IDEAS HOW CURRICULUM AND PROFESSIONAL LEARNING INTERSECT esearch has found that high-quality curriculum materials to improve capacity and refine curricula have a significant impact on teaching. The second, p. 58, by Learning Forward student achievement (Steiner, 2017; Deputy Executive Director Frederick Brown, examines Chingos & Whitehurst, 2012). But a the role of leadership in implementing high-quality curriculum is not effective on its own. It curriculum in Wake County Public School System in Rrequires teachers who understand it and use it with North Carolina. intentionality and professional judgment. This means teachers who know the curriculum and REFERENCES their students well. It also means teachers who have the Chingos, M. & Whitehurst, G. (2012, April). time and support to hone their practice collaboratively Choosing blindly: Instructional materials, teacher in a way that brings the curriculum alive and advances effectiveness, and the Common Core.Washington, DC: student learning (Wiener & Pimentel, 2017). Brown Center on Education Policy. Learning Forward will explore this critical topic Steiner, D. (2017, March). Curriculum research: deeply throughout our publications and at our What we know and where we need to go. Standards institutes and Annual Conference. The two articles that Work, 1-13. follow are a key starting point. Wiener, R. & Pimentel, S. (2017, April 2). In the first, p. 57, Learning Forward Executive Practice what you teach: Connecting curriculum & Director Stephanie Hirsh takes a close look at the professional learning in schools. Washington, DC: The work school-based learning teams do in studying their Aspen Institute. 56 The Learning Professional | www.learningforward.org February 2018 | Vol. 39 No. 1 Focus professional learning communities on curriculum BY STEPHANIE HIRSH rade-level, subject-specific One week a professional learning month, teachers work Gcommunities are the vehicle in grade-level teams for achieving the promise of high- using a protocol to quality curriculum.Surveys have found unpack an upcoming that teachers regularly supplement lesson together. and modify district curricula or use During this time, materials that they or their colleagues teachers focus on developed (Kane, Owens, Marinell, preparing a lesson, Thal, & Staiger, 2016; Opfer, such as solving the Kaufman, & Thompson, 2016). math problems Professional learning communities they will present to have the potential to ensure that those students, anticipating where students from virtual to in-person meetings. decisions are made carefully and in ways might get stuck and how to support “I think teachers definitely that increase coherence and learning them without watering down rigor, and learn best when they learn from one across classrooms within a school. how to guide text-based discussions. another,” says Chrystie Edwards, At the same time, they also have the In the other weeks, teachers review director of academics for Green Dot in potential to ensure that the best ideas student work from the lesson they had Memphis. “One of the best outcomes are shared across community members’ planned together and analyze the work that we didn’t anticipate was the classrooms rather than confined to refine their instructional practice. productive struggle for adults ... for to a single classroom. In this way, They might look at exit ticket data, one teacher to see another teacher well-structured professional learning examine common assessment data for struggle and persist, and to see the communities can help advance equity trends, and pinpoint opportunities for corresponding increase in achievement for all students in a school and, when reteaching or things to keep in mind as data is a motivator beyond no other. implemented consistently across all they move forward to the next unit. We’re starting to see pockets of that.” schools, within a school district. Green Dot is doing this in grade- Instead of spending their time specific learning teams across its writing lessons from scratch or GREEN DOT PUBLIC SCHOOLS network of five schools, and it has searching for materials online, teachers Instruction Partners, a nonprofit selected curriculum leads — expert can now go deeper into content that works with teachers and leaders teachers from each grade — to and understanding how to meet to strengthen instruction and unlock facilitate. each student’s needs. They then are student potential, recently published a Teachers work closely with the positioned to modify and supplement white paper examining the experiences curriculum lead to determine which the lessons in ways that increase of schools implementing rigorous lessons are must-do versus may-do, coherence and learning. And by curricula. pacing, and which questions to make reviewing student work and assessing One of the sites it works with is anchor questions across classrooms. what is working together, they can Green Dot Public Schools in Memphis, Green Dot continues to make advance equity. Tennessee. At Green Dot, teachers use adjustments to its approach in response an alternating structure for their work. to teacher feedback, such as shifting Continued on p. 58, Hirsh February 2018 | Vol. 39 No. 1 www.learningforward.org | The Learning Professional 57 IDEAS How systems can support high-quality curricula BY FREDERICK BROWN earning Forward Executive access to powerful learning every Director Stephanie Hirsh argues day, school systems must ensure that Lthat the impact of high-quality teachers engage in ongoing professional curricula will be fully realized when learning grounded in the materials they grade-level, subject-specific professional use daily with students. learning communities place deep study and planning for how to use these THE CURRICULUM GAP instructional materials at the core of “We had a really slow and strategic their work. (See article on p. 57.) curriculum strategy process,” says Brian But, as Learning Forward’s Kingsley, assistant superintendent for Standards for Professional Learning academics. It began in the 2015-16 make clear, those teams should be part school year, when the district worked of a more comprehensive, multifaceted with TNTP to use a walk-through approach to educator learning. System tool in 250 classrooms to see how leaders and the system itself play a adoption of new curricula in a decade. instruction was shifting to align with critical role in providing support and The district, which serves 160,000 the state’s new learning standards. context for this important work. students, was part of the Learning The district also held focus groups One example of that is how the Forward Academy Class of 2017. The with teachers and students about the Wake County Public School System in Academy experience helped inform the instructional materials they were using. North Carolina has approached the first district’s approach: To ensure equitable “It was pretty glaring how big of a Continued from p. 57, Hirsh Teachers’ collaboration throughout • Skillful leaders, who develop the cycle is focused on what students capacity and advocate for and BECOMING A LEARNING TEAM are learning — or not — in the create support systems for I’ve written about this (with Tracy classroom. And that is grounded in the professional learning; Crow) in the book Becoming a Learning curriculum in place in the school. • Resources that are prioritized, Team (2017), which outlines a learning These types of structured learning monitored, and coordinated for cycle for teachers in teams. teams are at the heart of Learning educator learning; In our five-stage cycle, teachers Forward’s Standards for Professional • A variety of sources and types examine data to identify areas for their Learning. And they are the connective of student, educator, and learning focus, set student and educator tissue between having curriculum as a system data to plan, assess, and learning goals, create a learning agenda resource and using a curriculum well. evaluate professional learning; for themselves, implement their Strong learning communities must • Effective learning designs that learning with support from colleagues, be part of a coherent instructional integrate theories, research, and and assess outcomes and modify their improvement infrastructure that must models of human learning to actions to improve results. also include: achieve its desired outcomes; 58 The Learning Professional | www.learningforward.org February 2018 | Vol. 39 No. 1 How curriculum and professional learning intersect gap there was between what teachers two sets of comprehensive open doing this in isolation,” says Kingsley. were using, what they had access to, educational resource materials that had “It also helps with coherence because and what was truly standards-aligned received high ratings on EdReports: teachers across all of our schools are and rigorous,” says Kingsley. “Our EL Education’s English language arts now using the same content. I’m standards across the country really curriculum for grades 3-8 and the excited about what that means from the elevated with the Common Core, but, Mathematics Vision Project curriculum lens of equity in our school system.” at the same time, we had a recession. for grades 9-12. But the district realized skillful So, unfortunately, curriculum budgets One of the biggest values of using curriculum use cannot rest solely with bottomed out just as we were raising the two comprehensive sets of open teachers. It also has implications for expectations for teachers and kids.” educational resources, says Kingsley,