Teacher Study Groups: Persistent Questions in a Promising Approach

Education reform and the changing demographics of the U.S. student population require teachers to rethink classroom practice and collaborate in ways they may never have before. There is a growing consensus that traditional forms of professional development are inadequate for addressing the vision of classroom practice required for reform and for confronting the challenges that ESL and other content teachers face in including English language learners in reform. Teacher study groups are an alternative to traditional professional development structures in that they provide opportunities for teachers to explore together issues of teaching and learning in linguistically and culturally diverse schools. This article reports on a year‐long study of two teacher study groups. The purpose of the study was to illuminate the complexities of working with teachers in new ways regarding the education of English language learners.