Utilizing Collaborative Teacher Inquiry to Enhance Daily Teaching Practices in K-12 Classrooms

Abstract

This article describes an inquiry-based research study focused on teacher professional development and utilizing evidence-based practices in everyday teaching to enhance learning opportunities for students in linguistically and culturally diverse classrooms. During a year-long professional development series entitled Embracing All Children: Addressing Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in Our Schools teachers were provided with an inquiry-based framework to apply evidence-based practices presented during professional development sessions into their daily teaching. Teachers gained knowledge of evidence-based practices during monthly sessions while simultaneously participating in collaborative teacher inquiry research groups. The teachers applied new instructional methods in their daily practices while utilizing an inquiry-based action research model to monitor and self-evaluate the effectiveness of their teaching. The findings suggest professional development paired with ongoing opportunities for collaborative teacher inquiry can move evidence-based practices into everyday teaching.