The Public Schools of Northborough and Southborough professional learning is designed to develop educators’ knowledge and understanding, sustain growth and lead to refinements in practice. This is a collaborative and iterative process that expands educators’ capacity to improve student learning.  The District’s professional learning culture is built on a foundation of trust, interdependence, an active role by all educators, and a shared belief that improved student learning is the goal of all professional learning.

The following are tenets of the District’s approach to professional learning:

• Experiences are ongoing and situated within the educator’s practice, rather than “one-shot” or “one and done” sessions that may or may not connect to practice.

• Continuous cycles of doing, reflecting/discussing, and refinement.

• Feedback loops from colleagues, coaches, and/or supervisors to assist the educator in reflecting on practice and determining any changes that may be necessary.

• Data practices to support the ongoing improvement of teaching and learning.

• Access to expertise to support the development of educators' instructional practice and content knowledge.

• Learning about content balanced with learning about pedagogy.

The individual educator, each school, and District share responsibility for sustaining professional learning by planning and implementing a coherent system that attends to the accomplishment of individual, school, and District goals. One element of the system is professional development days.