Commentary: Is collaboration key to satisfaction?
Education News Colorado
According to the MetLife survey of the American teacher, job satisfaction among teachers is the worst it has been for decades. Giving teachers the capacity to collaborate (professional development) and the time to do so can directly impact student achievement and improve teacher morale. According to research by the Stanford Social Innovation Review, when teachers were given time to collaborate and engage in conversations relative to their practice, they were more likely to have a positive impact on student achievement.More

Learning Forward's standards among keys to successful collaboration
Education Week Teacher
Teacher collaboration — when it's good it is very, very good, but when it's bad, it's horrid. Many educators believe that implementation of the Common Core Standards offers an unprecedented opportunity for collaboration among teachers. What do educators already know about the benefits and pitfalls of collaboration?More

Kentucky schools plan ongoing PD to help increase student achievement
The Ledger Independent
The Kentucky Department of Education conducted district leadership assessment of the Fleming County School District Feb 5-10. This is the third year Fleming County High School has been identified as Persistently Low Achieving. But the district has an intentional plan for building competence in the instructional staff through ongoing, job-embedded professional development at each school.More

Idaho school district approves early release to promote collaboration and PD
Idaho Press-Tribune
Students will be released an hour early on Wednesdays, under the 2012-2013 calendar approved by Idaho's Nampa School Board. The shortened school day will give staff more time for collaboration and professional development. In particular, it will provide meetings of Professional Learning Communities — a collaborative process for improving student learning.More

Singapore's 21st-century teaching strategies
Edutopia
By cultivating strong school leadership, committing to ongoing professional development and exploring innovative models like its tech-infused Future Schools, Singapore has become one of the top-scoring countries on the PISA tests. Teachers are entitled to 100 low or no-cost hours of professional development each year.More

Be a visionary and a realist
Learning Forward via Education Week Teacher
Susan Loucks-Horsley and her colleagues said it best: Professional developers "are, simultaneously, visionaries and realists." Nowhere is this more apparent than when we think about the importance of resources in professional learning. We often struggle to have the resources we need to achieve the grand vision we hold for effective professional learning. The Learning Forward Standards for Professional Learning are clear about the importance of resources and the need to prioritize, monitor and coordinate all types of resources, including staff, materials, technology and time. More

South Carolina middle school receives $50k award
WSAV-TV
Lowell Milken, founder of TAP: The System for Teacher and Student Advancement, surprised leaders from Whale Branch Middle School in Beaufort County, S.C., with the prestigious TAP Founder's Award. Funded by the Lowell Milken Family Foundation, the award is presented annually to one school for distinction in the implementation of TAP's comprehensive system of career advancement, ongoing job-embedded professional development through weekly collaborative "cluster" meetings, rigorous teacher evaluation and accountability and performance-based compensation.More

At International Teaching Summit, education leaders talk about what really works
NEA Today
At the second annual International Summit on the Teaching Profession in New York City, education leaders from around the world said collaboration, support and empowerment are the keys to creating and sustaining a high-quality teaching force. Over the two-day meeting, union leaders, outstanding educators, ministers of education, and administrators from 23 countries discussed and shared strategies that have produced positive results in their countries.More

Iowa House passes school bill after long debate
Des Moines Register
With the House's passage of a vast education reform bill, the action now shifts to the Iowa state Senate on an issue Democrats, Republicans and Gov. Terry Branstad agree is one of the most pressing of the legislative session. The Iowa State Education Association plans to continue to lobby for increased teacher professional development and collaboration. "The ISEA is disappointed in the House-passed version because it really doesn't focus on how to improve student learning," said spokeswoman Jean Hessburg.More