ABSTRACT
In high-performing urban schools, effective, engaging instruction promotes equitable and excellent learning results, because instruction is purposefully tailored to increase the likelihood that every student masters critical concepts and skills. To achieve excellent and equitable learning results, not only did teachers provide a guaranteed and viable curriculum that offered students access to challenging academic content, they also provided effective instruction that resulted in high rates of engagement and mastery. Educators demonstrated that they cared about and valued students by finding many ways to acknowledge and celebrate student accomplishments. Frequently, teachers made small but sincere verbal acknowledgments of positive behavior, strong effort, and significant improvement. In the high-performing urban schools, professional development was designed to help teachers provide engaging, effective instruction. In typical urban schools, collaborative planning is disconnected from what principals observe in classroom, and has little relationship with whatever professional development is provided.
