Teaching Schools: Improving Outcomes through Joint Practice Development is a research project commissioned by the National College for School Leadership.

Researchers from the Department of Education include Judy Sebba - Director of Research & Knowledge Exchange and of the CIRCLETS research centre, Philip Kent - Research Fellow, Jo Tregenza - Teaching Fellow and Yugin Teo - Coordinator.

The research focuses on the newly created 'Teaching Schools' which are using 'Joint Practice Development' (Fielding, M., Bragg, S., Craig, J., et al: 2005) and affecting the Transfer of Good Practice (Nottingham, DFES Publications) which defines "learning new ways of working through mutual engagement that opens up and shares practice with others".

The project is wholly collaborative and involves five schools and thir partners (other schools, colleges, universities and local authorities) which are exploring ways in which joint practice development can improve pupil outcomes.

More specifically, the project will monitor classroom coaching, peer observation, use made of video and 'lesson study' and other activities agreed by partners. Work will be evaluated through interviews, observations, analysis of activity records, meetings and reports made by schools through the normal course of their work.