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Professional Learning

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In CFSD, we believe that the most effective professional learning puts teacher choice and voice at the center. We provide a variety of ways for teachers to develop their own learning and capacity for leadership, and to pursue their passions. We strive to cultivate networks of teachers who collaborate to support each other and their students with the ultimate goal of increasing student achievement.

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CFSD Professional Learning Philosophy

“Adult development isn’t just a great tool for school development. It is school development.” --Eleanor Drago-Severson and Jessica Blum-DeStefano, The DNA of Development

 

When teachers learn more, students learn more. In order to support the needs and interests of diverse professionals, CFSD offers a variety of options for all educators to increase their professional knowledge and skills and develop their leadership capacity. We know that people learn best when they are given a choice, are allowed to pursue topics that align with their interests, and are supported over the long term. 

Black and white logo with text: 'Great Teaching Doesn't Just Happen' and 'Catalina Foothills'.

Our Beliefs about Professional Learning

  • When Educators Learn More, Students Learn More
    Professional learning that improves educator effectiveness is fundamental to student learning.
  • Educators As Perpetual Learners
    All educators have an obligation to improve their practice.
  • Shared Responsibility for Student Learning
    More students achieve when educators assume collective responsibility for student learning.
  • Culture of Learning & Leadership
    Successful leaders create and sustain a culture of learning.
  • Continuous Improvement
    Effective school systems commit to continuous improvement for all adults and students.
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Hayes Mizell:

"Good teaching is not an accident...All effective teaching is the result of study, reflection, practice, and hard work. A teacher can never know enough about how a student learns, what impedes the student's learning, and how the teacher's instruction can increase the student's learning. Professional development is the only means for teachers to gain such knowledge."

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Douglas B. Reeves:

"High-impact professional learning has three essential characteristics: (1) a focus on student learning, (2) rigorous measurement of adult decisions, and (3) a focus on people and practices, not programs."

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Michael Fullan, Shirley M. Hord, & Valerie Von Frank:

"The primary goals for professional learning are changes in educator practice and increases in student learning. This is a process that occurs over time and requires support for implementation to embed the new learning into practices."

Two women point at a whiteboard with handwritten text in a classroom setting.

Isabel Sawyer & Marisa Ramirez Stukey:

"For most educators, professional learning is the singular, most accessible means they have to develop the new knowledge, skills, and practices necessary to better meet students' learning needs."

A group of people stand in a classroom, observing someone writing on a whiteboard.

Eleanor Drago-Severson & Jessica Blum-DeStefano:

"Because each of us can only see what we can see and know what we can know, we need other people in order to learn and develop. Collaboration is thus essential to both perspective taking and internal capacity development."

People gather in a library setting, some seated at tables.

Douglas B. Reeves:

"In the context of professional learning, respect is conveyed when teachers are participants in, not merely consumers of, research and the professional learning that accompanies it."

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Michael Fullan, Shirley M. Hord, & Valerie Von Frank:

"Change is based on learning, and the purpose of learning is to support change."

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Eleanor Drago-Severson & Jessica Blum-DeStefano:

"Learning--like educational change and improvement--is an ongoing and never-ending process of discovery. As individuals and organizations, we are never done learning or growing."

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Eleanor Drago-Severson & Jessica Blum-DeStefano:

"We are all high-potential. We all deserve to belong no matter our demographics, professional role, years of experience, learning style, or way of knowing."

A group of people in a meeting room, some standing and some seated.

Isabel Sawyer & Marisa Ramirez Stukey:

"Situating professional learning within the content that teachers will use it and combining that with conceptual inputs that push the thinking further is a critical part of professional learning."

A man speaks in a library, holding papers and addressing a small group.

Eleanor Drago-Severson & Jessica Blum-DeStefano:

"Development is a personal, collaborative, and lifelong process, and every moment--every stage--matters and has value."

Learning Opportunities

The Professional Learning Team

  • Leah Glashow-Mandel
    Director of Professional Learning
  • Beth Jurgensen
    Learning Support Specialist
  • Kellie Licking-Murray
    Learning Support Specialist
  • Melissa Taylor
    Learning Support Specialist
  • Sheryl Castro
    Executive Director of Curriculum and Assessment
  • Felicia Klein
    Administrative Assistant