How would instruction and student learning improve if educators made the time to really understand and practice a new curriculum before implementing it in classrooms with students? In Orange County, California, educators are finding out by testing an approach of preimplementation professional learning for a full year before applying a new…

While social-emotional learning (SEL) is regularly identified as a top priority for student well-being and achievement, effective implementation will not happen on its own. That's what makes the SEL coach critical to success. Effective systems change happens with an SEL coach who has the skills to lead, communicate, analyze, train, collaborate,…

With the growth of blended teaching comes a need to support teachers that are shifting their instruction to this mode of teaching. Coaching is a form of professional development that is growing in K-12 institutions. However, research of coaching specifically intended to support blended teaching practices is lacking. This phenomenological…

This article highlights two competency-based coaching and mentoring models for the incumbent infant-toddler workforce, designed and implemented at two Illinois institutions of higher education. Each model has been intentionally developed with an antibias and equity lens, focused on cultivating a diverse workforce of practitioners through…

Research confirms what effective educators and policymakers know from practice: The implementation of a "high-quality" curriculum, aligned to rigorous state standards, leads to notable student learning gains. Yet less than half of teachers report they are using curricula that are "high-quality and well aligned to learning…

We presented one new coach's development during a K-12 STEM integration initiative in order to explore how coaches develop professional identities for coaching. Madison, a former mathematics educator, partnered with science teachers for 1 year in order to co-develop and implement STEM curriculum. Transcripts of coaching conversations, written…

This report presents the findings from an independent evaluation conducted by WestEd on the Expository Reading and Writing Curriculum (ERWC). Funded by an Investing in Innovation (i3) Validation grant, the ERWC is a grade 11 and grade 12 English language arts (ELA) curriculum developed by the California State University. The independent evaluation…

School-wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) is a widely used framework for supporting student social and academic behavior. Implementation science indicates that one effective way to implement and scale-up practices, such as SWPBIS, is through coaching; thus, there is a need for efficient, cost-effective methods to develop…

By integrating the best of current research and practice in curriculum planning this book presents that comprehensive topic in a manageable form. Examples throughout are representative of different grade levels and subjects areas. It should be understood at the outset that the content offered for curriculum planning is not a rigid prescriptive…

The importance of professional development (PD) is clearly understood; however, little is known about how the most effective PD influences teachers' learning and how teachers perceive PD that goes beyond the typical two-hour session on an aspect of instruction. In this article, the authors present the response of a group of middle school teachers…

This article discusses the development, implementation, and outcomes of a Faculty Course Redesign Camp for full-time and adjunct faculty members. The purpose of the camp was to educate and coach faculty in effective strategies to promote learner-centered teaching skills. Evaluation results show that the participants changed their orientation…

In this study, I explored the impact of collaboration and capacity building during the design and implementation of a teacher-developed middle grades Language Arts Literacy curriculum. Participants included ten teachers and a literacy coach. We developed skill-based thematic units incorporating identified strategies designed to increase student…