“For educational leaders who recognize that the most important work occurring in any school happens in the classroom, this book provides practical guidance and insights in how school leaders can support teaching and advance learning for every student. Written in a clear and accessible style, this book will be a tremendous resource for educators who seek to make a difference.”

—Pedro A. Noguera, PhD, distinguished professor of education, UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies

“Markholt, Michaelson, and Fink offer many insights into how administrators lead professional development while also surfacing numerous school conditions necessary to fuel and spread teaching practice. This important book also raises the possibility of collective leadership by principals and teachers for next generation school reforms that can better serve all students.”

—Barnett Berry, founder and CEO of the Center for Teaching Quality (CTQ)

“This book is exactly what both aspiring and practicing instructional leaders need. Each chapter offers guidance on practical moves principals and teams can engage in that develop greater expertise through focused observation, targeted professional development, and support for refined teaching practice—all designed to improve student learning. The anchor case describes a school context that is realistic. The authors emphasize key points through the experiences of a principal and her leadership team and make the team's thinking visible.”

—Ann O'Doherty, EdD, associate dean, professional studies director, Danforth Educational Leadership Program; president, Washington Council for Educational Administration Programs, University of Washington, College of Education

“When I began my years as a principal at a large urban high school in Pennsylvania, I remember how overwhelming the job was. At the same time, I also remember how much I craved practical, accessible books that I could read and apply what I gleaned immediately. I am happy to say that I found some of those books by authors like Phillip Schlecty, Anthony Bryk, Milbrey McGlauglin, and Beverly Danial Tatum. I wish this book by Markholt, Michaelson, and Fink was around during my time as a principal. When it comes to school leadership, besides ensuring physical and emotional safety, I can't think of a more important responsibility of leaders than ensuring impactful professional learning for adults. Every principal, teacher leader, and instructional leadership team should read this book.”

—Irvin Scott, EdD, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Anneke Markholt, PhD, is the associate director with the University of Washington Center for Educational Leadership (CEL) and affiliate associate professor at the University of Washington College of Education. Markholt designs and directs the center's partnerships focused on developing teaching effectiveness and instructional leadership. She is particularly interested in the intersection of teaching, learning, and the leadership capacity necessary for school systems to engage in instructional improvement, especially for linguistically diverse students. Prior to her work with CEL, Markholt spent five years as an associate researcher for the Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy at the University of Washington. She began her career as an English as a second language specialist for Tacoma Public Schools, where she taught for 10 years. Markholt is the coauthor of Leading for Instructional Improvement: How Successful Leaders Develop Teaching and Learning Expertise.

Joanna Michelson, PhD, is a project director at the University of Washington Center for Educational Leadership. She manages CEL's content area professional development and coach learning lines of services. She also provides direct support to teachers, coaches, and school and district leaders in secondary literacy instruction and coaching. Prior to full-time work at CEL, Joanna worked as a middle school language arts teacher, secondary literacy coach, and as a consultant for CEL. She completed her doctoral degree at the College of Education at the University of Washington with a focus on coach learning from practice.

Stephen Fink, EdD, is the former executive director of the University of Washington Center for Educational Leadership and affiliate professor of educational leadership and policy studies in the University of Washington College of Education. Fink has worked extensively with school and district leaders on improving the quality of instructional leadership. His work has spanned large urban, suburban, rural, and charter schools and management organizations across the country. In addition to directing CEL, Fink provides facilitation and executive coaching for superintendent and district-level leaders in a number of CEL partnerships. Prior to coming to the University of Washington he spent 12 years as an assistant superintendent in the Edmonds School District (WA) and was a principal and special education teacher in Idaho and Los Angeles. Fink is the coauthor of Leading for Instructional Improvement: How Successful Leaders Develop Teaching and Learning Expertise.

This book is the product of years of learning, collaborating, and exploring. As a service arm of the College of Education at the University of Washington, our thinking constantly grows and expands as we interact with dedicated and brilliant teachers and leaders across the country—and then we come back to CEL to engage in rich dialogue and reflection. Our work in the field is the heart of what we do, and we could not have produced this book without the willingness of our partners to open their practices and their worlds to us. As was the case in our first book, Leading for Instructional Improvement (2011), the tools, processes, and ideas are the result of our collective learning with our colleagues and our district partners. We remain grateful and honored for the opportunity to work to understand the complexities of real schools where our nation's teachers and children learn, take risks, and grow on daily basis.

