Collaborative data inquiry can help schools serve their students better and improve student outcomes--but only if equity is prioritized. Researchers from Harvard's Data Wise Project discuss the importance of using an equity lens when engaging in collaborative data inquiry and what this can mean in terms of disrupting system inequities.

To build collective teacher efficacy, teams must agree to (constructively) disagree, say assistant superintendent B.C. Preston and educator-author Jenni Donohoo. Leaders who mindfully organize team actions, alongside the team itself, empower teachers through processes and protocols to confront ineffective instruction and assessment practices--and…

Teacher-led inquiry cycles--in which small groups of teachers study and address a promise--hold promise as a method of professional development, but only if they receive enough support. In particular, they need access to outside expertise that can help them meaningfully change instructional practices--often a difficult step for teachers working on…

Over the years University of Virginia professor Carol Ann Tomlinson has had several opportunities to teach with colleagues. Most of her experiences, both in her public school teaching days and at the university, have been quite positive and have contributed to her growth as a teacher. In this article Tomlinson describes her first, longest, and…

Too often at the high school level, teachers work in isolation, without the ability to see other practitioners at work. Team teaching offers an effective antidote: It provides a comfortable environment in which to grow because it enables teachers to learn from another professional on a regular basis. "Teaming," notes the authors,…

Most co-teachers agree that there just isn't enough time for co-teachers to appropriately and effectively preplan every aspect of every activity in every lesson. This lack of time leads co-teachers to turn to models that fail to maximize the benefits of a two-teacher classroom. Wilson suggests that if co-teachers use their limited planning time to…

Teachers in high-poverty schools often feel stressed and fatigued. We might expect that if we ask these teachers to take on even more work by meeting regularly in collaborative improvement teams, they will respond with skepticism, even resentment. But in a study of 83 teachers in six outstanding high-poverty schools, these researchers found the…

Whether a teacher loves it or dreads it, lesson planning is a crucial step in the teaching process. Done effectively, collaborative lesson planning--in which teachers work together to design lessons--leads to increased professional learning, higher job satisfaction for teachers, and better lesson plans. The process poses challenges for both…

Imagine getting on the tandem bike of co-teaching. You have a lot to decide. Who sits in the front and takes the lead? Who takes the backseat? The fact is, neither classroom teachers nor secondary content-area teachers have proven eager to give up leading their lesson when they have a co-teacher present, whether to support ELLs or students with…

Co-­teaching is the newest initiative to be implemented in school districts. Students with special needs can no longer be simply physically "included" in general education classes. These students need and deserve authentic opportunities to access and participate in the curriculum. To accomplish this goal, co-­teaching has been embraced.…

Principals can increase the instructional capacity of their schools by creating opportunities for teachers to work collaboratively as they use key resources to improve teaching and learning. The author looks at how the principals in two schools she studied organized teachers to work together. One school created an organizational structure that…

The key practices that improve struggling schools, writes Chenoweth--a researcher who's studied successful high-poverty schools and their leaders--aren't a mystery. From both decades of research and the craft knowledge of educators who've jumped in and turned around schools, we know these practices generally yield improvement: (1) a…

Faced with government-mandated restructuring, Dutch secondary schools and universities are networking to tackle school and professional development concerns. The collegial network helps teachers interpret and influence government policies, learn from one anothers' experience, tap into external expertise, and develop new educational approaches,…

Preservice teachers must learn to work cooperatively with other adults. In practica, teacher educators can successful negotiate conflicts with team members and build on similarities by listening carefully to students' concerns, modeling respect and appreciation for challenges experienced by school staff, exploring the strengths of students'…

The authors question whether elementary students will have access to effective science and mathematics instruction within the current structure of elementary schools, in which each classroom teachers is expected to possess the expertise to teach all subjects well. They review research showing that good teachers are the key to student achievement…