The Professional Development Guide serves as an invaluable companion to the book Caring & Engaging Schools: Partnering with Family and Community to Unlock the Potential of High School Students in Poverty. The Guide is a tool to help educators engage in learning that supports a strength-based, whole-child education approach characteristic of caring and engaging schools. Study will also promote a teacher’s own self-awareness and will include strategies to engage economically disadvantaged high school students (and all students) in learning, as well as support student development and build relationships.

The Guide contains learner-centered professional development that comprises engaging exercises and thought-provoking questions, organized around individual reflection and purposeful collaborative problem-solving activities. These are intended to impact instructional practices and interactions with the major stakeholders of the high school ecosystem, empowering educators with the tools to improve student learning and achievement.