Catalina Foothills Unified School District #16 in Tucson, Arizona

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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.

A group of people collaborate around a table, building a structure with sticks.

CFSD Professional Learning Philosophy

Educators thrive when they are able to participate in high quality professional learning that spans the continuum of their career. Educators need consistent opportunities to acquire, enhance, and refine the knowledge, skills, practices, and dispositions necessary to create and support high levels of learning for all students.

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 topics about which they are passionate. We strive to cultivate networks of teachers who collaborate to support each other and their students with the ultimate goal of increasing student achievement.

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.

A group of people sit around a table in a library, smiling at the camera.

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."

A woman with glasses speaks at a table, possibly in a classroom or meeting.

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."

A group of people collaborate around a table in a brightly lit room.

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."

Four people stand in a classroom setting, with a Mexican flag and bulletin boards visible.

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

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

Attendees look upwards during a presentation in a brightly lit room.

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."

A woman with long, dark hair smiles while sitting at a table.

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."

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."

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."

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."

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."

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."

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."

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

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

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."

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."

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."

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

Performing Arts

Visual Arts

Immersion

Professional Learning

Our Beliefs about Professional Learning