The current small schools reform movement has increased the number of organizations seeking to change education with designs that require educators to rethink their understandings of curriculum, teaching, and learning. The key to the success of these schools is how well the teachers can learn and implement the design, laying a heavy burden on the schools, or, the intermediary organization, to provide adequate professional development. Many of these organizations have invested heavily in professional development as a means of ensuring that the teaching in their schools is consistent with the vision of the organization. This article presents findings about how teachers in one such educational organization, Expeditionary Learning Schools Outward Bound (ELS), transformed professional development experiences into learning experiences for their students. While policy makers and educators are understandably concerned about the link between professional development and student learning, the authors sought to examine the intricacies of professional development implementation not merely "for" whether or not they saw a reflection of professional development in teachers' practice but more importantly, "how" they saw it implemented by teachers and the context and quality of that implementation. The authors believe that this link between professional development and student learning is key for organizations focusing on developing the skills and knowledge of classroom teachers. (Contains 3 figures and 1 note.)