Learning Forward has posted Facilitator Guide: Standards for Professional Learning on its website as a free resource for all members and website visitors. Designed to assist facilitators in introducing and helping others implement the standards, this guide is for educators new to the Standards for Professional Learning as well as those familiar with the previous Standards for Staff Development.

Included in the guide are practical activities, reflection questions, and tools to deepen users’ understanding of the standards and how effective professional learning leads to effective teaching practices, supportive leadership, and improved student results. Each unit includes introductory and intermediate tasks for use with small groups, teams, or large groups to encourage collegial dialogue, promote active engagement, foster a culture of collective responsibility, and take users deeper into the standards, demonstrating the role they play in schools, school systems, and states or provinces.

With many interactive learning opportunities for participant discussion, conversation, and involvement, this guide models the kind of professional learning described in the standards. The tasks, discussion questions, and tools frame reflections and dialogue about the standards and provide opportunities to apply them in users’ own work. Slide presentations are provided as guidance for short 10- to 20-minute lectures. Times allotted for each unit are approximate and may vary according to audience size, levels of interaction, and background knowledge.

Handouts and slides are included at the end of each module and should be copied for participants before the session.