Collaborative Inquiry for Educators

A Facilitator's Guide to School Improvement
Jenni Anne Marie Donohoo - Education Consultant
Collaborative Inquiry for Educators
May 2013 | 144 pages | Corwin
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ISBN: 9781452240251
Available from January 0001
Paperback
ISBN: 9781452274416
Available from January 0001

Description

Your step-by-step guide to making collaborative inquiry work

Collaborating for improved student outcomes makes sense. But beyond theory, do you know where to begin? How does a team gather, analyze, and then implement and evaluate learning objectives while engaging students and meeting school agendas? Without directed guidance, it’s easier said than done.

Aligned to current Learning Forward standards and based on the latest professional development research, Collaborative Inquiry for Educators deconstructs the collaborative inquiry process. This step-by-step guide gives facilitators tools to move teams toward purposeful, productive, and impactful collaborative work, including

  • A clear and concise four-stage model that provides a structure for facilitating successful collaborative inquiry
  • Real-world examples from collaborative teams that model components of each stage
  • Clear, direct, and practitioner-focused tone with an emphasis on action over theory

Unlock your team’s ability to work together to improve instruction and increase student achievement today!

"Jenni Donohoo's immensely thoughtful and deeply practical discussion of collaborative inquiry helps teachers to live up to, and also be enlivened by, the high standards of evidence-informed judgment that define all true professions."
—Andy Hargreaves, Thomas More Brennan Chair in Education
Boston College

“In clear and unpretentious language, Donohoo guides the reader through a challenging but practical four-step learning sequence so that teachers learn and, subsequently, students achieve—a goal to which we all subscribe and endorse.”
—Shirley M. Hord, Scholar Laureate
Learning Forward

Contents

Preface

Preface

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments

About the Author

  • 1. Why Collaborative Inquiry?
  • A Four-Stage Model
  • Getting Started
  • 2. Stage 1: Framing the Problem
  • Determining a Meaningful Focus
  • Determining a Shared Vision
  • Developing an Inquiry Question
  • Formulating a Theory of Action
  • Reflection for Facilitators
  • 3. Stage 2: Collecting Evidence
  • Developing Knowledge, Competencies, and Shared Understandings
  • Implementing Changes in Practice
  • Developing the Data Collection Plan
  • Reflection for Facilitators
  • 4. Stage 3: Analyzing Evidence
  • Considering Implementation
  • Data Analysis
  • Examining Assumptions
  • Reflection for Facilitators
  • 5. Stage 4: Documenting, Celebrating and Sharing
  • Documenting and Sharing
  • Celebrating
  • Debriefing the Process
  • Reflection for Facilitators

Resources

  • Resource A. Identifying Student Learning Needs
  • Resource B. Sphere of Concern Versus Realm of Control
  • Resource C. Examples of Purpose Statements
  • Resource D. Inquiry Questions--Examples--Strong and Weak
  • Resource E. Theory of Action T-Chart
  • Resource F. Innovation Configuration Map Template
  • Resource G. Data Collection Plan Template
  • Resource H. Levels of Implementation Templates
  • Resource I. Collaborative Inquiry Teams--Small Group Sharing
  • Resource J. Characteristics of Collaborative Inquiry Continuum
  • Resource K. Characteristics of Collaborative Inquiry--Start--Stop--Continue

References

References

Index

Index

Description

Your step-by-step guide to making collaborative inquiry work

Collaborating for improved student outcomes makes sense. But beyond theory, do you know where to begin? How does a team gather, analyze, and then implement and evaluate learning objectives while engaging students and meeting school agendas? Without directed guidance, it’s easier said than done.

Aligned to current Learning Forward standards and based on the latest professional development research, Collaborative Inquiry for Educators deconstructs the collaborative inquiry process. This step-by-step guide gives facilitators tools to move teams toward purposeful, productive, and impactful collaborative work, including

  • A clear and concise four-stage model that provides a structure for facilitating successful collaborative inquiry
  • Real-world examples from collaborative teams that model components of each stage
  • Clear, direct, and practitioner-focused tone with an emphasis on action over theory

Unlock your team’s ability to work together to improve instruction and increase student achievement today!

