April Issue Brief: Teacher Collaboration

Effective teacher teams can produce a variety of positive outcomes, from increased student achievement, to improved school climate, to high levels of teacher resilience and retention. But cultivating effective teacher collaboration is more complex than simply assigning a common planning period to a group of teachers. In this month’s issue brief, we explore best practices related to teacher collaboration, both the face-to-face and the online varieties.

How do you think districts can best support teacher collaboration? What school structures and roles facilitate productive teaming? What are your go-to resources related to collaborative practice? Please respond to our call for commentary. We'd love to hear from you!

Thanks for all you do to support and inspire great educators and engaging education.
Kim Fleming
President, Core Education LLC

Teachers and Professional Collaboration

Recently guest author on the Shanker Institute blog, Andy Hargreaves, reflected on research-proven methods for promoting professional collaboration among teachers.

What Makes Teacher Collaboration Work?
Why are some teams more productive than others? This post examines the inner workings of what is effective and what is not effective when it comes to teacher collaboration.

Resources on the Social Side of Education Reform

Education reform cannot happen in a vacuum. Schools and the people in them are inherently social, so approaching education reform through a social lens makes sense.

Developing Workplaces Where Teachers Stay, Improve and Succeed

Professors Matthew Kraft and John Papay discuss research showing that the school contexts in which teachers work have a profound influence on their effectiveness.

Do Students Learn More When Their Teachers Work Together?

Research suggests that teachers’ social capital – their relationships, networks and collaboration – may be just as important as their human capital, or individual ability.

Online Professional Learning Communities

A new report from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Educational Laboratory examines characteristics of PLCs, as reported in the literature; advantages and challenges of online and hybrid PLCs, compared to face-to-face PLCs; and considerations for the design and setup of online and hybrid PLCs.

Building a Learning Community

Learning Forward and the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education (SCOPE) have released Building a Learning Community, a study that provides a detailed look at the formation and maintenance of effective professional learning communities.

Call for Commentary

How can districts best support teacher collaboration?
What school structures and roles facilitate productive collaboration?
What are your go-to resources related to collaborative practice?

Send your responses to these questions to kfleming@coreeducationllc.com
We thrive on the discussion!

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