When we talk about great teaching, we often describe it through frameworks, videos or carefully curated examples. But the reality of teaching lives in the middle of a lesson, with real students, real curriculum and real decisions unfolding moment by moment.
That is why DSST is launching a new program, starting with a cohort of 10 teachers across middle and high school content areas, that reflects the belief that great teaching is leadership.
DSST’s new Lab Classrooms pilot is designed to elevate accomplished teachers by opening their classrooms as live learning spaces for colleagues across the network. Lab Classrooms turn individual excellence into shared practice, strengthening instructional consistency and professional learning across DSST. Rather than relying on external models or staged demonstrations, they invite educators into DSST classrooms.
As part of a planned and facilitated learning experience, participating teachers host structured classroom visits for DSST educators, including classroom teachers, instructional coaches, and school leaders. These visits include preparation, live observation and facilitated debriefs, leaving visitors inspired and with practical takeaways they can adapt, questions they can ask differently and strategies they can use the very next day. In addition to live observation, the classrooms create professional learning artifacts such as lesson materials, student work and video clips, which continue the learning beyond one visit.
Meet the inaugural cohort:
The Lab Classrooms Pilot brings together educators who, instead of offering polished performances or perfect lessons, are sharing their practice as it truly is: reflective, evolving and grounded in the belief that all students can learn at high levels.