All of our colleagues at CEL have contributed directly or indirectly to the concepts and strategies in this book. In the course of our work and collaboration as a team, we regularly share our experiences from the field, trying to figure out what our partners are learning, where they are succeeding, and where they are struggling. At CEL, we push each other to be better, and we know we are better as a result. We would not have the tools we have without our ongoing internal discourse. We thank each and every one of our project directors for their tireless work in the field, along with our outstanding office staff members who support their fabulous work back at home.

We would like to acknowledge specific contributions to the work described in this book. We thank Jennifer McDermott, whose creative ability to synthesize complex ideas led to the creation of the practical leadership tools that ground Chapters 4 through 6. She created the first iterations of these tools that now mediate countless leaders' abilities to collaboratively develop professional learning outcomes focused on students and teachers, engage in strategic professional learning planning, powerfully sponsor, and intentionally follow up on professional learning. We would also like to acknowledge Max Silverman, the primary architect of CEL's central office transformation work, including the development and design of the Principal Support Framework. We also thank Max for his thoughtful reading of and feedback on several chapters in this book.

We are constantly humbled by the brilliance and grace of our math and literacy consultants, who seamlessly shift their attention from students to teachers to leaders. Our consultants embody their beliefs that all students deserve the chance to think, argue, and breathe as mathematicians, readers, and writers and that with appropriate collaboration and instructional strategies, our teachers can get them there.

Although the case used in this book is partially fictionalized and we use pseudonyms, it is based on an actual middle school. Each time we sit down to write or revise the ideas in this book, we are inspired and motivated by the incredible energy, passion, and commitment of the teachers and leaders at this school. They are the ones we picture as we consider how to frame our narrative and our analysis. We have been honored to watch the school develop and grow across the years, learning from their own ups and downs, keeping their eyes on the success of their most vulnerable students. We have learned alongside its humble leaders, who wake up with the dedication required to do the practical work of creating a community of adult learners who strive continuously to improve the quality of learning for their students. To these teachers and leaders, we say a tremendous thank you!

I am always struck by those who wrestle with the concept of what it means to teach so others learn, such as Brian Dassler, the former deputy chancellor for the Florida Department of Education, who passed away recently at too young an age. Brian always spoke passionately about the fact that many don't appreciate or understand the complexity of teaching. He believed that if stakeholders understood what it means to teach so that all students learn, they wouldn't be looking for silver bullets to fix schools or blaming teachers for the problems in schools. Rather, they would recognize the importance of investing time and resources in educator learning—the high-leverage pathway to improving what happens in schools.

I had the privilege of working with Brian alongside Stephen Fink through a recent collaborative effort, and clearly Stephen and his coauthors of this new book, Anneke Markholt and Joanna Michelson, embrace the notion that teaching done well is at the heart of school improvement. In their earlier work, Leading for Instructional Improvement (2011), Fink and Markholt elevated the concept of expertise in learning as well as teaching and how to support it. In this book, Markholt, Michelson, and Fink translate their lessons learned into powerful tools and processes that will advance a vision consistent with ours at Learning Forward—excellent teaching and learning every day. The authors start from the premise that developing teaching expertise in principals is essential to effective school leadership and then outline strategies to do so.

At Learning Forward, we posit that the essential pathway to achieving improved practice is through the Standards for Professional Learning. These seven standards define the critical elements of professional learning essential to improving knowledge, skills, and practice that lead to improved outcomes for students. The standards apply to all educator learning, whether for a central office administrator, principal, or classroom teacher.

I'm always excited to see resources that help educators bring the Standards for Professional Learning to life in schools. Among the seven standards is one on leadership:

Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all students requires skillful leaders who develop capacity, advocate, and create support systems for professional learning.

As the explanation for the standard states, “Leaders throughout the pre-K–12 education community recognize effective professional learning as a key strategy for supporting significant school and school system improvements to increase results for all” (Learning Forward, p. 28).

Essential tools and processes for transferring the leadership standard into practice can be found throughout the chapters of Leading for Professional Learning. The authors offer guidance for the essential actions for leaders to take to develop their own expertise even as they create learning structures so teachers learn as well. The authors have worked alongside leaders helping them transform their schools into cultures that elevate learning and appreciate the complexity of teaching. They are not espousing what must be done; they are showing readers how to get it done.

