.

Obviously, district PD mandates come from a central office, but take some time to figure out what your teachers themselves want to improve upon. When you work on areas of their interest, they're more likely to be engaged, making the work more productive -- just like with students.

3. Get teachers involved.

In the classroom, we often have stronger students help their struggling peers. Allow teachers that have skills or experience to run smaller group sessions. It provides leadership opportunities for teachers and develops a sense of ownership over the school improvement process. Also, sometimes teachers are more open to listening to someone in a similar position to themselves than they are in taking directives from an administrator. In the example from above, teachers who have already worked with such a curriculum could run smaller breakout sessions with their grade-level or content-area peers. Here, they could provide examples of how they have implemented such a curriculum into their instruction.

4. Provide opportunities for continual assessment.

One of my pet peeves of PD is that often, after it's given once or twice, there's never a follow-up, so many teachers never bother to implement these practices. Provide time for teachers to discuss and reflect on how they are incorporating the given area of development into their classroom practice. Have opportunities for feedback, allow teachers to set goals, provide continuous support, and assess progress toward the goals they've set. Only when you make follow through and action a priority will you see real results.

Isn't it about time that we practice what we preach? If professional development is about educators' growth and improving our schools, then why can't we improve the process itself?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Why Don't We Differentiate Professional Development? | Edutopia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
I am not alone. According to the Center for Public Education's Teaching the Teachers report (PDF), almost all teachers participate in PD throughout the year. However, a majority of those teachers find the PD in which they participate ineffective. Thinking about this in the car on the way home after another wasted opportunity made me angry.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Global education is predicated on the interconnectedness of educators who share values, ideas and resources from their own communities and networks with the world.

Technology and social media today provide teachers with access to an abundance of tools, voices and instructional approaches that originate from a variety of cultures and societies.

The knowledge, skills and attitudes required to become global-ready educators are now also essential attributes for teachers in the 21st century. Understanding how to effectively use the growing volume of intellectual capital-derived from applications, videos, online resources and social media conversations-requires motivation, experimentation and collaboration.

We are living through an empowering, albeit uncertain, time to be a teacher. There is an abundance of mostly free and standards-aligned digital resources that can be incorporated in daily classroom practices. Teachers unsure about where to begin, as well as those who enjoy sharing discoveries with others, can now participate in hundreds of self-organized Twitter chats to discuss best practices with peers. In this process, they expand professional learning networks, discover new instructional tools and share best practices with other educators.

A New Model for Professional Development?

Teachers who embrace Twitter, Slack and similar online platforms recognize that professional development can be achieved in part through collaboration with other educators. This type of collaborative learning is not as easily achieved through traditional professional development practices. Professional development in the digital age should be participatory in nature, where ideas and resources are exchanged and incorporated into instruction.

When a new push to reframe educator professional development occurs, teachers often ask themselves "What's in it for me?"

A collaborative platform that facilitates resource discovery and best practices gives teachers ownership in their own professional development. As personal learning networks expand, teachers achieve more recognition in their school community and beyond.

Teachers are already taking advantage of the flexibility of online professional development, Twitter and other social networks to interact with peers and design programs based on their own interests. It's more efficient to build upon inquiry already taking place, and allow space and permission to fail through experimentation with different resources across different contexts.

Ultimately, it's about empowerment and self-discovery through the expansion of personal learning networks, and the ability to blend in voices, concepts and tools from all over the world.

Enter Dynamic Flexible Platforms

"VIF is constantly seeking opportunities to strengthen our ability to provide equitable, quality education. In order to achieve our vision, we will have to achieve scale. Participate Learning is a leading edtech company that will help us deliver flexible, cost-effective tools and resources to educators who make a lasting impact on students in classrooms around the world."
~ David Young, CEO of VIF International Education
To support participatory professional development, VIF and Participate Learning built platforms focused on educator collaboration and resource discovery that help teachers incorporate new tools and ideas into instruction.

VIF's Learning Center is designed to support collaborative online professional learning and classroom practice through a global lens. The online, asynchronous nature of the system provides flexibility for teachers to access and complete PD modules at any time, place and convenience-a flexibility that is critical to help teachers balance their demanding lifestyles.

