Professional development, testing and assessment, and accountability systems are aligned with these standards. Productive schools are serious about results and hold themselves accountable for increasing learning and academic achievement. Sufficient time and resources to build teacher knowledge and expertise in pedagogy and subject areas. Productive schools are characterized by a premium placed on high-quality staff development. Teachers have multiple opportunities for sustained, schoolwide staff development that expands their knowledge of subject matter and pedagogy.
Adequate resources support formal and informal staff development.
Staff development activities are sustained over time with a clear focus rather than offered as one-shot, disconnected inservices. As part of the productive school's focus on improved student learning, these staff development experiences give teachers time to gain new knowledge, reflect on current and proposed activities, apply new concepts and strategies, and receive coaching and feedback from peers and mentors. School structures support teacher collaboration, particularly team curriculum planning and opportunities to share and improve practices. A school climate that combines academic press and personalism. Productive schools have clear, strongly-held norms about what students should learn.