"Jenni Donohoo's immensely thoughtful and deeply practical discussion of collaborative inquiry helps teachers to live up to, and also be enlivened by, the high standards of evidence-informed judgment that define all true professions."
—Andy Hargreaves, Thomas More Brennan Chair in Education
Boston College

“In clear and unpretentious language, Donohoo guides the reader through a challenging but practical four-step learning sequence so that teachers learn and, subsequently, students achieve—a goal to which we all subscribe and endorse.”
—Shirley M. Hord, Scholar Laureate
Learning Forward

Contents

Preface

Preface

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments

About the Author

  • 1. Why Collaborative Inquiry?
  • A Four-Stage Model
  • Getting Started
  • 2. Stage 1: Framing the Problem
  • Determining a Meaningful Focus
  • Determining a Shared Vision
  • Developing an Inquiry Question
  • Formulating a Theory of Action
  • Reflection for Facilitators
  • 3. Stage 2: Collecting Evidence
  • Developing Knowledge, Competencies, and Shared Understandings
  • Implementing Changes in Practice
  • Developing the Data Collection Plan
  • Reflection for Facilitators
  • 4. Stage 3: Analyzing Evidence
  • Considering Implementation
  • Data Analysis
  • Examining Assumptions
  • Reflection for Facilitators
  • 5. Stage 4: Documenting, Celebrating and Sharing
  • Documenting and Sharing
  • Celebrating
  • Debriefing the Process
  • Reflection for Facilitators

Resources

  • Resource A. Identifying Student Learning Needs
  • Resource B. Sphere of Concern Versus Realm of Control
  • Resource C. Examples of Purpose Statements
  • Resource D. Inquiry Questions--Examples--Strong and Weak
  • Resource E. Theory of Action T-Chart
  • Resource F. Innovation Configuration Map Template
  • Resource G. Data Collection Plan Template
  • Resource H. Levels of Implementation Templates
  • Resource I. Collaborative Inquiry Teams--Small Group Sharing
  • Resource J. Characteristics of Collaborative Inquiry Continuum
  • Resource K. Characteristics of Collaborative Inquiry--Start--Stop--Continue

References

References

Index

Index

SAGE Publishing Logo

Collaborative Inquiry for Educators

A Facilitator's Guide to School Improvement


May 2013 | 144 pages | Corwin

Format Published Date ISBN Price
Paperback 01/02/2026 9781452274416 $37.95
Lifetime 01/02/2026 9781452240251 $35.00

Your step-by-step guide to making collaborative inquiry work

Collaborating for improved student outcomes makes sense. But beyond theory, do you know where to begin? How does a team gather, analyze, and then implement and evaluate learning objectives while engaging students and meeting school agendas? Without directed guidance, it’s easier said than done.

Aligned to current Learning Forward standards and based on the latest professional development research, Collaborative Inquiry for Educators deconstructs the collaborative inquiry process. This step-by-step guide gives facilitators tools to move teams toward purposeful, productive, and impactful collaborative work, including

  • A clear and concise four-stage model that provides a structure for facilitating successful collaborative inquiry
  • Real-world examples from collaborative teams that model components of each stage
  • Clear, direct, and practitioner-focused tone with an emphasis on action over theory

Unlock your team’s ability to work together to improve instruction and increase student achievement today!

