Collaboration

Collaboration is an essential component of quality education. Research shows a positive correlation between teacher collaboration and student achievement. When teachers seek input and share support for one another, both individual instruction and the instructional environment in the school is improved. Effective collaboration can occur in a number of formats from informal advice shared from one teacher to another to structured professional development days coordinated by the district and attending conferences.

For example, a novice teacher may be struggling with a certain lesson or student. By seeking the input from a veteran teacher, they can gain new insights into their own teaching and implement new strategies and approaches. In addition, they build the teaching community by opening lines of communication and fostering a welcoming and supportive environment. An "open-door" policy where teachers are welcome to sit in on lessons to observe and learn from another teacher's classroom, thereby expanding the approaches and techniques in their own teaching toolbox. Moreover, collaboration is a key when determining interventions with the RTI and IEP teams, so much so that it is a legal obligation when determining how to address the student's needs. Beyond the individual school or district, teachers have many wonderful opportunities to collaborate with teachers in their field at conferences and online. Engaging in these types of activities encourages teachers to follow the most current research-based guidelines for best-practice teaching.