We talk with National Teacher of the Year Missy Testerman, a master educator who gives us a look at teacher professional learning from the classroom perspective. Missy gives us a ground-level look at what makes for excellent teacher PD, sharing insights and telling stories of how school leadership can become courageous leaders for continuous improvement.

On this episode of The Best of Us, we’re honored to talk with Dr. Thomas Guskey, author of Instructional Feedback: The Power, the Promise, the Practice and nationally-renowned expert on education measurement and evaluation. Dr. Guskey takes us through the why’s and how’s of his five-level model for professional learning evaluation, plus what the research says on PD’s impact on students. We also talk about managing learning versus managing learners, overcoming organizational barriers to PD success, and the surprising lessons Pac-Man can bring to the classroom.

We’re joined by Paola Deliz Felix Encarnación, Vice President of the National Network for School Improvement at City Year and author of “The Six Principles to Foster Voice and Belonging.” Paola walks us through the ins and outs of City Year’s partnership program, which works with schools on challenges to student success through continuous improvement principles.

In this episode of The Best of Us, we discuss transformational coaching as a key lever for momentum with all-star coach Elena Aguilar. Elena coaches us through exploring beliefs and strategies, connecting with the purpose of the work, and considering perspectives of those across your school district or organization.

In this episode of The Best of Us, principals Jennifer Martin and Jamie Jordan share how they’ve supported teacher professional learning through their roles as building leaders. They discuss practical strategies for empowering teachers through alignment and autonomy, the importance of differentiating professional learning for teacher needs, and providing voice and choice throughout the PL process.

We discuss "An Effective Workforce is a Diverse Workforce" with co-authors Sharif El-Mekki and Lisa Lachlan. The conversation covers the historical context of DEI, the impact of educator shortages on students of color, and the proven benefits of a racially diverse teaching staff. Sharif and Lisa strategize on integrated approaches to recruitment, retention, and professional development, highlighting successful ways to attract teachers of color by respecting their lived experiences and reducing barriers to entry.

In this episode of The Best of Us, building principals Christy Whatley and Paul Offill discuss school leadership strategy for professional learning and teacher support. They give us the nitty-gritty on implementing a CHAMPS program district-wide, plus tips for consistent follow-through and using data to demonstrate the program's effectiveness.

As Worcester’s Manager of Curriculum & Professional Learning, Magdalena Ganias is no stranger to the challenge of balancing multiple support structures like PLCs, coaching, and workshops without overwhelming teachers. Magdalena takes us through Worcester’s system for building specific short-term PLC goals, creating and analyzing common assessments to assess student progress, and reflecting on instructional practices.

In this episode of The Best of Us, we’re joined by Dr. Dan Goldhaber, director of University of Washington’s Center for Education Data & Research and AIR’s Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research. Dan takes us through the hard data on predicting teacher and school success, patterns of educator improvement, and the difference that pre-service and in-service experience can make for novice teachers.

In this episode of The Best of Us, we sit down with Dr. Kevin McGowan, Superintendent of Brighton Central School District and longest-tenured school leader in the country, for a conversation that covers addressing graduation rate disparities to tailored teacher PD and beyond.

In this episode of The Best of Us, we sit down with Dr. Alyson Lavigne and Dr. Tim Ford to cover the wide world of teacher evaluation. These two instructional leadership researchers share a wealth of knowledge about evaluation’s past, present and future, from questions of teacher motivation to the impact of Race to the Top and beyond.

In this episode of The Best of Us, we talk with Dr. Tequilla Brownie, CEO of The New Teacher Project, about ways to understand and address the teacher shortage as a workforce issue.

In this episode of The Best of Us, we talk with education researcher and author Dr. Peter DeWitt about research-backed concepts and strategies to make professional learning smarter, stickier, and more valuable.

In this episode of The Best of Us, we talk with Kaya Henderson, former Chancellor of DC Public Schools, about the philosophy and tactics behind the district’s long-term plan for recruiting and retaining exceptional educators.

In this episode of The Best of Us, Center for Black Educator Development (CBED) founder Sharif El-Mekki talks us through rebuilding the Black teacher pipeline by focusing on the teachers of tomorrow: today’s middle and high school students. Sharif takes us through investing entire leadership teams in diversity work, strategies for community partnerships in an embattled education ecosystem, and the importance of Black teacher voice. He also speaks to the critical importance of not just recruiting Black teachers, but retaining them — and why so many districts stumble after the “what comes next?”

