Participate in Professional Learning

If you are a teacher using Skyline, we invite you to participate in the year-long curriculum-based professional learning series specifically designed for your Skyline course.

Each course-specific series is research-based and designed to ensure that all teachers are empowered to implement Skyline so all students access Skyline’s rich culturally relevant and engaging grade-level content. All details about Skyline Professional Learning can be found on Sched.

Year 1 Skyline Adopting Teachers (and teachers who haven't previously attended district-led PL offerings) BEFORE LAUNCHING SKYLINE Skyline Essentials Badges Skyline 101 Required technical training on navigation of the Skyline technical ecosystem: Required introduction to the Skyline instructional materials and practice shifts (full day, in person) Navigating Planning Teaching Assessing 1 Assessing 2 ONGOING LEARNING & SUPPORT Unit Internalizations Highly suggested ongoing professional learning with content specialists on instructional practice shifts and a planning deep dive into an upcoming unit (full day, in person) Instructional practice shift learning and lesson immersion led by content specialists Morning Afternoon Guided deep-dive and collaborative planning for an upcoming unit using the CPS common unit planning protocol + Year 2+ Skyline Adopting Teachers BEFORE LAUNCHING SKYLINE (differentiated depending on school and Network offerings) School-led collaborative unit planning in grade and/or departmental teams District-led collaborative unit planning Year 2+ adopting teachers who do not have access to school or network-led sessions are invited to guided planning sessions using the CPS common unit planning protocol Network-led collaborative unit planning (check with your Network team if this is being offered) OR OR ESSENTIALS BADGES Accessibility Customizing Two suggested: SPRINTS Suggested ongoing PL sessions aligned to content-specific topics available to both year 1 and year 2+ adopting teachers (in-person & virtual options)

Skyline Learning Cycle Protocols

Skyline Learning Cycle Protocols (formerly known as "Co-Labs") consist of highly articulated protocols that any team of teachers can easily follow, extending learning that begins at centralized professional sessions. School-based teams have the flexibility to schedule Skyline Learning Cycle Protocols within their existing meeting structures, including grade level meetings, principal directed time, whole school professional development, or flex time. Each Skyline Learning Cycle Protocol is designed to take approximately 45 minutes and can include optional extension activities. By engaging in Skyline Learning Cycle Protocols, school-based teams will:

  1. Internalize unit content - understanding how key content and instructional shifts live in the curriculum
  2. Engage in lesson study protocols - internalizing and rehearsing lesson content for implementation
  3. Engage in data collection and reflection - informing instructional decision-making with upcoming Skyline content

Skyline Learning Cycle Protocols are accessible below:


Skyline Essentials Badges

The Skyline Essentials Pathway prepares you to plan, teach, and assess with Skyline using asynchronous training modules that can be found within SAFARI Montage. Upon completion of each training module, CPS educators can earn a badge - a microcredential housed within the district’s badging platform Canvas Credentials (formerly Badgr). Digital badges are representative of professional learning achievements. Skyline-adopting teachers who complete the training modules and earn the associated badge will be paid for one hour per completed badge at the non-instructional rate and receive 1 ISBE credit per badge. The badges are accompanied by the Skyline Instructional Technology Reference which answers many frequently asked questions about the digital learning environment of Skyline.

Essentials Skyline Badge

Teacher leading a class full of students

Research-Based Best Practices

Skyline professional learning rests on the design elements that research shows have the most impact on teacher practice, as detailed in the Carnegie Corporation report The Elements: Transforming Teaching through Curriculum-Based Professional Learning. As aligned to this research, Skyline curriculum-based professional learning:

  1. Is rooted in the high quality materials teachers use in their classrooms, with their students in mind
  2. Combines centralized supports from content experts with school-based collaborative inquiry by teams of teachers

Need Help?

If you or a member of your team encounter challenges using Skyline, please visit the Service Now website and open a support ticket, or simply call 773-553-3925 and a support ticket will be opened for you.

Open Support Ticket