Once they complete an evidence-based module, not only do teachers build and enhance their digital portfolios, they have created a ready-to-use, and thanks to digital badges, easy-to-share lesson plan for thousands of educators to learn from. In addition to PD modules created by VIF, the learning center also hosts customized state, district and school professional development.

Participate Learning's platform is powered by making online "chats" and conversations among educators through Twitter and other channels more constructive. This is done through its extensive resource curation and collaboration tools that let teachers create and share digital resource collections around any subject or topic.

When hundreds of teachers converge on Twitter around scheduled hashtag conversations to discuss topics including kindergarten, incorporating Minecraft in the classroom and global education, they can easily see, collect and incorporate shared resources into their units and lesson plans. They can also consult curated transcripts from hundreds of conversations that take place each week to get advice on how to use suggested resources for a variety of contexts.

With VIF's acquisition of Participate Learning, these two worlds of resource creation and curation, collaboration and professional development are about to integrate, extending the strength of both. In the coming months, visitors to the VIF Learning Center will find and experience advanced searching capabilities to enhance its platform and most importantly, resource library.

They will also find more VIF content, community, collections and collaborations at Participate Learning. During this time, VIF and Participate will be building toward full integration of the VIF Learning Center within the Participate Learning platform, which will also include a suite of mobile and native applications.

This is only the beginning.

We look forward to collaborating with you on the future of professional development.

For more, see:
Brad Spirrison is a communication specialist at Participate Learning. Follow them on Twitter at and VIF at . Stay in-the-know with all things EdTech and innovations in learning by signing up to receive the weekly Smart Update . This post includes mentions of a Getting Smart partner. For a full list of partners, affiliate organizations and all other disclosures please see our Partner page

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Future of Professional Development is Collaborative Development

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Global education is predicated on the interconnectedness of educators who share values, ideas and resources from their own communities and networks with the world. Technology and social media today provide teachers with access to an abundance of tools, voices and instructional approaches that originate from a variety of cultures and societies.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Presented by Alan Tenreiro, 2016 NASSP National Principal of the Year and Principal of Cumberland High School; with Jessie Butash, Assistant Principal of Teaching and Learning at Cumberland High School
Sponsored by Learning Bird
WATCH THE WEBINAR RECORDING Within 24 hours after the live event, a CE certificate is emailed to live attendees who logged in online with their email address. To get your CE certificate for logging in live by phone, or for watching the recording, join the Leadership 3.0 community and go to the Webinar Archives folder to take the CE quiz. As a member of the community, you'll also have access to additional resources and online discussions.
When leaders are able to understand the workings of a differentiated environment, they are positioned to support their teachers to implement similar strategies in their classrooms. This webinar spoke to the importance of establishing a clear vision for teaching and learning, and addressed practical ways to differentiate professional learning to meet the varied needs of staff.

Alan Tenreiro, 2016 NASSP National Principal of the Year and Principal of Cumberland High School, and Jessie Butash, Assistant Principal of Teaching and Learning at Cumberland High School, explored this topic. Find out how you can apply differentiated learning to professional development at your school or district. Administrators, teachers and librarians working in middle and high schools are invited to view this webinar.

Alan Tenreiro comes from a family of educators and, growing up in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, this family instilled in him a belief that giving back to the community around you is of utmost importance. He enrolled at Rhode Island College and earned a bachelor's degree in education and a master's degree in educational administration. Alan spent seven years teaching social studies at his alma mater, Mount St. Charles Academy. In 2006, he was named assistant principal at Smithfield High School and then principal at Cumberland High School. Alan is the 2016 NASSP National Principal of the Year. Follow him on Twitter @AlanTenreiro.