"Jenni Donohoo's immensely thoughtful and deeply practical discussion of collaborative inquiry helps teachers to live up to, and also be enlivened by, the high standards of evidence-informed judgment that define all true professions."
—Andy Hargreaves, Thomas More Brennan Chair in Education
Boston College

“In clear and unpretentious language, Donohoo guides the reader through a challenging but practical four-step learning sequence so that teachers learn and, subsequently, students achieve—a goal to which we all subscribe and endorse.”
—Shirley M. Hord, Scholar Laureate
Learning Forward


Table Of Contents:

  • Preface
  • Acknowledgments
  • About the Author
  • 1. Why Collaborative Inquiry?
  • A Four-Stage Model
  • Getting Started
  • 2. Stage 1: Framing the Problem
  • Determining a Meaningful Focus
  • Determining a Shared Vision
  • Developing an Inquiry Question
  • Formulating a Theory of Action
  • Reflection for Facilitators
  • 3. Stage 2: Collecting Evidence
  • Developing Knowledge, Competencies, and Shared Understandings
  • Implementing Changes in Practice
  • Developing the Data Collection Plan
  • Reflection for Facilitators
  • 4. Stage 3: Analyzing Evidence
  • Considering Implementation
  • Data Analysis
  • Examining Assumptions
  • Reflection for Facilitators
  • 5. Stage 4: Documenting, Celebrating and Sharing
  • Documenting and Sharing
  • Celebrating
  • Debriefing the Process
  • Reflection for Facilitators
  • Resources
  • Resource A. Identifying Student Learning Needs
  • Resource B. Sphere of Concern Versus Realm of Control
  • Resource C. Examples of Purpose Statements
  • Resource D. Inquiry Questions--Examples--Strong and Weak
  • Resource E. Theory of Action T-Chart
  • Resource F. Innovation Configuration Map Template
  • Resource G. Data Collection Plan Template
  • Resource H. Levels of Implementation Templates
  • Resource I. Collaborative Inquiry Teams--Small Group Sharing
  • Resource J. Characteristics of Collaborative Inquiry Continuum
  • Resource K. Characteristics of Collaborative Inquiry--Start--Stop--Continue
  • References
  • Index

Recent Product Reviews:

"This book provides detailed, practical, and well-grounded ideas for those wanting to make professional learning communities work effectively. It’s a fine resource for anyone working with school development or improvement."
Ben Levin, Professor and Canada Research Chair, Leadership, Higher and Adult Education, OISE, University of Toronto
"Student learning outcomes increase as educators' professional learning contributes to enhanced teaching quality. The most powerful strategy and structure for this dynamic is the professional learning community (PLC) and in the PLC context, adult learning results from the collaborative inquiry of the participants. The author of this significant guide to facilitating collaborative inquiry has created a compelling vision of such inquiry and the professional learning that develops from it. In clear and unpretentious language, Donohoo guides the user through a challenging but practical four-step learning sequence so that teachers learn and subsequently, students achieve--a goal to which we all subscribe and endorse."
Shirley M. Hord, Scholar Laureate, Learning Forward
"Often educational organizations engage in 'hot topic' practices, but not always with knowledge of how to effectively do so. Jenni Donohoo provides very clear and explicit grounding for an individual who might be assigned as a facilitator for a collaborative inquiry within a school system. In the spirit of collaborative inquiry, Donohoo recognizes the need for adaptation to different situations and often provides options for facilitators to consider. Grounding this work in the professional learning literature, she does an excellent job of weaving citations from that literature into a guiding manual for how to proceed. I would certainly recommend this resource to facilitators of or participants in a collaborative inquiry as well as to administrators who set up the opportunities for such collaborations."
Marian Small, Dean Emerita, University of New Brunswick, Canada
"Collaborative Inquiry for Educators is a guide for school leaders who long to move beyond superficial group meetings and into meaningful inquiry that effects actual changes in instruction and student achievement. It provides a timely guide to meeting the expectations of Common Core Standards."
Judy Beemer, Literacy Coach and AVID Coordinator, Junction City High School, KS
"This resource is a must have for collaborative team facilitators."
Rosetta Riddle, Professional Learning Coordinator, Henry County Schools, McDonough, GA

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