The leadership standard calls on leaders to prioritize three actions, and I'm thrilled to see all three emphasized in this essential new work. The first is to build capacity for learning and leading in others: “Leaders recognize that universal high expectations for all students require ambitious improvements in curriculum, instruction, assessment, leadership practices, and support systems. These improvements require effective professional learning to expand educators' knowledge, skills, practices, and dispositions” (Learning Forward, p. 28).

Through the lens of a middle school case study and the University of Washington Center for Educational Leadership's 4 Dimensions of Instructional Leadership, Markholt, Michelson, and Fink present numerous opportunities for learning and reflection on the role of leaders in achieving the vision. In particular, the tool in Chapter 4 highlights the thinking behind the design of learning opportunities, making an explicit decision based on the outcomes one is seeking. Chapter 6 brings improvement full circle by focusing on tools that strengthen feedback to support implementation of new learning. Early chapters also address valuable tools for guiding observations of classroom practice, a process that the authors hold is not solely the responsibility of the principal but must be practiced by many if excellent teaching is to spread throughout a school.

Second, the leadership standard calls on leaders to be advocates for professional learning: “Leaders clearly articulate the critical link between increased student learning and educator professional learning. As advocates for professional learning, leaders make their own career-long learning visible to others… . Their actions model attitudes and behavior they expect of all educators” (Learning Forward, p. 29).

In the first chapter, Markholt, Michelson, and Fink make the case for leaders' explicit role in teacher learning and leaders' responsibility to further their own expertise in teaching. It is much more important that leaders walk the walk than talk the talk.

Chapter 5 offers a tool that helps leaders consider their role as learners and leaders in teachers' professional development. In particular, principals understand how their role is more than just offering learning opportunities and sitting in to demonstrate support for others' learning. Although our field overall is recognizing that instructional leadership is core to successful principalship, this book's emphasis on leaders developing deep teaching expertise breaks new, critical ground.

The leadership standard's third essential responsibility is creating support systems and structures: “Skillful leaders establish organizational systems and structures that support effective professional learning and ongoing continuous improvement. They equitably distribute resources to accomplish individual, team, and school goals” (Learning Forward, p. 30). Leading for Professional Learning includes a chapter on the support systems necessary for the kind of principal learning the authors outline. A district's learning system has the responsibility to develop teaching and learning expertise at all levels so that leaders can offer teachers the feedback and ongoing support required for all students to experience effective teaching each day.

I'm grateful that through this book Markholt, Michelson, and Fink present pragmatic tools and a framework essential for improving teaching and learning from the principal's perspective. They have put a laser focus on quality teaching and highlight the key elements essential to it. They also remind us of the importance of school leaders in ensuring that all students have access to quality teaching. This book will inspire those who serve as school leaders and those who aspire to lead.

Stephanie Hirsh, PhD, Learning Forward

REFERENCE

1. Learning Forward. (2011). Standards for professional learning. Oxford, OH: Author.

Our nation has work to do. Deep and historically entrenched economic, political, and social chasms continue to create systemic barriers to student learning that result in educational disparities, dividing our nation's children along the lines of race, class, and language. Our efforts to improve educational outcomes for each and every student is multifaceted and remains the equity and social justice issue of our time.

At the Center for Educational Leadership (CEL), we continue to note that low expectations for some students often become a self-fulling prophecy: educators reinforce their own beliefs about students based on what they see in student engagement and classroom performance. When educators report that students “cannot do it,” they are right, which reinforces a belief of low expectations. And the reason educators are “right” when they report that students “cannot do it,” is that educators have yet to develop the depth of expertise necessary to overcome systemic barriers to student learning. Educators' expertise can impact their own attitudes and beliefs about students' capacity to learn. When educators can see, with their own eyes, the difference that their teaching practices make for their students' abilities to engage and succeed, expectations and perceptions of ability change. Developing teaching and learning expertise so that it affects practice and beliefs is an enormous, complex challenge and one that is vastly underestimated. In this book, we tackle just one aspect of this complex challenge.

This book is for leaders who want to create a culture for learning and design optimum learning experiences for themselves and the teachers in their schools. It is our belief that the ongoing work of improving the quality of teaching and learning is complex and requires school leaders to consider this complexity as they plan to support teachers' learning. This book brings forward practical ideas we designed for school leaders and their leadership teams—tools and processes to help leaders identify, in a much more fine-grained way, how to create cultures of adult learning and improved performance that lead ultimately to changes in the learning experiences teachers create for students.