LibGuides: Professional Learning Systems: Professional Links Page 1

Exceptional Child

How We Help

We Want to Make Training Easier for You

Exceptional Child is a new online professional development system that makes training easier for all educators who support students with exceptionalities.

Find evidence-based, Special Education-related training on ADHD, Autism, Behavior, IEPs, Transition, Special Education Law and more, in one convenient online system.

Every multimedia-rich course is written by one of the nation’s leading experts and includes interventions; author and practitioner interviews; and scenarios that bring the content to life. So you’re not just training, you’re engaged and learning!

Who Uses EC

The Exceptional Child Online Professional Development System makes staff training easier for districts and individual educators by delivering expert-authored courses on a wide variety of important Special Education topics, available through any web-enabled computer or device.

What makes the system so unique is our amazing author team! It’s really a Who’s Who of the nation’s most credentialed Special Education experts, including Tim Lewis, Carol Gray, Gary Greene, Carol Kosnitsky, Andy Bondy and many others.

For District Administrators

Easily deliver evidence-based Special Education-related professional development by the nation's leading experts to your staff, online! Find training for all staff members who serve students with exceptionalities in one system. And, your staff can train online when it’s most convenient.

Discover how EC will help your district.

For Individual Educators

Access a wide variety of expert-authored Special Education-related training to meet your continuing education requirements. Every course includes evidence-based interventions, an assessment, and valuable reference materials that you can use after your training is complete.

Learn how you can benefit.

Professional Organizations and Resources

Click on the links for more information.

CEEDAR Center at the University of Florida
The CEEDAR Center works with states, universities, and education agencies, providing opportunities to learn for teachers and leaders. CEEDAR is a national technical assistance center dedicated to supporting states in their efforts to develop teachers and leaders who can successfully prepare students with disabilities to achieve college and career-ready standards.

National Board for Professional Teaching Standards

Established in 1987, the National Board is an independent, nonprofit organization working to advance accomplished teaching for all students.

Mission & History
Learn about the mission and origins of the National Board and its vision to transform the teaching profession.

Organization
Learn about the Board of Directors and staff at the National Board.

Newsroom
Read the latest news releases and coverage about the National Board.

Learning Forward

Bimonthly action brief that examines an essential professional learning topic; showcases system, school, and teacher leader perspectives; and features valuable tools to advance practitioner knowledge and skills.

July 2014

Available to the public: Download a one-page summary of this issue to share with others.

Learning Forward

Status of Professional Learning

Launched in 2008 by NSDC and a team of researchers from the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education (SCOPE), the three-part Status of Professional Learning research study aims to measure the effectiveness of professional learning in the United States. Funding for the multiyear research effort comes from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Just released--Phase IV: Building a Learning Community: A Tale of Two Schools

In an effort to understand and document the elements that make professional learning communities effective, a new report presents case studies of two schools drawn from survey data of 33 New Jersey public schools involved in a state-sponsored professional learning community training program. The report, Building a Learning Community: A Tale of Two Schools, is authored by Dan Mindich and Ann Lieberman and produced through Learning Forward and the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education (SCOPE). Among the key findings: sustaining focus is vital, collegiality is not enough, and leadership is key. This is the final report from the multiphase research initiative, Status of Professional Learning.

Read the report.

Also available--Phase III: Teacher Professional Learning in the United States: Case Studies of State Policies and Strategies

Policy shapes practices, and the increasingly important realm of professional development is no exception. To identify effective professional development policies and strategies, the Stanford University research team examined the policy frameworks supporting high levels of professional development activity in four states in Phase III of the multiyear research study.

The states—Colorado, Missouri, New Jersey, and Vermont—were identified as "professionally active" based on evidence of high levels of teacher participation in professional development in the 2008 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), administered by the National Center for Education Statistics, and the teacher surveys associated with the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP); a reputation in the literature for enacting reforms that are consistent with the research based on "effective" professional development; and improvements in student achievement as measured in the 2009 NAEP.

Read the report

Phase II: Professional Development in the United States: Trends and Challenges

The report from Phase II of this multiyear research initiative examines the status of professional learning in the United States. The findings indicate that the nation is making some progress in providing increased support and mentoring for new teachers. However, the study also reveals that teachers’ opportunities for the kind of ongoing, intensive professional learning that research shows has a substantial impact on student learning are decreasing.

Researchers examined 2008 data from the federal government’s Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) and other sources. The report also includes assessments of each state on the quality of their professional development across 11 indicators that comprise a newly developed Professional Development Access Index.

Read the report.

Phase I: Professional Learning in the Learning Profession

In 2009, NSDC released Professional Learning in the Learning Profession: A Status Report on Teacher Development in the United States and Abroad. This report examines what research has revealed about professional learning that improves teachers’ practice and student learning. The report describes the availability of such opportunities in the United States and high-achieving nations around the world, which have been making substantial and sustained investments in professional learning for teachers over the last two decades. Funding for the multiyear research effort comes from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, MetLife Foundation, NSDC, and The Wallace Foundation.

Read the report.

Professional Learning Systems: Professional Links Page 1

Exceptional Child

Association for Middle Level Education

SEDL - Southwest Educational Development Laboratory

Professional Organizations and Resources

National Board for Professional Teaching Standards

Learning Forward

DA - District Administration

edutopia

Learning Forward