We released our new Standards for Professional Learning a month ago and are so excited to share them with members and the field.You’ll read in these pages about why we published new standards,why now, and what it means for schools, districts, service organizations, and agencies at all levels.

We’re taking this opportunity to use JSD to not only introduce you to the standards, but to dig deeper into each one. How better to do that than to offer articles from the leading voices in the field, the professional learning gurus who helped to define each concept through the irresearch and practice.  It’s an honor to be able to assemble such authoritative educators in one place. The feature articles are springboards to each standard, and much like the elaborations we offer with the standards online and in the book, they include numerous research citations to guide deeper study.

Just as important are the practitioner perspectives we’ve gathered for this issue. While these standards are new, the concepts within them have been critical to our understanding of what makes professional learning effective since the last standards were released in 2001. We turned to educators in schools and districts to share with us how each standard has played an important role in professional learning that leads to results for students.

In the middle of the issue, you’ll findafour-pagequickreferenceguide to the standards. Not only does it list thesevenstandards,butitalsoprovides enough context to give an at-a-glance overview of what educators need to know as they begin their study of the standards.

Studying the standards is the first step in moving them into practice, and we certainly hope to reach as many educators as possible with this information. For that,we ask for your help in dissemination. The standards, full elaborations for each, and selected research citations are available here for all who visit. Share this web address widely —with board members, policymakers, teacher leaders, school leaders, technical assistance providers—all who have a role in planning, implementing, evaluating, and advocating for professional learning.

When we released the standards at our summer conference in Indianapolis, we asked each attendee to fill out a commitment card, promising to take a particular action with the standards. Examples of commitments included:

• “Our district is buying a copy for each central office staff member responsible for professional development and one for each principal.”
• “I intend to use the standards as a planningtoolforthelearningwe’re planning this”
• “I’mmarchingstraighttoourboard president and giving him my copy of the”
• “Our new learning communities willreadthestandardswhenweget back to”
• “I’ll share the standards with my principalandaskhertothinkabout what they mean for our school- basedprofessional”

What is your commitment? Your commitment is necessary for standards to fulfill their promise. We’d appreciate hearing about it through Facebook, Twitter, or by email.