Educators in leadership roles have responsibility for ensuring that professional learning is available and accessible to all educators, which contributes to strengthening systems and disrupting restrictive practices for students and educators.

Educators create more effective learning environments for all students when they engage in professional learning that builds knowledge about how to demonstrate understanding, affirms each person’s unique attributes and contributions, and supports reflection about how learners’ lives and experiences impact teaching, learning, and school culture.

Educators work independently and collaboratively within their sphere of influence and with a clear assessment of their current state to achieve school and system priorities that ensure learning for all students. This collective commitment builds over time as educators strengthen their professional dispositions and instructional practices and share what they learn with their colleagues.

Here are the main constructs of the Learning Drivers standard.

Educators identify and address their own perspectives and beliefs.

Building from what they have learned about how personal experiences and perspectives impact teaching and professional learning, educators reflect on their own backgrounds, mindsets, and practices. Educators discuss the impact of limited opportunities and viewpoints in their day-to-day experiences and articulate their own assumptions about key concepts like dignity, belonging, and fairness.

Educators engage in open and respectful dialogue that encourages individual and collective reflection. They implement and model norms that support reflection on how their own opportunities, viewpoints, and perspectives might be impacting their mindsets, practices, and expectations of themselves and each other.

Educators increase their knowledge about the experiences of different communities and seek to understand whether and how policies and practices have impacted those communities. To deepen their understanding, educators in all roles seek out discussions with colleagues and students to learn more about the ways in which their unique characteristics and experiences have impacted their own learning.

Educators work together to identify the policies and practices that impact them most and test the strategies that might lead to improvements. They learn about and use research-based frameworks and protocols that help them identify whether they are perpetuating beliefs or upholding barriers to learning for adults or students.

Educators articulate the steps required to achieve a comprehensive vision for learning as well as indicators of progress toward that vision. They look to relevant research to identify whether any content is missing or undervalued or whether there are any blind spots related to increasing opportunities for all learners.

Educators confer with colleagues and examine data individually and collaboratively about their classrooms, schools, or systems to reveal any patterns that limit some educators’ access to innovative or new professional learning content.

Educators recognize that changes in beliefs and practices can happen simultaneously in a mutually reinforcing cycle and therefore engage in learning experiences that either change practices or shift mindsets depending on the professional learning goals and the learners’ dispositions.

Educators collaborate with colleagues who hold various perspectives. 

Responsive and supportive relationships among educators committed to effective collaboration are critical to a thriving learning culture. Through individual and collective learning, educators strengthen their knowledge about the value that different perspectives bring.

Educators purposely build their capacity to contribute to a learning culture, working to identify and honor all voices and broaden the conversation. They identify instances where a single voice or view dominates the dialogue and take action to change that pattern.
They acknowledge and talk about situations in which limited vantage points are affecting decision-making or planning, such as classroom management practices or the selection and assignment of mentors and teacher leaders.

Educators consider a range of backgrounds when establishing professional learning norms and procedures and recognize that individuals’ different experiences with the education system can result in a range of ways of engaging with professional learning.

For instance, teachers’ responses to conversations may vary depending on culture and previous experiences; those experiences need to be taken into account in planning professional learning design, cadence, and expected outcomes.

Comfort and engagement levels will also vary depending on the group’s makeup — for example, whether group members are peers or supervisors or whether they are new or experienced educators. Educators also identify any unintended impacts of one-sided norms on discussions, relationships, and policies.

Educators examine their collaborative efforts against their goal of successful learning for each individual and address practices that do not lead to achieving that goal. They honor and model vulnerability, trust in the collective commitment to ongoing learning for all, and offer each other grace as they navigate challenging conversations and collaborations.

Educators leading professional learning solicit a wide range of opinions about the content of professional learning and share that information transparently. They articulate and share their own perspectives to ensure they are not unintentionally creating any gaps in knowledge, responsiveness to student and educator needs, or progress toward achieving school and district learning priorities.

Educators prioritize the learning needs of all students and educators. 

Educators identify the learning needs of students by examining evidence about patterns and variations in student outcomes. They explore the beliefs and practices that support learning for all students, develop their understanding of the vision for collective success in their school or system, and build their capacity to examine how their own practices do or do not contribute to the fulfillment of this vision.

Educators address the learning needs of all adults by ensuring professional learning welcomes them as learners and individuals, recognizing a range of experiences, comfort with individual and collaborative learning, and contexts. Evidence-based practices, frameworks, and protocols help to establish shared expectations for comprehensive and effective professional learning practices.

Educators develop their understanding about the value of treating all educators and students with dignity and welcoming all voices. They design and lead professional learning that signals and models respect for each student. They prioritize learning that broadens their understanding of the world and their relationships with fellow educators and students. Educators collaborate with colleagues and learn about a variety of cultures, perspectives, and experiences and how these contribute to a rich learning environment for educators and students.

Not only do educators learn how to create welcoming and relevant professional learning experiences, they also learn to identify professional learning practices that fail to support every learner and need to be discontinued and replaced. They advocate for personalized professional learning practices and expanded pathways for growth and leadership.

Professional learning leaders develop their own expertise to encourage and facilitate educators’ reflection about whether all students are learning and if not, what shifts in practices and beliefs are needed. They use tools such as inventories, teacher and student surveys, classroom observations, and community interviews to measure learning for all educators and all students.

Educators build their understanding about the system of which they are a part. They examine how policies, real and perceived barriers, interpersonal dynamics, expectations, and misconceptions about ability and learning vary for different students and among different educators.

Educators use data analysis and evidence-informed strategies to reveal and address systemic challenges. For example, teams develop and use protocols and tools to monitor whether all voices and perspectives are heard and valued in meetings to promote more informed decision-making.

Professional learning leaders use technology-enabled tools such as data dashboards to make information about learning and progress transparent. Educators in leadership positions use data about teacher qualifications, experience, assignments, and attrition to inform decisions about professional learning content and priorities.

Selected research

Garet, M., Ludwig, M., Yoon, K.S., Wayne, A., Birman, B., & Milanowski, A. (2011, April 10). Making professional development more strategic: A conceptual model for district decision makers [Conference presentation]. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA, United States.

Garrett, R., Citkowicz, M., & Williams, R. (2019). How responsive is a teacher’s classroom practice to intervention? A meta-analysis of randomized field studies. Review of Research in Education, 43(1), 106-137. doi.org/10.3102/0091732X19830634

Hargreaves, A. & Fullan, M. (2012). Professional capital: Transforming teaching in every school. Teachers College Press.

Hattie, J., Donohoo, J., & DeWitt, P. (2020). Understanding impact to foster collective efficacy. Principal Connections, 24(2), 15-17.

Sun, M., Loeb, S., & Grissom, J.A. (2017). Building teacher teams: Evidence of positive spillovers from more effective colleagues. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 39(1), 104-125. doi.org/10.3102/0162373716665698

UCLA Teaching & Learning Center. (2025). Leveraging self-reflection to improve your teaching. Author. teaching.ucla.edu/reflective-instruction/leveraging-self-reflection-to-improve-your-teaching/