THE PRACTICE: Professional development should be connected to a comprehensive change process focused on improving student learning.
Content Presented By:
National Partnership for Excellence & Accountability in Teaching

Resources related to this practice:

• IMPACT
  http://projects.terc.edu/impact/

  IMPACT is a five-year project striving to accelerate the implementation of standards-based instructional materials throughout New England. The Center for Advancement of Science and Mathematics Education plans to build on existing regional structures to provide the information, resources and support for districts and their teachers in this next step in educational reform. The site describes this reform plan.

• Middle Web: Exploring Middle School Reform
  http://middleweb.com/index.html

  MiddleWeb: Exploring Middle School Reform is a Web stie produced by the Focused Reporting Project with financial support from the Program for Student Achievement of the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation. MiddleWeb provides a wealth of resources for schools, districts, educators, parents, and public school advocates working to raise achievement for all students in the middle grades. In addition to MiddleWeb's large collection of reform-oriented materials, this site includes hundreds of articles and links about curriculum, teaching strategies, teacher professional development, parent involvement, classroom assessment, and much more.

• Professional Development: Staff Learning for Student Results
  http://www.ncrel.org/pd/

  Here you will find a full range of information geared to help you make professional development a bedrock of excellence in your school or district. This site is designed for school and district-level teachers, administrators, and others interested in improving professional development.

• Strategic Teaching and Reading Project (STRP)
  http://www.ed.gov/pubs/triedandtrue/strat.html

  Focus on professional development based on the premise that teachers must receive training and support in strategic teaching in order to help students become strategic readers and learners themselves. STRP, developed by the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL), emphasizes the team approach, which spreads the demands of instructional leadership among team members, builds on areas of expertise, fosters collaboration, and reduces threats to the continuity of the project that can come from staff turnover.

• Teachers Take Charge of Their Learning: Transforming Professional Development for Student Success
  http://nfie.org/publications/takecharge_full.htm

  NFIE's report, "Teachers Take Charge of Their Learning: Transforming Professional Development for Student Success," asserts that continuous teacher learning is the key to helping students achieve high standards and that the profession itself must take responsibility for weaving continuous learning into the fabric of the teaching job. Features many schools/programs (http://www.nfie.org/course.htm) across the nation that have increased student learning by focusing on the professional development of teachers.

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