Jessie Butash is an Assistant Principal of Teaching and Learning at Cumberland High School and a board member of the Rhode Island Instructional Leadership Academy, the professional development arm of RI Association of School Principals. Jessie has spent the majority of her sixteen years in education as a middle school teacher where she embraced technology to enhance her classroom. Follow her on Twitter @jessiebutash.
WATCH THE WEBINAR RECORDING
Learning Bird provides teachers with the content, tools and professional development to easily guide each student to success on their own personal learning path. With thousands of lessons that offer multiple approaches on each topic, teachers can keep students engaged even when they encounter an obstacle. Our lessons are trustworthy, vetted by real teachers, and aligned to local curriculum. Learning Bird moves students in grades 6-12 toward better outcomes, higher graduation rates, and increased college and career readiness.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Differentiated Leadership: Apply Differentiated Learning to PD

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Presented by Alan Tenreiro, 2016 NASSP National Principal of the Year and Principal of Cumberland High School; with Jessie Butash, Assistant Principal of Teaching and Learning at Cumberland High School Sponsored by Learning Bird WATCH THE WEBINAR RECORDING Within 24 hours after the live event, a CE certificate is emailed to live attendees who logged in online with their email address.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
President Obama signed into law the Every Student Succeeds Act, the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, on December 10, 2015.

"Learning Forward's focus in this new law is its improved definition of professional learning," said Stephanie Hirsh, executive director of Learning Forward. "We've long advocated for a definition of professional development in federal policy that aligns with our Standards for Professional Learning. We concentrated our advocacy energy on this element of the legislation because that definition applies to the references to professional development that appear throughout the law."

Read Hirsh's full comments, and the full definition below:

" PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT - The term 'professional development' means activities that-

"(A) are an integral part of school and local educational agency strategies for providing educators (including teachers, principals, other school leaders, specialized instructional support personnel, paraprofessionals, and, as applicable, early childhood educators) with the knowledge and skills necessary to enable students to succeed in a well-rounded education and to meet the challenging State academic standards; and

"(B) are sustained (not stand-alone, 1-day, or short term workshops), intensive, collaborative, job-embedded, data-driven, and classroom-focused, and may include activities that-

"(i) improve and increase teachers'-

"(I) knowledge of the academic subjects the teachers teach;

"(II) understanding of how students learn; and

"(III) ability to analyze student work and achievement from multiple sources, including how to adjust instructional strategies, assessments, and materials based on such analysis;

"(ii) are an integral part of broad school-wide and district-wide educational improvement plans;

"(iii) allow personalized plans for each educator to address the educator's specific needs identified in observation or other feedback;

"(iv) improve classroom management skills;

"(v) support the recruitment, hiring, and training of effective teachers, including teachers who became certified through State and local alternative routes to certification;

"(vi) advance teacher understanding of-

"(I) effective instructional strategies that are evidence-based; and

"(II) strategies for improving student academic achievement or substantially increasing the knowledge and teaching skills of teachers;

"(vii) are aligned with, and directly related to, academic goals of the school or local educational agency;

"(viii) are developed with extensive participation of teachers, principals, other school leaders, parents, representatives of Indian tribes (as applicable), and administrators of schools to be served under this Act;

"(ix) are designed to give teachers of English learners, and other teachers and instructional staff, the knowledge and skills to provide instruction and appropriate language and academic support services to those children, including the appropriate use of curricula and assessments;

"(x) to the extent appropriate, provide training for teachers, principals, and other school leaders in the use of technology (including education about the harms of copyright piracy), so that technology and technology applications are effectively used in the classroom to improve teaching and learning in the curricula and academic subjects in which the teachers teach;

"(xi) as a whole, are regularly evaluated for their impact on increased teacher effectiveness and improved student academic achievement, with the findings of the evaluations used to improve the quality of professional development;

"(xii) are designed to give teachers of children with disabilities or children with developmental delays, and other teachers and instructional staff, the knowledge and skills to provide instruction and academic support services, to those children, including positive behavioral interventions and supports, multi-tier system of supports, and use of accommodations;

"(xiii) include instruction in the use of data and assessments to inform and instruct classroom practice;

"(xiv) include instruction in ways that teachers, principals, other school leaders, specialized instructional support personnel, and school administrators may work more effectively with parents and families;

"(xv) involve the forming of partnerships with institutions of higher education, including, as applicable, Tribal Colleges and Universities as defined in section 316(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059c(b)), to establish school-based teacher, principal, and other prospective teachers, novice teachers, principals, and other school leaders with an opportunity to work under the guidance of experienced teachers, principals, other school leaders, and faculty of such institutions;

