The time of exclusive top-down leadership is over! Only teachers can transform education from inside the classroom, and this book defines best practices of collaborative teacher leadership. Specific techniques, supporting research, expert insight, and real classroom stories illustrate how to work together for student learning, create a guaranteed and viable curriculum, and use data to inform instruction.

Building on both cutting-edge research and professional learning practice, Amanda Datnow and Vicki Park explore how professional collaboration can support deeper learning for students and teachers alike. While many schools and systems support teacher collaboration, they often fall short of their intended goals of improving teaching and learning. This book provides concrete guidance for creating the conditions for collaboration in which teachers are moved toward—rather than repelled—by joint work. The authors explore how collaborative settings can provide a space for working through the inevitable challenges that accompany the changing nature of teaching in the age of accountability and show the motivation, inspiration, and energy that teachers personally--and collectively--gain from collaborating to improve student learning. Ultimately, they show how teacher empowerment towards working together builds equitable and excellent learning environments.

Teacher Collaboration for Professional Learning contains the essential information, tools, and examples teachers and school leaders need to create, manage, and sustain successful collaborative groups. Designed to be a hands-on resource, this practical guide shows you how to: Advocate for collaborative teacher learning Develop and sustain collaborative research groups Organize and conduct productive research projects Address issues of ethics, leadership, and group dynamics Evaluate and sustain collaborative learning activities Based on data from a major survey, Teacher Collaboration for Professional Learning features extensive case examples from model research communities collaborating within schools, across districts, in partnership with universities, and as online networks. The book also offers a wealth of reproducible templates as well as reflection questions and exercises?invaluable tools for organizing study groups.

Discover how Lesson Study benefits both students and teachers. Unlike scripted curricula that strip teachers of professional decision-making, Lesson Study values teachers by expecting them to be agents of improvement in their own classrooms. This resource empowers readers to oppose reform efforts that minimize teacher agency by offering an evidence-based approach to teacher-led instructional improvement. The text provides structures for attending to students’ interests, knowledge, and values when planning, teaching, reflecting, and revising instruction. It also shows educators how to use Lesson Study to design culturally responsive, differentiated instruction for the K–12 classroom. Use this step-by-step guide to develop professional learning communities; increase teacher motivation, efficacy, and knowledge; and support improvement adapted to local contexts. Book Features: Guides readers through three cycles of Lesson Study, taking teacher learning deeper with each cycle.Focuses on developing student understanding that supports meaningful instruction across academic areas.Emphasizes the utility of Lesson Study for informing culturally responsive instruction.Includes examples from a variety of grade-levels and content areas, featuring both pre- and inservice teachers.Includes additional resources and prompts in each chapter to guide application.

All teachers--including career and technical education (CTE) teachers--play a vital role in building a thriving PLC. In this practical resource, the authors explicitly outline how to improve teaching and learning by integrating PLC best practices into CTE programs. Teams of CTE educators will learn how to clarify their purpose, discover their common denominators, and incorporate powerful collaborative processes into their daily work. Use this resource to learn the vital strategies necessary for building and improving teams: Become familiar with the common issues that prevent CTE educators from engaging in the collaborative PLC process. Learn why and how the PLC process benefits both CTE educators and students. Learn how CTE educators can create collaborative programs that are tailored toward CTE fields of study. Receive professional guidance and concrete, achievable teaching strategies for creating an effective PLC process. Access a checklist of crucial action steps for career tech teams at the end of each chapter. Contents: Introduction Chapter 1: Establishing a Collaborative Culture Chapter 2: Forming Collaborative Teams Chapter 3: Setting Up the Logistics of Teamwork Chapter 4: Identifying Essential Learnings and Developing CTE Curriculum Chapter 5: Designing Instruction and Assessments Chapter 6: Reflecting on Data Chapter 7: Responding to Student Learning Epilogue: Turning Parking Spaces Into Rest Spaces Appendix A: Glossary of Terms Appendix B: Reproducibles

The untold story of the root cause of America's education crisis--and the seemingly endless cycle of multigenerational poverty. It was only after years within the education reform movement that Natalie Wexler stumbled across a hidden explanation for our country's frustrating lack of progress when it comes to providing every child with a quality education. The problem wasn't one of the usual scapegoats: lazy teachers, shoddy facilities, lack of accountability. It was something no one was talking about: the elementary school curriculum's intense focus on decontextualized reading comprehension "skills" at the expense of actual knowledge. In the tradition of Dale Russakoff's The Prize and Dana Goldstein's The Teacher Wars, Wexler brings together history, research, and compelling characters to pull back the curtain on this fundamental flaw in our education system--one that fellow reformers, journalists, and policymakers have long overlooked, and of which the general public, including many parents, remains unaware. But The Knowledge Gap isn't just a story of what schools have gotten so wrong--it also follows innovative educators who are in the process of shedding their deeply ingrained habits, and describes the rewards that have come along: students who are not only excited to learn but are also acquiring the knowledge and vocabulary that will enable them to succeed. If we truly want to fix our education system and unlock the potential of our neediest children, we have no choice but to pay attention.

Build a community in your school and improve learning outcomes with this one-stop sourcebook that features the latest educational issues, new research-based strategies and activities, and more!