New Zealand schools increasingly use inquiry to understand and address complex and persistent issues. This requires schools to have committed Lead Teachers with deep knowledge about inquiry. The collection of studies in this book have been compiled by the research team at the Woolf Fisher Research Centre, University of Auckland, to illustrate the potential of the Lead Teacher role for school-wide inquiry. In each of the chapters a Lead Teacher tackles an important school-wide issue and seeks to understand what is working, or not working, for whom and why. The inquiries cover a wide range of issues, including student achievement, teaching practices, teacher professional learning and home-school partnerships. Each case illustrates important inquiry processes that are needed to make evidence-based decisions in schools. This collection of studies offers a valuable resource for Lead Teachers and those undertaking inquiry in both primary and secondary school contexts. Following the two pieces in the introduction, The Lead Teacher Master's Research Scholarship Programme (Rebecca Jesson and Aaron Wilson) and Solving pressing challenges: The role of a Lead Teacher (Stuart McNaughton), this book contains the following chapters: (1) Pacific girls' perceptions of the enablers and barriers in Level 3 NCEA English: A little talanoa goes a long way (Carol Jarrett); (2) Overcoming a plateau in mathematics learning (Trish Holster); (3) Does Samoan Bilingual education make a difference? (Jacqui Tutavake); (4) Patterns of literacy progress, achievement, and the development of self-regulating young readers in a high-decile school (Liz Lapish); (5) Patterns of vocabulary instruction in Years 1-3 following professional development (Caroline Chawke); (6) Effective academic counselling for Maori students in a Northland high school (Rochelle Telfer); (7) Facets of the gemstone: Effective teaching for Pasifika students in Level 2 English (Richard Watkinson); (8) Students speak about 'Student Speak': Student perceptions of formative e-assessment results (Susan Smith); (9) Barriers and enablers to students' self-management in BYOD environments (Kerry Boyde-Preece); (10) Implementation of Academic Counselling by tutor teachers at a low-decile secondary school (Lynne Savage); (11) Professional Learning Communities: Properties of effective collaborative inquiry in a primary school setting (Catherine Biggs); (12) Does Reading Recovery training change the way teachers interact with students in guided reading? (Heather Hardy); (13) How teacher-leaders make sense of what they learn when they are involved in multiple inquiries (Gina Hemmingsen); (14) Features of success: A study of an effective teaching community (Kim Henry with Aaron Wilson); (15) Empowering parents and improving reading: Investigating an intervention for adolescent readers (David Taylor); (16) Developing a home-school partnership to support Year 9 students in mathematics (Sam McNaughton); and (17) Understanding parents' perspectives of the IEP process (Sharon Fuemana). Contains references.