Teaching Lab is a non-profit organization on a mission to fundamentally shift the paradigm of teacher professional learning in pursuit of excellent educational outcomes for every child.
We believe that great teaching can be learned. That’s why our coaching and support model is grounded in research and designed to transform mindsets, build instructional expertise, and drive measurable improvements in student learning.
Through sustained, curriculum-based training and coaching cycles, we support teachers, coaches, school leaders, and system leaders to build the knowledge, skills, and beliefs necessary for lasting change. Together, we are shaping the future of education—empowering every educator to grow in their practice and every student to thrive.
Professional Learning and Coaching | Systems-Level Capacity Building
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Professional Learning and Coaching
Teaching Lab’s Professional Learning Model
Teaching Lab’s professional learning (PL) model is grounded in continuous improvement cycles, often referred to as “Cycles of Inquiry” or “Habits.” This model builds sustainable, teacher-led communities of practice focused on improving instruction through deep engagement with curriculum and data.
Our core PL model follows a structured five-step cycle:
- Identify Needs: Teachers (and leaders) build a strong learning community and use research and local data to identify a common instructional problem of practice.
- Study: Teachers collaboratively study research-based practices embedded within the high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) to deepen their understanding.
- Plan: Teachers apply their new learning to plan upcoming lessons and instructional strategies.
- Teach: Teachers implement the planned instruction in their classrooms and collect student work and evidence.
- Analyze and Discuss Evidence: Teachers reconvene to review student work, analyze the effectiveness of instruction, and plan adjustments for the next cycle.
Teaching Lab’s Coaching Model
A year of Teaching Lab services can include:
- Assets and Needs Assessment on Professional Learning Enabling Conditions
- Teacher Professional Learning and Coaching, focused on Curriculum-aligned Cycles of Inquiry
- Instructional Walkthroughs with School Leaders and District Leaders
- Instructional Consultation for System Leaders
We can provide professional learning aligned with any high-quality curriculum and have deep expertise in the titles referenced below.
Teaching Lab supports professional learning aligned with a wide range of High-Quality Instructional Materials, including but not limited to:
Foundational Skills
- Fundations
- Heggerty
- UFLI
ELA
- HMH Into Reading
- CKLA
- EL Education
- Wit & Wisdom
Math
- Illustrative Mathematics
- Amplify Desmos
- Eureka Math
- Zearn
Science
- OpenSciEd
- Amplify Science
Educator Voices
“Our relationship with Dr. Soto [of Teaching Lab] has made all of the difference in the success of our professional development. She has been outstanding, and my principals and leaders ask for her specifically by name.”
– District Leader in Calcasieu Parish, LA
Systems-Level Capacity Building
Teaching Lab partners with district and state leaders to strengthen the conditions for cohesive, effective, and equitable professional learning. We collaborate to build local capacity through sustainable, high-impact approaches grounded in our proven model of coaching, content-based learning, and continuous cycles of improvement.
While every state context is different, here are a few ways we support state agencies and regional district partners to drive high-quality curriculum implementation, build leadership capacity, and foster sustainable systems that lead to improved student outcomes:
- Strategic Planning & Implementation: Collaborate with district and state leadership teams to conduct asset and needs assessments, develop and execute multi-year curriculum implementation plans, and build sustainable systems to support continuous improvement.
- Professional Learning: Facilitate targeted professional learning sessions for district leaders on HQIM (High-Quality Instructional Materials) implementation, change management, data-driven decision-making, and strategies to support all learners.
- Ongoing Collaboration: Engage in regular leadership check-ins, data reviews, and progress monitoring meetings to adapt strategies and ensure alignment with broader system priorities.
- System Coherence: Support leaders to create system-wide instructional coherence by aligning policies, processes, and professional learning structures to the vision for excellent instruction.
- Statewide Impact: Deliver in-person and virtual sessions across grant periods (e.g., multi-year PL series, monthly statewide leader meetings) to share best practices, build leadership capacity, and measure progress toward defined learning objectives.
- Capacity Building: Develop the skills of local instructional leaders to sustain coaching, professional learning communities (PLCs), and observation/feedback systems beyond the duration of direct Teaching Lab support.
Bring Teaching Lab to your state, your district, your classrooms
Let’s build the future of professional learning together.
Teaching Lab partners with schools, districts, and state agencies to deliver coaching and learning that drives lasting instructional change. Share a few details below and we’ll help you explore the right support for your context.