Greg Nicholson is LAEP's Manager of Research and Publications. He can be reached via email at gnichols@lalc.k12.ca.us. Bibliographic Information: Elmore, R.F., & Burney, D. "Investing in teacher learning: Staff development and instructional improvement in community school district #2, New York City." New York: National Commission on Teaching & America's Future, 1997

Improving Student Achievement Through Teacher Professional Development By Greg Nicholson Los Angeles Educational Partnership PART ONE OF TWO IT IS WELL KNOWN that one of the most effective ways to guarantee high student achievement is by placing an excellent teacher in the classroom. We even know what techniques are effective for delivering the best professional development to teachers. Successful professional development; "focuses on concrete classroom applications ... exposes teachers to actual practice ... involves opportunities for observation, critique, and reflection ... involves opportunities for group support and collaboration ... and it involves deliberate evaluation and feedback by skilled practitioners with expertise about good teaching" (Elmore, 2). Obviously then, one of the best ways to insure high student achievement would be to provide successful professional development to all teachers. However, doing this systematically in large urban districts has proven to be difficult. In his paper "Investing in Teacher Learning: Staff Development and Instructional Improvement in Community School District #2, New York City," Richard Elmore attempts to describe one urban district where professional development is occurring systematically in such a way as to improve instruction and student achievement. Elmore organizes his paper into two major sections, one focusing on the organizing principles behind systemic change in District #2 and another describing some of the basic mechanisms of professional development used to accomplish this change. In both sections Elmore finds that two major themes were key to District #2's success; keeping the focus of all activities on improving instruction and maintaining this focus through professional development efforts over a long period of time. Elmore identifies seven organizing principles around systemic change and professional development in District #2. The basic tenet is that student achievement will increase as instructional practice improves and that instructional practice is improved through professional development. Thus, the first principle is that, "It's about instruction, and only instruction" (Elmore, 8). Everything the district administration does focuses on improving instructional practice. When they visit schools, for example, they do not want to spend their time learning about broken windows and cleanliness, rather they visit classrooms and model effective instruction. Tony Alvarado, the district superintendent during the time of Elmore's study notes; "we try to model with our words and behavior a consuming interest in teaching and learning, almost to the exclusion of everything else. And we expect principals to model the same behavior with the teachers in their schools" (Elmore, 8). Since the means to instructional improvement is thought to be professional development, this means district administrators consider their jobs to be professional development. Elmore writes, "professional development is what administrative leaders do when they are doing their jobs, not a specialized function that some people in the organization do and others don't" (Elmore, 14). Two other organizing principles relate directly to the idea of district personnel working to improve instruction. One states that shared expertise is the driver of instructional change and the other asserts that good ideas come from talented people working together. The key behind both of these principles is the continued focus on improving instructional practice. Taken together, these organizing principles recall the ideas behind the learning organization as described by Peter Senge. Change, according to both theories occurs in a culture of continuous learners where individuals are learning on their own and sharing their knowledge collectively to improve the overall organization. Check back to the Learning Exchange on April 9, for Part 2 of this essay.