Professional Development
Learning Port
Across states, national organizations and technical assistance investments, an extensive amount of professional development material is available. This library of over 700 professional development resources provides local educators with easy access to an array of resources that can be used or customized to meet their needs.Leadership Resources
Protocols
The word “protocol” has taken on a more specific meaning in education in recent years. In the context
of educators working to improve their practice, a protocol is a structured process or set of guidelines
to promote meaningful and efficient communication and learning.
The National School Reform Faculty website has compiled several protocols for educator use. Protocols are most powerful and effective when used within an ongoing professional learning community such as a Critical Friends Group® and facilitated by a skilled coach.
Toolkit for Implementing the School Improvement Grant (SIG) - Transformation Model (CII)
This document is intended for use after the LEA has determined that the Transformation Model is the best fit for the school. The purposes of this document are to:
• outline action items involved in implementing the School Improvement Grant (SIG) Transformation Model and
• provide tools and resources to help districts and school implement the Transformation Model.
Guide to Teacher Evaluation Products
Accurately measuring a teacher's effectiveness is a complex and difficult task. Like building a puzzle, developing a teacher evaluation system requires multiple pieces that must be placed together in a purposeful way to create a holistic evaluation system.
This guide can be used by states and districts to explore various evaluation methods and tools that represent the "puzzle pieces" of an evaluation system.
The guide includes detailed descriptions of more than 75 teacher evaluation tools that are currently implemented and tested in.....
Turnaround Competencies for Teachers and Leaders and Toolkits for Selecting Turnaround Leaders and Teachers
School turnaround is possible, but it takes a concerted effort with daring leadership at the helm and persistent, achievement-oriented collaboration among staff. For turnaround efforts to succeed, nothing is more important than making sure that the leaders and teachers who are selected for these challenging roles have the capacity and the will to make a turnaround happen.
The four resources in the Competencies for Turnaround Success Series are designed to help district officials identify and hire the right leaders and teachers for this.....
Quality School Leadership Identification (QSL-ID): Your Link to Strong School Leaders (Resource for SIG applicants)
High-performing and dramatically improving schools are led by strong principals. District staff know the importance of hiring and supporting quality school principals but are often left on their own to define a hiring process and create hiring tools.
In response to this challenge, Learning Point Associates offers Quality School Leadership Identification (QSL-ID), a standardized hiring procedure built from research-based tools that hiring committees can use to reach consensus when selecting a new school principal.
QSL-ID consists of the.....
Using ARRA Funds to Improve Teacher Effectiveness and Equitable Distribution: An Interactive Mapping Tool
This is an interactive mapping tool modeled on a subway map. It will help users explore the strategic use of ARRA-funded programs to improve teacher effectiveness and equitable distribution.
Key Components:
1. Recruitment
2. Hiring
3. Preparation
4. Induction
5. Performance Management
6. Professional Development
7. Leadership Development
8. Compensation and Incentives
Turnaround Strategies and Models for High Schools
(From the National High School Center) This resource is a synthesis of the literature on high school improvement organized by key elements of the turnaround/transformation models, as defined by the federal Title I School Improvement Grant regulations. The synthesis has been organized into the following three sections:
* Improving High Schools Overview/Background
o The High School Context
o Supporting Low Performing Schools: Lessons Learned
o Implications of the Lessons for High School Turnaround
*.....
School Turnaround Teachers: Competencies for Success
This guide aims to help schools attempting turnarounds understand the underlying characteristics of teachers likely to succeed in this unique context, based on the best available research to date. Interestingly, the characteristics identified by early research on star teachers in high-poverty schools are remarkably similar to the competencies exhibited by turnaround leaders across sectors. This is not surprising given the similarities of the roles, explained further within this guide. As more schools attempt turnarounds, increasingly accurate,.....
Successful School Turnarounds Seven Steps For District Leaders
Turnarounds are one of the only proven strategies for quickly achieving success in very low-performing organizations. But they can be difficult and controversial. School board members and district leaders who commit to this strategy must prioritize student learning needs over custom, routine, and established relationships. They must view turnarounds not as a one-time solution but part of a sustained effort. This Issue Brief outlines successful strategies for turnarounds as well as listing qualities of a "turnaround principal."
Key Insights from Principals Making Breakthrough Gains
Lessons learned from school leaders making breakthrough gains in student achievement and teacher effectiveness. Includes policy recommendations for school turnarounds and key insights from The Urban Excellence FrameworkTM.
TQ Resource Library (Publications Database) (National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality)
In the last several years alone, hundreds of books and articles about teacher quality and leadership quality issues have been written. Using standardized criteria to evaluate many of these publications, Learning Point Associates has assembled a database with detailed information about many of the most significant teacher quality publications of the past 20 years.
The TQ Source publications database houses information for publications in the following issue areas: preparation, recruitment and retention, certification and licensure,.....
Technical Assistance Toolbox from National Center for Teacher Quality
In this Technical Assistance Toolbox you will find examples of technical assistance available from the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality Center, answers to Frequently asked questions, and descriptions of how to use our large collection of content-rich resources to assist in your efforts to improve teacher quality in your region and state.
Teacher Hiring, Placement, and Assignment Practices
This Key Issue discusses the importance of implementing effective teacher hiring and placement practices, particularly for at-risk districts and schools. It provides strategies for teacher hiring, assignment, and placement that will help districts’ approaches to hiring and placing teachers who are likely to be effective and stay in the schools where they start.
Asking the Right Questions: A School Change Toolkit
Guiding School Change through Inquiry: Systemic Reform Support System
This site provides information about systems theory and describes an effective way to view school systems - by looking at them as consisting of three domains. Using this perspective can help you simplify the complexity of school systems, adopt multiple ways of viewing them, and better understand the interconnectivity of their various parts.
How Do Districts Support Schools to Meet AYP?
For the most part, districts can only meet AYP if their schools meet AYP. Consequently, district leadership needs to keep a sharp focus on the student achievement targets, set clear expectations for all schools, build the capacity of instructional leaders to monitor student progress, and hold all schools accountable for knowing where their students are in relation to the content standards and for creating appropriate interventions for students and schools not succeeding.
