What is Visual-Syntactic Text Formatting (VSTF)

Teacher professional development is a critical component of teacher learning and improving classroom instruction. Effective communication is key in facilitating professional development. In this chapter, the authors present one aspect of communication in teacher professional development, building shared understanding of key terminology and ideas. they present three case studies of professional development program from across English, history, and science. These cases highlight professional development design and implementation approaches that produced varying degrees of success. The potential pitfalls and effective approaches to facilitating the development of shared language about key ideas are presented. Lessons learned and implications for those who work with diverse groups and conduct professional development are discussed.