This document contains excerpts from Team Up for 21st Century Teaching & Learning. This document includes the excerpts of five articles that provide a substantial evidence-based argument for the power of collaborative communities to improve teaching and learning. These articles are: (1) Professional Communities and the Artisan Model of Teaching (Joan E. Talbert and Milbrey McLaughlin); (2) Professional Learning Communities: A Review of the Literature (Louise Stoll, Ray Bolam; Agnes McMahon, Mike Wallace, and Sally Thomas); (3) A Theoretical and Empirical Investigation of Teacher Collaboration for School Improvement and Student Achievement in Public Elementary Schools (Yvonne L. Goddard, Roger D. Goddard, and Megan Tschannen-Moran); (4) Moving the Learning of Teaching Closer to Practice: Teacher Education Implications of School-Based Inquiry Teams (Ronald Gallimore, Bradley A. Ermeling, William M. Saunders, and Claude Goldenberg); and (5) Tracing the Effects of Teacher Inquiry on Classroom Practice (Bradley A. Ermeling). Case studies written by skilled practitioners who are working today in PLCs in schools around the country are also presented. The teachers in each of these schools have redefined their roles as they have become members of a professional community composed of accomplished teachers, novice and student teachers, and teacher coaches. Each case study tells the story of the process of developing learning teams, overcoming obstacles, and ultimately changing teaching to improve learning and student achievement through collaborative work. Individual excerpts contain resources. [Support for this paper was provided by the Pearson Foundation.]