Educators have puzzled over why new concepts in professional development do not always translate into improved student learning. Now this pioneering and daring book by Speck and Knipe offers new practices to raise student achievement while strongly advocating for responsible changes in the policies, structures, and operations of schools. Key highlights: - Essential questions about professional development - Focusing professional development in a standards-based system - Creating the culture for a learning community - Addressing teacher work concerns through professional development - Promoting individual growth through professional learning - Challenging districts to sustain professional growth - Designing your own model - Tools for implementing a professional development design - Evaluating professional development - Revisiting past perspectives to underscore the need for change - Facing the emerging issues and challenges of professional learning Over the years, the focus of professional development has changed from what others “do to” educators to what educators “do with” their own inside and outside experiences. This is the book that brings that new focus into sharp relief, and makes it real through insight scenarios, quotations, and tools. The result: a new perspective that helps educators face the challenge of professional learning on a deeply personal level.