ATLAS Teaching Pathways™
Creating Student Success
Through Teacher Collaboration

It’s common sense – and it’s backed by solid research: well-prepared, supported, and motivated teachers are the foundation of student success.

ATLAS Learning Communities™ offers professional development programs that prepare teachers to be the driving force in school improvement, while meeting the rigorous requirements of No Child Left Behind.

ATLAS Teaching Pathways™ Programs

ATLAS Study Groups. Consisting of small groups of three to five teachers collaborating on curriculum, instruction and assessment, this approach can be used in a single school, a school district or in a network of regional schools. ATLAS has successfully introduced the model to more than 7,000 elementary, middle and high school teachers in 1,500 groups across the country. The study groups help teachers to:
• Develop a deeper understanding of academic content.
• Use data to identify student learning needs.
• Identify best practices tied to state and local standards.
• Support the improvement of curricular and instructional programs.
• Integrate and give coherence to instructional programs/practices.
• Document the impact of instructional initiatives on students.
• Examine student work together.


Conversations that Matter – Teaching for Understanding/Making
Thinking Visible. Students may be getting their work done, but what are they learning? ATLAS is committed to empowering teachers to become more than just the implementers of curriculums they are assigned to cover. Instead, this program strives to involve teachers in the questions that get at the heart of their profession:

    What is understanding? How does it develop? How do I foster
    understanding? How do I know when my students understand? **

Teachers are encouraged to explore better ways to foster a truer understanding of the “big ideas” in their content areas. At the same time, schools are encouraged to create classroom cultures that support students in developing thinking dispositions and habits to foster longlasting understanding.

Through this model, teachers become dynamic molders and shapers of learning experiences that matter – lessons that go well beyond just ‘getting the work done.’ ATLAS offers seminar programs for networks of teachers and school-based faculty coaching.