PD in ESSA

An Education Week post highlighted the United States Department of Education’s guidance for applying Title II funds for supporting teacher professional development, training, and support as part of the new Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The post mostly focused on how funding can be used to support teacher professional development; however, there exists opportunities within Title II funding to support school leadership as well. In fact, in this ESSA Title II document providing guidance on Title II funding, the last two sections focus on “Strong Teacher Leadership” and “Transformative School Leadership.” While research has continually shown that effective instruction is key to enhance student learning, we need to keep in mind that improved instruction is often dependent on effective school leadership: both teacher leadership and formal school leadership as the ESSA Title II document is emphasizing.

CALL: Developing and Supporting Leadership

There is certainly an opportunity to use CALL to support Title II initiatives that build Teacher Leadership and Transformative School Leadership. CALL is a school-wide leadership assessment system that focuses on key instructional leadership practices, tasks, and routines throughout a school. As a result, CALL produces action-oriented data that teacher leaders, principals, and other school leaders can act on to support school improvement.

Currently, CALL is used by schools and districts across the county to support and train school leaders. To be sure, using CALL in schools along with an effective coaching model is an appropriate use of Title II funds.