The final month of school isn’t just about wrapping up—it’s about setting up. District leaders who act now can turn reflection into strategy and momentum into meaningful growth.

You can have high attendance at every PD session and still miss the mark. Without meaningful feedback from teachers, it’s nearly impossible to know what’s resonating, what’s falling short, or how to improve. So why are feedback rates so stubbornly low—and what can districts do about it?

Supporting the educators who teach early learners is perhaps one of the best educational investments that any school leader can make. Today, instructional leadership experts take us through look-fors and resources to make sure feedback to early childhood educators is meaningful and relevant.

When school leaders deepen their understanding of different subjects, it can prove a powerful lever to giving teachers the feedback they deserve and desire. Today, we’ll discuss ways to support teachers in the area of literacy foundations.

When school leaders deepen their understanding of different subjects, it can prove a powerful lever to giving teachers the feedback they deserve and desire. Today, we’ll discuss ways to support teachers in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) area.

We’re pleased to present this guest post from Drs. Alyson Lavigne and Mary Lynne Derrington, instructional leadership experts and authors of Actionable Feedback to PK-12 Teachers. This is Part 1 of a four-part series on actionable feedback. Stay tuned for the next posts that will focus on Leadership Content Knowledge (LCK) and teacher feedback in the areas of STEM, Literacy, and Early Childhood Education.

Professional development feedback gets a bad rap. District leaders and PD directors often consider it subjective and shallow, focusing on verifiable metrics instead: hours clocked, attendances logged and sessions completed. But participant feedback can be an untapped treasure trove of actionable data, and innovative PD leaders are using it to formatively evaluate programs for in-the-moment success. We recently talked to the directors of two Texas districts about the ways they’re listening to — and using — post-PD feedback.

Sample question bank for feedback on teacher professional development, plus a guide to getting the most out of your participants' comments.

The expression "practice makes perfect" depends on the value of that practice. Tom Arnett, Research Fellow at the Christensen Institute, argues that good practice must be feedback-informed. In an exclusive interview, Tom dives into "purposeful practice" and gives an example of a program that's doing it right.