Enhancing Professional Practice: The Framework for Teaching

Presenting the latest iteration of the Framework for Teaching—the most comprehensive tool yet for teacher self-assessment and reflection, observation and feedback, and collaborative inquiry.

Since 1996, hundreds of teacher preparation programs and thousands of schools, school districts, and government agencies have turned to the Framework for Teaching for a better understanding of excellent instruction. The Framework's four domains, 22 components, and 78 key elements provide an expansive, holistic definition of what teachers across the K–12 spectrum should know and be able to do in the exercise of their profession. Critically, it gives practitioners a common language for visualizing, talking about, and reflecting on their work as they chart their ongoing progress toward instructional excellence.

This streamlined third edition of Enhancing Professional Practice presents the latest evolution of the Framework for Teaching—one that is true to its constructivist roots, shaped by ongoing research, and informed by the experiences of educators in the field. Here you'll find …

• An updated exploration of a teacher's essential responsibilities, organized into the Framework's four domains—Planning and Preparation, Learning Environments, Learning Experiences, and Principled Teaching.

• Detailed discussions of the 22 teaching competencies (or components) shown to improve student learning, with rubrics clarifying the critical attributes of each and how they manifest at various levels of professional proficiency—Unsatisfactory, Basic, Proficient, and Distinguished.

• A more explicit emphasis on the Framework's philosophical foundation along with additional attention to what teachers can do to achieve equity, honor students' identities, foster social-emotional development, and promote both joyful inquiry and intellectual rigor.

• A more expansive view of family and community engagement and a look at the importance of high-quality instructional materials.

• Increased emphasis on the Framework as a tool for ongoing professional learning—a way to transform what for teachers is too often a meaningless ritual of supervisory evaluation into a powerful process for thinking about and pursuing instructional excellence.

• A summary of the research base and a full set of reproducible domain and component rubrics.

If you or your school are not already using the Framework for Teaching to enhance professional practice, there's never been a better time to join the movement.

Charlotte Danielson is the founder and a board member of The Danielson Group. She began her career more than 50 years ago as a teacher in a 1st and 2nd grade classroom in Washington, DC. After 25 years as a teacher, curriculum director, staff development director, and assessment designer, she wrote the first edition of Enhancing Professional Practice. Danielson has published widely on the use of the Framework for Teaching and related aspects of the teaching profession and instructional practice. A graduate of Cornell University (history), Oxford University (philosophy, politics, and economics) and Rutgers University (educational administration and supervision), she has taught kindergartners through university students and has worked as a curriculum director and staff development director.

Jim S. Furman began his career as a middle school English teacher in New Orleans, Louisiana, later teaching high school English in Denver, Colorado, and working as a professor of education in Delaware and New Orleans. He has coached future, novice, and veteran K–12 teachers in literacy, social studies, math, and science instruction; supported school leaders in urban schools to build and improve systems of teacher professional development; redesigned teacher preparation programs, field experiences, and assessments; and conducted research focused on teacher preparation and adolescent literacy. Furman served as the executive director of the Danielson Group from 2018 to 2024.

Lee Kappes is the chief executive officer of the Danielson Group. Prior to her appointment in May 2024, she served as the organization's founding director of program development, growth and impact. During her 18 years in the classroom, Kappes taught kindergarten and grades 2–6, serving six years as a union president. She continued her career in public education as a staff developer, school leader, coach, mentor, and senior academic leader in an urban school district. She went on to serve as an external partner to schools, districts, and state education agencies, providing instructional leadership and strategy guidance, instructional coaching, and developmental support for teacher-centered professional learning systems.