"(xvi) create programs to enable paraprofessionals (assisting teachers employed by a local educational agency receiving assistance under part A of title I) to obtain the education necessary for those paraprofessionals to become certified and licensed teachers;

"(xvii) provide follow-up training to teachers who have participated in activities described in this paragraph that are designed to ensure that the knowledge and skills learned by the teachers are implemented in the classroom; and

"(xviii) where practicable, provide jointly for school staff and other early childhood education program providers, to address the transition to elementary school, including issues related to school readiness."

Resources for more information about the definition

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
President Obama signed into law the Every Student Succeeds Act, the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, on December 10, 2015. "Learning Forward's focus in this new law is its improved definition of professional learning," said Stephanie Hirsh, executive director of Learning Forward.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Launched in 2008 by NSDC and a team of researchers from the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education (SCOPE), the three-part Status of Professional Learning research study aims to measure the effectiveness of professional learning in the United States. Funding for the multiyear research effort comes from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Phase IV: Building a Learning Community: A Tale of Two Schools

In an effort to understand and document the elements that make professional learning communities effective, a new report presents case studies of two schools drawn from survey data of 33 New Jersey public schools involved in a state-sponsored professional learning community training program. The report, Building a Learning Community: A Tale of Two Schools, is authored by Dan Mindich and Ann Lieberman and produced through Learning Forward and the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education (SCOPE). Among the key findings: sustaining focus is vital, collegiality is not enough, and leadership is key. This is the final report from the multiphase research initiative, Status of Professional Learning.

Read the report.

Also available--Phase III: Teacher Professional Learning in the United States: Case Studies of State Policies and Strategies

Policy shapes practices, and the increasingly important realm of professional development is no exception. To identify effective professional development policies and strategies, the Stanford University research team examined the policy frameworks supporting high levels of professional development activity in four states in Phase III of the multiyear research study.

The states-Colorado, Missouri, New Jersey, and Vermont-were identified as "professionally active" based on evidence of high levels of teacher participation in professional development in the 2008 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), administered by the National Center for Education Statistics, and the teacher surveys associated with the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP); a reputation in the literature for enacting reforms that are consistent with the research based on "effective" professional development; and improvements in student achievement as measured in the 2009 NAEP.

Read the report

Phase II: Professional Development in the United States: Trends and Challenges

The report from Phase II of this multiyear research initiative examines the status of professional learning in the United States. The findings indicate that the nation is making some progress in providing increased support and mentoring for new teachers. However, the study also reveals that teachers' opportunities for the kind of ongoing, intensive professional learning that research shows has a substantial impact on student learning are decreasing.

Researchers examined 2008 data from the federal government's Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) and other sources. The report also includes assessments of each state on the quality of their professional development across 11 indicators that comprise a newly developed Professional Development Access Index.

Phase I: Professional Learning in the Learning Profession

In 2009, NSDC released Professional Learning in the Learning Profession: A Status Report on Teacher Development in the United States and Abroad. This report examines what research has revealed about professional learning that improves teachers' practice and student learning. The report describes the availability of such opportunities in the United States and high-achieving nations around the world, which have been making substantial and sustained investments in professional learning for teachers over the last two decades. Funding for the multiyear research effort comes from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, MetLife Foundation, NSDC, and The Wallace Foundation.

Read the report.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Launched in 2008 by NSDC and a team of researchers from the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education (SCOPE), the three-part Status of Professional Learning research study aims to measure the effectiveness of professional learning in the United States. Funding for the multiyear research effort comes from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Instructional coaches are the unsung heroes of the education profession. They nimbly navigate the line between administrator and teacher as they strive to make an impact across multiple grade levels and school sites. Instructional coaches have a unique vantage point - they see things happening at the ground level and are able to offer a perspective that few educators have.

