“During my first year of teaching sixth-grade English Language Arts, I met for one 50-minute period per week with my grade-level teaching team. We typically used this time to cover administrative updates, talk about the kids in our grade level, and plan around events like field trips…I usually ended up planning instruction alone after I got home from work or over the weekend.
My mentor observed me once, left me an observation form with some tips to improve classroom management, and never scheduled any follow-up. For professional development, I attended district-run workshops with other new teachers several times over the course of the year…
As a teacher, I felt like a failure almost every day. It was the hardest job I have ever done.”
— Former sixth grade ELA teacher in a large urban district
The introduction of college- and career-ready standards profoundly raises the bar for teaching and learning in American schools—and for professional development. Successful school systems integrate three elements into one cohesive strategy:
We call this Connected Professional Learning. It requires significant shifts in how school systems organize resources—moving away from one-size-fits-all workshops and pay for advanced degrees—toward time and instructional leaders to help teachers engage with the curriculum and adjust to student results.
In this toolkit we explore what these strategic practices look like, how to organize resources, and where to get started. We also share a diagnostic assessment, in-depth case studies, and other tools to support the shift.
| For a closer look at how districts and schools can use federal COVID stimulus money to organize resources in ways that empower teachers through regular, job-embedded learning and increased time for reflection, planning, and collaboration, explore our Schools Start Here guide on Professional Learning & Collaboration. |
We studied four school systems that are rising to the challenge and seeing growth in student achievement, even as they work with large populations of high-need students through Connected Professional Learning.
In many school systems today, teacher PD remains disconnected from everyday instructional work —disconnected from the material being taught, from the collaborative work of teacher planning time, and from observations by peers, mentors, and school leaders.
In contrast, professional learning in the systems we studied is profoundly connected—really, embedded—into the teaching job, and teachers learn and grow through the daily work of improving instruction.
Igniting the Learning Engine explores the strategic practices in these four school systems, how to organize resources to make them happen, and where to get started.
See how the Louisiana Department of Education is improving student and teacher learning through access to high-quality curricula—despite a combination of resource challenges.
Learn six strategies for finding enough time for meaningful collaborative planning among your teachers.
Get a detailed portrait of how the charter network Achievement First provides its teacher teams with the lesson materials, time, expert support, and teacher culture to embed professional learning in collaborative planning teams.
Take a look at frequent, growth-oriented feedback at DC Public Schools, which is a key part of LEarning together to Advance our Practice, or LEAP.
Assess how your school system supports curriculum, collaboration, and feedback and compare yourself to strategic practices in our case study systems.
Access the tools and resources used by the case study systems from Igniting the Learning Engine to support Connected Professional Learning (such as curriculum guides, collaborative planning protocols, sample schedules, and more). The tools are organized by each of the three elements of Connected Professional Learning.
ACHIEVEMENT FIRST
LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT PARTNERS
INSTRUCTION PARTNERS
ACHIEVEMENT FIRST
DUVAL COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
D.C. PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Frequent, Growth-Oriented Feedback
D.C. PUBLIC SCHOOLS
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See below for a list of related resources from both inside and outside ERS
Professional learning strategies should be designed as part of a holistic strategy for system-wide change. This means connecting it to other elements like:
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