Leading for Professional Learning: What Successful Principals Do to Support Teaching Practice

Support teachers with more effective instructional leadership

Leading for Professional Learning offers field-tested guidance to help school leaders more effectively support teachers’ professional development. Leadership is crucial to professional learning, providing the necessary systems and structures that enable teachers to improve their own practice and in turn, improve student learning. With an illustrative case study, this book provides invaluable guidance, packed with practical tools, processes, and expert advice.

Because each school differs in terms of strengths and needs, this book steers away from prescriptivism and shows you how to construct a support plan tailored to your unique context. Specific teaching and leadership frameworks guide you through the process of examination, discovery, and execution, equipping you with the necessary tools and insight you need to make positive changes for your teachers – and ultimately, your students. A must-read resource for principals, administrators, and other school and district leadership, this book helps you set your school on the path to continuous improvement.

• Determine your school’s professional learning needs
• Leverage existing support structures for the greatest effect
• Understand the role of leadership in sponsoring and following up on professional learning
• Ensure intentional changes in teacher practice and student learning

Empowering teachers to improve their craft goes beyond merely offering opportunity; it requires collaboration with teachers every step of the way, a deep understanding of how best to support professional learning, a clear set of goals for both individual sessions and an overarching mission, and the necessary technical and relational support required to see these opportunities through. Written by experts from the University of Washington Center for Educational Leadership, Leading for Professional Learning provides real-world advice that has been proven effective in school districts across the nation.

ANNEKE MARKHOLT is the associate director with the University of Washington Center for Educational Leadership.

JOANNA MICHELSON is a project director at the University of Washington Center for Educational Leadership.

STEPHEN FINK is the former executive director of the University of Washington Center for Educational Leadership.