One of the biggest issues confronting schools today is how to provide continuous, high-quality professional development to teachers and staff. District budgets are not what they used to be and education leaders must come up with creative and cost-effective ways to continue to provide this level of training in their schools. One innovative way of doing this is to create the role of an instructional coach in their district by hiring a teacher leader from within. Many districts call these specialists TOSAs (Teachers On Special Assignment). Other districts call them coordinators, but they serve the same purpose: providing perpetual PD in a non-evaluative, non-judgemental environment. These "thought partners" work collaboratively with teachers by asking them what they need and showing them how it can be deployed.

Instructional Coaches/TOSAs do many awesome things. These include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Provide job-embedded professional development.

2. Model and demonstrate highly-effective best practices.

3. Offer non-evaluative, objective feedback on a regular basis.

4. Create an environment where student needs drive professional development.

5. Offer guidance and feedback at the exact time teachers need it most - in the classroom.

6. Inspire teachers to try new learning strategies and tools.

7. Facilitate the transition from teacher-centered to learner-driven classrooms.

8. Are site-based teacher leaders who support both students and their teachers.

9. Collaborate with teachers in order to engage students in innovative ways.

10. Help to close the digital use divide by ensuring that all students understand how to use technology to create content.

Click the image below to view my Instructional Coaches Smore digital flyer which includes links to a collection of resources I've curated.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Instructional Coaches Make a Huge Impact

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Instructional coaches are the unsung heroes of the education profession. They nimbly navigate the line between administrator and teacher as they strive to make an impact across multiple grade levels and school sites. Instructional coaches have a unique vantage point - they see things happening at the ground level and are able to offer a...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
For the past couple of years, our school has worked to create a way of supporting professional learning that is more personally meaningful. We were inspired by the idea of So our message was clear. If it might make learning better for students, then pursue it. If you are passionate about it, then pursue it. That was the challenge. We asked every teacher to Genius Hour and how that might be relevant for teachers too. What if teachers were able to learn in a way that respected their individuality? What if they pursued their passions? What would that look like? How might that empower teaching and learning in our school?
We are trying to create the most powerful professional learning possible. We realize the importance of learning and growth for each individual. If we want sustainable, meaningful change in our schools, it will only happen when teachers are learning and leading.
From this thinking, we developed a plan for teachers to have greater ownership of their professional development. The idea was for teachers to pursue any learning they wanted so long as they believed it had the potential to improve our bottom line. And for schools, our bottom line is never about profits or shareholders. Our bottom line is about creating powerful learning for students.

write a Personal Learning Plan, to express a general direction for where they were headed.

The first year I met with every teacher and signed off on the plans. I quickly realized that the meetings were standing in the way of teachers pursuing
their goals. In meeting after meeting, I heard questions like "Does this sound okay?" or "Is this what you were looking for?" We were seeking to empower teachers, but the requirement of a meeting and a signature seemed to take away empowerment.
So last year we didn't have the meetings or the signatures. We had several activities during our regular staff meetings to brainstorm ideas and share possibilities, and then teachers simply shared their plans through Google Classroom. We wanted to remove the barriers and get to the real work.
So much of the PD of the past felt like jumping through hoops. It wasn't always relevant to every teacher. It might be exactly what one person needed, but it might not be helpful at all for another. In a sense, it created a culture where professional learning became lifeless. It was just something that was expected and sometimes dreaded. I think some teachers began to view professional development as something that was being done to them instead of something they felt invested in.
We needed a professional development reboot, one that actually honors how people learn best. These principles work for students, and of course they work for teacher learners too.

The success or failure of each teacher's plan belongs to the individual. The responsibility for growing personally and professionally ultimately rests with the individual and not the organization. We will provide support and encouragement, but you will get out of your professional learning what you put into it. Greater Ownership
If you are taking risks and pushing the envelope, you may experience failure in the short term, but that is okay. Sometimes we learn the most from what doesn't work. The important thing is to be invested in your own learning. We want it to be authentic and feel personal to you.

Increased Choice
Two years ago we required teachers to write goals that were aligned with certain building goals. We were emphasizing literacy since that is so important across all content areas. And we were about to launch our 1:1 program so we felt it was important to make digital tools a priority. We asked each teacher to line up their goals with the direction we were moving as a building.
But last year, we removed that requirement too. Most teachers still had goals that were very relevant to literacy or digital tools, but they had the freedom to pursue things that might only be relevant to the learning in their classroom. We trusted our teachers to choose the priorities for their learning plan. What is important to you? What will benefit your students? The choice is yours.