In this episode of The Best of Us, Surge Institute founder Carmita Semaan takes us through the ins and outs of investing in Black, Brown, and Asian talent across the education ecosystem. Carmita draws a clear line between leadership investments and exponential growth in access and opportunities for young people. She also discusses the key differences between professional development and leadership acceleration, highlights the work of changemakers you may not know, and gives practical advice on creating conditions for underrepresented leaders to thrive.

It’s inarguable that teachers are experts on what their students need. So how can school administrators leverage that expertise to make professional learning collaborative rather than top-down? Matt Griesinger, Assistant Principal of Northwest Education Services Career Tech and author of the recent article “How Administrators Can Make Professional Learning More Collaborative,” walks us through the nitty-gritty of the three-tiered peer learning process that transformed North Ed’s PD landscape, plus administrators’ role in giving educators a voice in their own learning, and practical strategies for collecting expertise already present in the school building.

Heading into fall 2022, nearly 7% of teaching positions in North Dakota were unfilled. Between attracting young talent and retaining career professionals, a teacher shortage crisis in a rural state can be particularly challenging — but North Dakota's Department of Public Instruction (NDDPI) found a way.

Internationally renowed education consultant Katie Novak works across the world to help education systems incorporate Universal Design for Learning (UDL) so that students are better supported and teachers have more balance. In this episode of ⁠The Best of Us⁠, Katie shares ways in which educators can apply UDL to professional learning, and how instructional coaches can look for UDL in classrooms. We also talked about the inspiration for her recent article “It’s OK to be Uncomfortable When Talking About Race” and how barriers such as racism and ableism are preventing many students from accessing rigorous instruction.

In this episode of The Best of Us, we spoke to Dr. David Pinder about the challenges he has faced, and progress he has made in carrying out his charge of ensuring that leaders are prepared at each stage of their career with the full complement of skills and capacities necessary to guarantee student and school success. He shared his thoughts on a wide range of topics including the levers for empowering teachers, how to create a culture of innovation, the importance of creating professional learning opportunities that are directly related to what teachers ask for, how retention has become the new recruitment at DCPS, and more.

In this episode of The Best Of Us, we sat down with Dr. Karen DeMoss, Executive Director of Prepared To Teach. We started out discussing the barriers to high quality teacher preparation, the misconceptions in understanding student work, and the importance of seeing students struggle via local teacher preparation programs rather than just thinking about it in the classroom. Karen then went on to share her thoughts on key considerations in designing new teacher induction programs, why co-teaching is such an effective way to grow aspiring teachers, and advice on how to maximize the impact of co-teaching.

How can school leaders demonstrate their belief in their teachers? What support do educators need to feel good in the day-to-day, and stay in the profession? What assumptions must change for leaders to provide effective professional learning? How can educators use their time more effectively to drive towards better performance and equity for all students? We discuss these questions and more with Lacey Robinson, President and CEO of UnboundEd.

How do you align strategy, activities and reporting for over 100 coaches across 89 schools? Where do principals fit into the success of a district-wide coaching program? How do you evaluate coaching’s impact year over year? What does a strong pipeline of instructional coach candidates look like? What are the pros and cons of instructional coaching as a pathway to district level leadership positions? We discuss these questions and more with Michelle Lis, Coordinator, Instructional Coaching and Teacher Leadership at Fairfax County Public Schools.

What is the impact of early-career support on overall teacher retention? What considerations go into pairing veteran mentors with new-to-the-classroom mentees? How do great teacher-mentors bring out the best in their colleagues? Which supports do new teachers value most? What are the indicators that an induction program is working? We explore these topics and more with Tonya Dixon, professional learning specialist at Cypress-Fairbanks ISD and director of the district’s new teacher induction program, one of the largest in the country. Tonya has held various leadership positions at Cypress-Fairbanks ISD over the past 14 years, and taught at the district for 10 years prior. 

How has the role of the instructional coach changed in the last couple of years? What can we learn from thinking about the concept of task conflict vs. personal conflict? What can instructional coaches in the United States learn from coaches in other countries? How do we create an environment that promotes learning and not control? How do we change the dominant model of professional development from “change happens from the outside in” to “change happens from the inside out?” We discuss these questions and more with founding senior partner of the Instructional Coaching Group and research associate at the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning Dr. Jim Knight.

Why is it important to engage school-based educators in solving the problems they face? How do we honor the expertise of our teachers, and shift the mindset from professional learning as something done to people to a shared responsibility? What are the obstacles we need to overcome to elevate school-based professional learning? We discuss these questions and more with the author of “Elevate School-Based Professional Learning” Joellen Killion.