Teaching as a process of inquiry is the underpinning philosophy stated in the New Zealand Curriculum. Teachers are tasked with inquiring into the needs of their students and the efficacy of their own practice in the light of those needs. The results of ongoing inquiry inform how practice might be honed or changed. The authors consider how the context influences the ways in which teachers interact with research and with researchers to inform and support this inquiry. Although drawing on multiple literacy research endeavors with practitioners, the authors employ just one example of a partnership that focused on accelerating progress, particularly for underachieving writers ages 10-13, to illustrate how practices that were effective with these writers were jointly established.