General Resources

This Education Resource Strategies (ERS) report presents six strategies that school leaders can use to find more time for teachers to have meaningful, collaborative planning sessions (e.g., stacking time blocks back-to-back, creating larger specials, etc.). The report analyzes creative schedules and collaborative time frames from exemplar school systems where teachers have at least ninety consecutive minutes each week to plan, collaborate, and learn with other teachers during the school day

Learning Forward gives step-by-step guidance in this workbook on developing professional learning plans, which include analyzing student learning needs, selecting content, providing implementation support, and evaluation. The workbook includes a section on finding time for professional learning.

This chart from Public Impact provides an overview of strategies that schools use to find time for teacher-led professional learning as well as a description of some basic requirements to implement each strategy. The chart can guide districts and schools in selecting the strategies that fit best.

Learning Forward’s step-by-step guide shows how schools and districts can increase collaborative learning time for teachers. It goes through the process of analyzing current uses of time, identifying opportunities for collaborative learning, revising school schedules, and evaluating the results of increased professional learning time.  

This Research & Policy Brief is intended to assist state and district leaders in selecting professional learning activities that are worth the allocation of scarce resources. The brief summarizes current research and policy related to high-quality professional development, discusses factors that decision makers need to consider when making resource allocation decisions, and describes evaluation methods for professional learning activities.