One area in which educators can get a good return on their time investment is helping collaborative teams focus on and become proficient in developing local classroom assessments for all students in the same grade or course. Six steps to working collaboratively are described (e.g., analyze state and local curriculum guidelines, establish…

Discusses how to engineer more time into the school day for staff development by restructuring staff, using technology, and team teaching. School boards and parents must be given education, information, and results to experiment with these and other options to create time. A sidebar describes how to create a 15-hour block of time for planning or…

Discusses how assistant principals can create learning experiences for their staff on a tight time line. Suggestions include finding a consultant to facilitate the learning experience, assembling a team of teachers to help plan for changing how staff development is designed, and having teachers think about planning a day of collaborative learning…

Secondary educators can create blocks of time for teachers and students to study and learn so teachers can enjoy professional growth opportunities without sacrificing students' instructional time. The article provides a scheduling plan, explaining how to modify schedules to offer teachers extended planning or development periods on a rotating…

How educators think about and use time is woven into school cultures. School leaders must learn to read the culture and focus staff development on cultural issues affecting how people use time. This paper discusses cultures that nurture and wound and describes how to shape more nurturing cultures (read the school's culture, assess views of time,…

Block scheduling can help high school principals become staff-development leaders. It gives teachers more time to help individual students and contributes to improved achievement, attendance, and graduation rates. This paper describes the results of research on block scheduling in urban high schools and concludes that block scheduling can support…

It is important to dispel myths that pervade current professional-development planning and establish and follow specific guidelines for effectively using additional professional-development time. The paper dispels three major myths that diminish the effectiveness of professional-development planning and offers four guidelines for ensuring wise use…

Discusses advantages to the whole-faculty study-group process, which involves small groups that meet regularly to focus on some area of educational improvement. The paper presents 15 whole-faculty study-group process guidelines, and it concludes that study groups can help teachers accomplish together what they are already expected to do. (SM)

Presents eight real-life examples of schools that use time wisely and efficiently to support faculty development, including early release of students, time banking, extra "specials" periods, paraprofessional support, weekly meetings, early teacher arrival, meeting while students are out doing community service, and blocking before- and…

Better student learning means making more time for teacher learning. If schools are to be structured for success, professional development must be an ongoing, integral part of teaching. This paper provides examples from different schools and countries of organizing teacher time and rethinking school structures and practices, noting strategies for…