Providing Time We have built-in time for teachers to collaborate and learn. Every Wednesday morning, school starts at 9:00 a.m. The late start provides time to do this work. But we still have to be very careful it doesn't fill up with other stuff that leaves little time for personal learning. It's essential to try to carve out some time to allow teachers to be self-directed learners. However, time should also never be used as an excuse to not be a learner. Everyone has the same number of hours in the day, and learning is not optional for educators. We have to model the ongoing growth and lifelong learning we should seek to inspire in students.

It might be helpful for a teacher to learn how to use Powtoon, Twitter, or Glogster, but it could be
Opportunities for Sharing
We tried to build in some opportunities for sharing Personal Learning Plans throughout the process. However, that is an area we need to continue to develop. It is so important to reflect and share in an ongoing way. Creating the structures for that is one way the school organization can support this process.
While most teachers developed and executed their plans on their own, some teachers elected to work together to create a learning team. We think it's great to allow the flexibility for teachers to choose to work independently or with others. But either way, sharing with others is essential and not optional.
Near the end of the school year, we facilitated a closing event for the Personal Learning Plans. We randomly assigned teachers to small groups for a time of sharing. Teachers were asked to bring an artifact or product from their work to share. It was a time of celebrating all the good work that was done.

This year as we develop new learning plans, we are going to facilitate several opportunities for teachers to brainstorm and share possibilities. We want to develop more opportunities to support this work and allow staff to encourage one another and build off of each other's ideas. One activity will be a First Turn/Last Turn structured dialogue. Here's how it works: What's next?
1. Groups of 6 are ideal.
2. The facilitator will ask one group member to share a possibility for their learning plan.
3. In round-robin fashion, each of the other group members will comment on the idea with no cross-talk.
4. The person who initially shared the idea will then close the round by processing his or her thinking about the comments offered by the other group members.
Emphasizing the rule that there be no cross-talk will help keep the discussion focused and on-topic. Follow-up conversations can occur after everyone has a turn in the structured dialogue.

As I mentioned before, the criteria for the learning plan was that it had potential to improve student learning. But maybe we can aim even higher? We want to think bigger and strive to do things that don't just improve student learning, but that can actually transform student learning.

Here are a few examples of topics our teachers chose last year for the Personal Learning Plans: Transformational Ideas transformational if the teacher learns how to use these tools to cause students to take more ownership of their learning or to create work for authentic audiences. We want to focus our energy on ideas and learning that has the potential to transform student learning. We want our work to be a game-changer for our students.

The impact of goals and journaling on student motivation

Project Based Learning

Nonfiction reading with IEP students

Genius Hour with emphasis on human rights

Formative Assessment strategies

Increased choice in demonstrating mastery

Using CAD to create designs for 3D printing

Developing math tutorials for student to use for review and reinforcement

Using technology in choral rehearsals (video, music theory techniques, etc.)

Creating "flipped classroom" lessons

Increasing student choice in reading to develop passionate readers

I am very proud of the work our teachers have done as part of their Personal Learning Plans. We have already seen new ideas become game-changers for our school. As we continue to practice and refine this process, I believe we will see even more positive results. Ultimately, our efforts to honor teachers as learners and empower individual and collective genius has been meaningful for our school.

How is your school honoring teachers as learners? Do you believe this type of professional development would be helpful in your school? I want to hear from you. Leave a comment below or respond on
Twitter or Facebook.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Does Your Professional Development Honor Teachers as Learners?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
For the past couple of years, our school has worked to create a way of supporting professional learning that is more personally meaningful. We were inspired by the idea of So our message was clear. If it might make learning better for students, then pursue it.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Why are teachers so rarely asked for input?

As a former administrator with extensive experience in the classroom, I empathize with teachers whose professional opinions on education are far too often undervalued.

Decisions are sometimes made without the consideration of teachers - the people who experience the outcomes firsthand. Professional development is a powerful example, one in which teachers are expected to endure, but are rarely asked for their opinions.

