Why Standards-Based Professional Learning?

Using standards-based professional learning is important for educators for many reasons. According to Learning Forward (2009), “The standards make explicit that the purpose of professional learning is for educators to develop the knowledge, skills, practices, and dispositions they need to help students perform at higher levels.” Standards for professional learning have the primary focus upon educator learning and what is needed to support those efforts whose primary goal is to increase student outcomes.


Two standards in particular are important in moving my school forward in their professional learning goals. The learning community standard maintains that professional learning that improves educator effectiveness and student outcomes happens within learning communities that share goals and responsibility for ongoing improvement. Another standard that has bearing upon my school’s success is in leadership. Learning Forward (2012) states that increased “educator effectiveness and results for all students requires skillful leaders who develop capacity, advocate, and create support systems for professional learning.” For teacher learning to move forward, having leaders in such a supportive role can make the difference between the success and failure of their efforts.


Community is important for many initiatives because members share the same goals and vision for progress. Killion and Roy (2009) observed that, “Schools in which teachers work in collaborative teams make steady progress towards improvement goals, have a clear focus, share goals, and produce results” (p. 30). According to current practices, district collaboration is not a true PLC (professional learning community). What is misunderstood, according to Killion and Roy (2009), is that PLC’s in and of themselves are not the goal of professional learning. They are, however, “the supporting structure for schools to continuously transform themselves through their own internal capacity” (p. 29). Educators in our school need to know this critical difference so they may find success in collaboration.


Similarly, transforming the leadership to support a true collaborative structure is imperative. The leadership standard states that leaders are supportive of professional learning in all ways. Beyond seeing that district mandates are followed, there are responsibilities to the building level educators. Killion and Roy (2009) identify important principal responsibilities. Leaders need to nurture teacher leaders, provide organizational support, set the expectations, schedule time, provide further training, review plans and give feedback on actions and results, handle member obstinacy, and support divergent thinking (p. 78). Leadership and support for PLC’s does not require a hard set of rewards and punishments, but rather a system of expectations and standards driven practices that will support work to improve student outcomes. Oftentimes school administrators feel threatened by teachers that emerge as leaders and they do not support those individuals. The paradox in this situation is that as administrators support teacher leaders, they actually foster loyalty and support for themselves.


The transformation to a standards based learning school with effective and supported PLC’s will be a journey well worth the time and effort. The learning community standard will take us from a district with a narrow focus to a district with a wide scope of options and opportunities. It will bring our school from one where educators attend professional development to one where teachers participate and become part of the solution. Similarly, the leadership standard will take us from a district where administrators mandate participation in professional development to leaders that participate equally in school PLC’s. In addition, we will move from a school that fears leaders and views them as impediments to innovation to leaders that work with teachers to support and develop solutions with teachers.

Killion, J., & Roy, P. (2009). Becoming a learning school. Dallas, TX: National Staff Development Council.

Standards. (2012). Retrieved September 21, 2013, from http://learningforward.org/standards#.Ukd5On_L43I