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The introduction of college- and career-ready standards (CCRS) profoundly raises the bar for teaching and learning in American schools--and for professional development. Some school systems are rising to the challenge and significantly improving instruction and seeing student learning growth. With the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Education Resource Strategies sought to understand not just what is happening in these systems, but how leaders have reorganized resources--including people, time, and money--to make it happen. The authors identified four systems where instruction and student performance are improving even under more rigorous academic standards, where teachers are serving a relatively high-needs student population (e.g., at least 64 percent of students receive federal free or reduced-price lunch benefits), and where system leaders highlighted "redesigned professional learning" as a key driver of growth. These systems--District of Columbia Public Schools, Duval County Public Schools, Sanger Unified School District, and the charter management organization Achievement First--represent a range of sizes, regions, funding levels, and system types, enabling the authors to identify insights that they hope can be applied across the country. Each system took a different path, but they found that they all relied on three elements: (1) Rigorous, comprehensive curricula and assessments; (2) Content-focused, expert-led collaboration; and (3) Frequent, growth-oriented feedback. These school systems made these common, research-backed practices powerful by integrating the elements in one cohesive strategy, tightly connected to the work teachers do every day. The authors call this "Connected Professional Learning." It requires significant shifts in how school systems organize resources--moving away from one-size-fits-all workshops and pay for advanced degrees--toward time and instructional leaders to help teachers engage with the curriculum and adjust to student results. This report explores what these strategic practices look like, how to organize resources, and where to get started. [This work was produced with Duval County Public Schools, Sanger Unified School District, and Achievement First.]