The flat structure of American schools is ill-suited to meeting today's demands for education improvement. Historically, American schools have addressed this instructional support deficit with a patchwork of poorly defined roles and responsibilities--underused department chairs, fitful coaching models, and informal teacher leaders who generally…

Four common schools of thought in the curriculum arena are the linear, holistic, laissez faire, and critical theorist approaches. When teachers identify which approach they are most apt to use, they can consciously incorporate other styles into their practice. The author holds copyright to this article. Distributed by Phi Delta Kappa with…

Developing systems and opportunities for effective dialogue is critical if schools wish to help teachers work collectively. One school used Socratic seminars, structured conversations about selected texts. These seminars helped teachers to build relationships, share practice, and change curriculum and policy. The seminars also were critical to…