This digest presents recommendations for a staff development program for a multilingual multicultural teaching staff that has been tested and shown to be effective. Effective instruction in bilingual and multicultural schools requires that teachers combine a sophisticated knowledge of subject matter with a wide repertoire of teaching strategies and state-of-the-art knowledge about learning theory, cognition, pedagogy, curriculum, technology, assessment, and programs that work. Researchers at the Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk have gained insight into ways of bringing instruction, cultural relevance, and equitable power relations into a staff development program. The Teachers' Learning Communities (TLC) program that the Center has developed is based on the belief that all teachers can participate successfully in educational reform. At TLC sessions teachers meet for general group activities that review teaching techniques and educational theory and they participate in ethnographic activities that consider the following: (1) overall student learning; (2) bilingual instruction; (3) instruction in language minority schools; (4) individual teacher practices; (5) team teaching; and (6) relationships among teachers. Having the TLC structure in place at the school site gives teachers opportunities for meaningful peer coaching and for collaborative reflection that empowers teachers and promotes student achievement. (Contains 17 references.) (SLD)