Teachers in Tulsa Public Schools struggled to meet their students' diverse needs and deliver instruction that met new, more rigorous standards. This was exacerbated by high teacher turnover, especially among novice teachers. District leaders aimed to increase support—but very low funding levels presented an additional challenge.
To transform school-level staffing and scheduling in ways that increased support and job-embedded professional learning time for teachers, Tulsa Public Schools redesigned the way the central office supported principals—including providing intensive training and tools for a pilot group of principals to help them revamp roles, teacher teaming, and school schedules.
At the end of the first year of implementation, all pilot schools have increased teachers' collaborative planning time by at least 50 additional minutes per week and have new teacher leadership roles to facilitate this time. According to principals, the training and tools have helped them make more informed, deliberate decisions about how to achieve their schools' goals.
Access tangible materials—such as templates and tools—that leaders in Tulsa Public Schools used to create better professional learning.
Click the links below to explore other case studies in the Districts at Work series that accompany Tulsa Public Schools: Redesigning Schools for Professional Learning–On a Budget by either audience role or by topic.
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School districts across the country struggle with systemic challenges, such as increasingly rigorous academic standards, more varied student needs, and persistent achievement gaps. The Districts at Work series of case studies shares specific examples from districts that are taking a new approach to these types of systemic challenges—and seeing exciting results.
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