Abstract
Federal and state policy have emphasized staff development on underperforming schools to foster professional growth having as its ultimate goal improving student learning. Nonetheless, research has continuously revealed a gap between staff development and the transfer of training and implementation of acquired learning (Joyce & Showers, 1996). Some of the factors associated with this gap include: 1) limited ongoing support to teachers after trainings; 2) teacher isolation; and 3) limited research that defines and characterizes effective teaching methodologies that demonstrate improved student performance. The research for this study was guided by the following questions: 1)What effect do grade level teams and at large support staff have on teachers’ instructional practices? 2)What are teachers’ perspectives regarding teacher collaboration?