I’m excited to share our new article, Alberta’s Professional Practice Standards as a Coherence Framework, recently published in Interchange. In this paper, we explore how Alberta’s Teaching Quality Standard, Leadership Quality Standard, and Superintendent Leadership Quality Standard function as connected and a nested framework designed to support coherence in Alberta’s education system. Drawing on findings from the four-year Optimum Learning for All Students study, we argue that professional standards can do more than simply define role expectations. When intentionally connected, standards can help create shared language, align professional learning and evaluation processes, and strengthen relationships about among teachers, school leaders and system leaders. This work contributes to broader conversations about instructional leadership, systems leadership, policy coherence and professional responsibility in education.
You can read the open-access article here:
Friesen, S. & Brown, B. (2026). Alberta’s professional standards as a coherence framework. Interchange. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10780-026-09565-6
Other related articles:
Brown, B. & Friesen, S. (2025). Stages of teaching expertise from routine to adaptive: A model for advancing teaching effectiveness. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 87, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2025.101530
Friesen, S. & Brown, B.(2025). How adaptive leaders turned crisis into opportunity. Leading & Managing: Journal of the Australian Council for Educational Leaders, 31(2), 19-40. https://journals.flvc.org/leading-and-managing/issue/view/6533