Learning opportunities are thrown in front of teachers without giving them opportunities to plan or collaborate on what they truly want to learn about.

Leadership and Trust

How many leaders do you know who give you and other educators the power and authority to curate your own professional learning opportunities? Building a culture of trust and autonomy takes time, but must be accounted for if a school wants to move forward with a community of not only thinkers, but also teachers who desire to own their learning. Giving teachers a voice is often perceived by administrators as letting go of authority - however, it is truly a sign of respect, trust and engagement with teachers.

Capturing and owning a new culture or process is a scary but imperative part of offering a voice to those who are part of a mission. Effective professional learning opportunities are ones in which educators learn to articulate what they want to get out of the experience, as well as drive their own engagement in the process.

Teachers, rather than the administrator, will hold themselves accountable and show genuine advancement through classroom application. When long-term goals, such as teachers owning and creating their own professional development opportunities, are joined with a new and effective culture, short-term goals of traditional professional development naturally become secondary to more innovative learning practices.

Unlocking Your Potential

The key to success is embedded in a larger vision surrounding teacher voice, culture and re-branding of what professional development opportunities should look like. That powerful key is in your hand as the administrator - just unlock the door.
This post is part of a blog series titled "Professional Development: Learning Through Collaboration" produced in partnership with Katrina Keene is an Education Strategist for Dell Education and former Director of Innovation at a college preparatory school. Follow her on Twitter: @teachintechgal. Stay in-the-know with all things EdTech and innovations in learning by signing up to receive the weekly Smart Update . This post includes mentions of a Getting Smart partner. For a full list of partners, affiliate organizations and all other disclosures please see our Partner page VIF International Education @vifglobaled ). Join the conversation on Twitter using or more, check out Professional Development: Learning Through Collaboration and:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
When Professional Development is Just an Experience

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Why are teachers so rarely asked for input? As a former administrator with extensive experience in the classroom, I empathize with teachers whose professional opinions on education are far too often undervalued. Decisions are sometimes made without the consideration of teachers - the people who experience the outcomes firsthand.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
American public elementary and secondary schools spend about $20 billion a year on what is called professional development - helping teachers do their jobs better. Many teachers will tell you much of that is a waste of time and money.

Now, three former teachers involved in training have discovered an important reason. Teachers are rarely given time and opportunity to practice what they have learned.

"Practice Perfect: 42 Rules for Getting Better at Getting Better" is the new book by Doug Lemov, Erica Woolway and Katie Yezzi exposing this flaw in teacher training and the way most of us learn any complex skill. Professional athletes know the value of repeating moves again and again before the game starts. Michael Jordan was famous for how much time he spent practicing in the gym, even after he became a superstar.

But the rest of us either don't see that or, as in my case, are too lazy to make the effort.

For teachers, the authors of "Practice Perfect" write, pregame repetition is crucial. "If a teacher's performance during a given class is less than what she wanted, she cannot get it back," they say. "She cannot as, say, a lawyer working on a contract might do, stop in the middle of her work and call someone to ask for advice. She can't give it her best shot and then, as we are doing as we write this book, go back and tinker and revise and have the luxury of being held accountable for a final product that reflects actions taken and reconsidered over an extended period."

"If we asked a roomful of teachers how often they practiced what they did in the 'game,' that is how often they rehearsed the questions they'd ask or the way they'd start class, most would look at us funny," the authors say. "Teachers listen, reflect, discuss and debate, but not practice."

The authors learned this only recently after analyzing the results of a study of great teachers in high-poverty public schools, reported in Lemov's previous best-selling book, "Teach Like a Champion." The teachers with the best results "were often the most likely to focus on small and seemingly mundane aspects of their daily work." The authors liken this to legendary basketball coach John Wooden, who went so far as to teach players how to put their socks on correctly. But the insight did not immediately illumine the importance of practice.

As part of the Uncommon Schools charter school network, the authors began to train their teachers with video clips of skilled instructors performing a given technique. The trainees discussed and analyzed until they were sure they understood it, then moved on to the next technique. They left the class full of confidence, but when surveyed three months later were not so sure. Something often went wrong when they tried the techniques in class.

