In school A, teachers do not discuss with one another their practice of teaching nor do they help one another to improve their skills. The principal's annual visits to the classrooms to evaluate teachers with the district checklist contribute little to teachers' growth. When administrators initiate new programs, teachers respond with apathy or are uncooperative. The faculty seldom unites around any effort to improve the school. In contrast to the isolation and fragmentation that characterize school A, teachers in school B feel they are working toward a common goal of school improvement.
Teachers observe each other's teaching and strive to help one another improve.
Experienced teachers willingly share with new colleagues the practices that have worked effectively for them. Asked why they function so well as a team, school B's teachers point to the principal, who engenders in them and their students a vision for the school's success and provides the practical support they need to work together. And they point to each other as resources for solving problems. They are proud to take part in decision-making, and they value their control over a portion of the school's instructional budget. Propelled by growing awareness of these problems, a rare consensus embracing policy-makers, researchers, professional organizations representing teachers and administrators, and friends of education in the business community is gaining momentum toward reform of school structures.