Joellen Killion

While interacting with parents is often a source of stress for teachers, they know that working together with families is important to student success. Killion offers 10 tips for building successful partnerships with parents so that all students learn. This article helps in implementing the Family Involvement standard: Staff development […]

NSDC Deputy Executive Director Joellen Killion urges schools to think of the money devoted to professional development in a new way. Rather than seeing professional development as an expense, look it as an investment. Learn how this change in perspective can not only improve the amount of resources available for […]

Read this month's column on the Data standard to examine the role of the coach in creating a culture that values data as information for improved professional practice. Killion explores five key responsibilities coaches have in helping teachers use data effectively.

Teacher leaders and coaches can help their peers appreciate each student, create safe, learning-focused classroom environments, and hold high expectations for every student. This month's column focuses on the Equity standard. Killion outlines eight steps school leaders can take to help all teachers develop the expertise required to meet the […]

The idea of incorporating research into a decision-making process is quite intimidating to a lot of educators. In this month's column, Killion explains what it means to begin to incorporate information from research into practice. The article concludes with several practical ways coaches and teachers, working in teams, can become […]

Professional development experiences need to be designed with a desired outcome in mind in order for participants to use what they have learned. Different outcomes require different ways of learning. In her column on the Design standard, Killion shares two vastly different professional learning scenarios to illustrate the standard in […]

Meet a useful tool: The Innovation Configuration Map By Joellen Killion  Learn about a useful tool to measure and guide your standards implementation work. The Innovation Configuration Maps (ICs) are written guidelines that describe specific behaviors attached to desired outcomes. In NSDC's case, the ICs were developed to help educators […]

Learn about a useful tool to measure and guide your standards implementation work. The Innovation Configuration Maps (ICs) are written guidelines that describe specific behaviors attached to desired outcomes. In NSDC's case, the ICs were developed to help educators in a variety of roles understand what NSDC's standards look like […]

Evaluation isn't exactly a feel-good word to educators; too often, evaluation is seen as a punitive process. As Killion writes, however, evaluation that is done well can advance improvement efforts. NSDC's Evaluation standard stresses two key points about the evaluation of professional learning. First, evaluation uses multiple sources of data. […]

As coaches interact with teachers, they use the Learning standard to shape the nature and the content of every conversation. The Learning standard states: Staff development that improves the learning of all students applies knowledge about human learning and change. Killion describes three stances a coach may take in interactions […]