The authors realized their trainees hadn't practiced. It was the equivalent of trying to learn a new backhand in the middle of a match at Wimbledon's Centre Court.

They added repetitive exercises to their training workshops. Teachers played students so the situation would resemble a real classroom. Teachers still had trouble getting it right. The real-world situation was too distracting; the authors dialed down the student disruption so their trainees had a chance to do the technique correctly several times. Once it became automatic, they could handle unpredictable moments.

In their real classrooms the new skills began to work. Teachers not only implemented the techniques but also began to innovate and adapt them in new ways. The authors know this because they made and studied videos of the teachers at work, one of their favorite tools.

In the future, schools will still often spend big money on training teachers in ineffective ways. Learning to practice, this book vividly illustrates, takes time and effort, trial and error. It won't happen tomorrow. But even a small movement in the direction of more practice will reap benefits, in teaching and many other things we do.

For previous columns, go to washingtonpost.com/blogs/class-struggle.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
practice perfect: 42 rules for getting better at getting better

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Why teacher training fails - and how we can correct that

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
American public elementary and secondary schools spend about $20 billion a year on what is called professional development - helping teachers do their jobs better. Many teachers will tell you much of that is a waste of time and money. Now, three former teachers involved in training have discovered an important reason.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Assessing and Supporting Effective First-Year Teachers

The first year is the most important year of a teacher's career. We need to treat it that way.

Teachers who make a strong start are more likely to remain successful over time, but many schools and teacher training programs treat teachers' first year like a warm-up. We should instead see it as a critical window of opportunity to help teachers develop essential skills and determine whether they can make a successful career teaching.

Leap Year describes the major lessons we learned from treating the first year of teaching with the care it deserves through the Assessment of Classroom Effectiveness (ACE), a multiple-measures evaluation system designed to ensure that first-year teachers in our Teaching Fellows and TNTP Academy programs meet a high standard of effectiveness.

Key findings:

New teachers perform at different levels and improve at different rates.

Teachers' initial performance predicts their future performance.

Multiple measures tend to point to the same conclusion about a teacher's effectiveness.

A few specific core skills appear to be important to a first-year teacher's success.

The report also offers recommendations for policymakers and education leaders to support effective first-year teaching, including how to make meaningful determinations about the work of first-year teachers.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Assessing and Supporting Effective First-Year Teachers The first year is the most important year of a teacher's career. We need to treat it that way. Teachers who make a strong start are more likely to remain successful over time, but many schools and teacher training programs treat teachers' first year like a warm-up.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Mirage challenges the widely held perception among education leaders that we know what works when it comes to teacher development, and if we could just apply that knowledge more widely, we could improve the quality of classroom teaching in short order.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Mike Ford, superintendent of Phelps-Clifton Springs Central School District in Clifton Springs, N.Y., talks about the importance of the Leadership standard and the roles that school and district leaders fulfill in ensuring effective professional learning. Leadership: Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all students requires skillful leaders who develop capacity, advocate, and create support systems for professional learning.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.entities[].name
Former School Improvement Network Channel 654

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Dan Bickel, area administrator, speaks about the Resources standard. Resources: Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all students requires prioritizing, monitoring, and coordinating resources for educator learning. Learn more: http://learningforward.org/standards/resources

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.entities[].name
Healthcare Data Integrity and Interoperability Standards for Health Information Exchanges

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Eric Brooks, education program specialist, talks about the Data standard. Data: Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all students uses a variety of sources and types of student, educator, and system data to plan, assess, and evaluate professional learning. Learn more: http://learningforward.org/standards/data

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Julie Lambert and Valerie Mitrani, co-directors of educational services, talk about the Implementation standard. Implementation: Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all students applies research on change and sustains support for implementation of professional learning for long-term change. Learn more: http://learningforward.org/standards/implementation

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Margarita Calderón, professor emerita, speaks about the Outcomes standard. Outcomes: Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all students aligns its outcomes with educator performance and student curriculum standards. Learn more: http://learningforward.org/standards/outcomes