Groupwork provides opportunities to learn important communication and collaboration skills, but how can we ensure all students are participating equitably while also engaging with the academic content when working in groups? Group-worthy tasks provide participation structures needed for students to engage with the content as well as develop and…

Presents suggestions for using agendas to structure team meetings and for encouraging dialog among team members at middle schools. Discusses the importance of considering dialog in planning agendas and concludes that team dialogs can help to create a new version of collaboration in schools and new connections for students. (KB)

Teachers who recognize the value of working together can put their belief into practice through the use of collaboration and cooperative learning methods. Lists 19 characteristics of a well-functioning and collaborative team. (MLF)

Discusses ways to improve collaborative communication between core and exploratory curriculum teachers in interdisciplinary team-taught middle schools. Considers techniques of curriculum integration, homebase/advisory alliances, extended teams, core-exploratory liaisons, rotating team connections, exploratory teams, equalized assessment,…

Describes how one middle school implemented shared decision making successfully. Presents questions that staff asked themselves, including how stakeholders' interests are represented, the type of communication network to use, changes in teachers' and principal's roles, keeping the focus on student learning, the type of staff developments needed,…