Collaborative Inquiry - Group members identify a common question for investigation, gathering data from their classrooms. This data prompts reflection and change in practice. Professional Portfolios - Teachers, and Critical Friends Groups, gather and share documentation of their efforts, successes, and challenges in improving teaching practice and student learning. Public Engagement School reformers increasingly recognize that professional educators alone won't be able to effect the changes needed in American schools for dramatic improvement. In the process of surveying efforts at collaborative relationships between schools and communities, the Institute identified a variety of efforts.
Some programs begin with a focus on teaching and learning.
Others begin with issues such as school safety or climate. While parents, school administrators, and community leaders are most frequently included, fewer schools have mechanisms for including teachers in meaningful . Some useful tools have been developed to help schools include parents in discussion of issues of teaching and learning. However, more are needed. Some advocates of public engagement argue that the most meaningful interaction amongst parents and teachers occurs around the core of the work of schools - student learning and teaching practice.