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Empowering teachers to use data effectively as part of a process of instructional improvement calls for schools and districts to engage in systematic collection and analysis of evidence as part of an ongoing school improvement cycle. In research and practice, the author has identified four steps school leaders — supported by central office — must take in order to launch and implement this work effectively and sustain it over time to lead to improvement. Identify a clear instructional focus to which all teachers can align their work; Lead a schoolwide improvement process that facilitates ongoing learning as part of a plan, do, study, act cycle; collect and analyze multiple types of evidence from teachers and students to enhance instruction; and build a strong team to lead the work of improvement in professional learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes a course for black high school freshman at Union City, California's James Logan High School that used black history texts to build confidence and academic interest. The article portrays this "Lifeskills" class as promoting positive relationships, social cohesion, and relevance of academic materials to life experience. It used texts including slavemaster Willie Lynch's speech "The Making of the Slave," "The Autobiography of Malcolm X," and William Ernest Henley's poem "Invictus." The approach of the class was based on the pedagogical guide "Motivational Framework for Culturally Responsive Teaching."

The article profiles the steps that teachers in a middle school in Walled Lake, Michigan used for standards-based grading to improve student learning. According to the article, one difference between the two grading practices is that standards-based communicates only content mastery. The teachers' core beliefs regarding standards-based grading, which includes a grade that communicates mastery of learning standards, the exclusion of homework in the grade, and that learning may take more than one attempt, are explored. Other steps including charting a course, organizing instruction, and practicing concepts are discussed.

The article discusses how educators can determine if their English Language Learners (ELL) students are progressing. It is suggested that teachers begin by establishing a baseline of an ELL student's ability in the listening, speaking, reading, and writing strands of language. According to the article, a baseline can enable teachers to adapt instruction in each strand to provide support and track a student's progress. Teachers are urged to develop rubrics based on performance expectations from the state's ESL proficiency standards and to create a rubric for each language strand. Several daily assessments that can be used to measure student progress are discussed.

The article discusses a school improvement plan for five school districts in the state of Connecticut that draws attention to lessons that can benefit all school districts that are seeking systemic changes to support students' academic achievements. The lessons learned by the school districts during their initiative, which includes the importance of teaching, that systemic improvement doesn't move in a straight line, and that measuring progress in the middle of the process is critical, but difficult, are explored. The districts also learned that external assistance is crucial, that external resources need to be adapted to local circumstances, and the importance of educational accountability.

The article discusses the qualities of schools that have been academically successful with high-poverty, high-minority populations. Schools that successfully teach poor and minority students do not assume that there are things that don't need to be explained. Teachers analyze what students need to know and need to be able to do; they assess what their students already know and can do, and they determine how to move students to where they need to be. Following this teachers again analyze what students have learned and whether or not further instruction is needed. This process is done systematically, daily, and relentlessly. The importance of teacher collaboration to the students' success is discussed.

The article discusses ways to translate the professional development of teachers into measurable student achievement gains. The article describes how the relationship between teacher development and student success is not always clear, with research suggesting that student achievement does not always result after the implementation of teacher development programs. Studies analyzing the relationship between professional development and student learning from the American Institute for Research are discussed.

The article discusses the National Network of Partnership Schools (NNPS), an organization that helps schools, school districts, and state departments of education develop partnership programs. The Johns Hopkins University-based network aims to involve families, foster supportive communities, and improve student achievement. The article "School/Family/Community Partnerships: Caring for the Children We Share" by the author in a previous issue is discussed. She invites readers to join the network.

The article discusses the research report "Teaching Students and Teaching Each Other : The Importance of Peer Learning for Teachers," by C. Kirabo Jackson and Elias Bruegmann in the October 2009 issue of "American Economic Journal: Applied Economics." It was found that student achievement increases when a high-quality teacher joins a team of teachers in the same grade. The implications of the research for performance pay is discussed.