From Planning to Practice: A Deep Dive into Gold Standard Teaching Practices

By: Anahi Paredes, Curriculum Director, American School of Tegucigalpa

Like many schools in our region, The American School of Tegucigalpa has embraced Project-Based Learning (PBL) to provide students with more authentic and meaningful learning experiences. While teachers have engaged in a variety of professional learning opportunities, both online and in-person, job-embedded professional learning continues to be the most effective pathway for moving from theory to practice. During our monthly Core Leadership Team meetings—a cohort of teacher-leaders dedicated to reviewing and enhancing curriculum and instruction—members share a strategy or tool they have implemented to support PBL in their classrooms. Each presentation is anchored in one of PBLWorks’ seven research-based Gold Standard Teaching Practices. Examples of shared resources include:

- A Decision Matrix to guide students’ decision-making at the start of a project.
- A SWOT Analysis to support learner reflection at the end of a project.
- Mastery Checks to provide quick accountability and assess student understanding.
- The use of AI tools (such as the SUNO AI music generator) to create authentic products.
- The Question Formulation Technique to spark curiosity.
- Daily Trackers to help students stay organized and on task.

In addition, AST teaching staff use the Gold Standard Teaching Practices to align their professional goals. Each teacher identifies a strategy to effectively implement one of the seven practices, supporting our annual school-wide goal of Engaging Students in Learning (Danielson Framework, Domain 3c). This intentional approach encourages teachers to apply research-based strategies that not only strengthen PBL implementation, but also reinforce overall high-quality instruction. For more information, contact Anahi Paredes at aparedes@amschool.org.