Across the country, states and districts are being challenged to create effective strategies for school-wide improvement and turnaround that can be replicated at scale. This project was designed to develop and study one such approach: the development of teacher learning communities organized around the standards of accomplished practice defined by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. This project builds on lessons learned from other schools' successful efforts to engage all teachers in National Board Certification as a means of developing quality teaching and productive professional collaboration. It implemented a deliberate change strategy based on National Board certification in three schools and studied the process of the change, as well as the results for both teacher and student learning.
The project produced:
- Turning Around Schools: The National Board Certification Process as a School Improvement Strategy—this report and brief include research-based recommendations for state, district, and school level decision makers seeking to develop successful turnaround strategies for schools
- Mapping the Development of Conditions for Collaborative Learning in School Communities of Practice—a tool for practitioners
