Common Planning Time

A recent research study on the effective use of common planning time at the middle school level investigates numerous factors to determine best practices. The research study was created by Christopher Cook, Ph.D., and Shawn Faulkner, Ph.D, both of Northern Kentucky University. The study was published in the online journal of Research in Middle Level Education, RMLE and the abstract is available online at the National Middle School Association website.

The focus of this study is "the effective use of common planning time in high-performing middle schools" (Cook & Faulkner, pg. 3, 2010). Two high achieving public schools were selected for analysis, Lincoln Middle School and Washington Middle School both located in Kentucky. The study employed comparative qualitative data analysis gathered through the structured observations of team meetings and teacher interviews. Common themes emerged at the middle schools examined and the results are as follows:

• Clearly defined common planning time goals
• Effective building level leadership
• Common vision and mission of participants

One statistic of note was the relative lack of experience of the teachers surveyed in this comparative case study. Teachers at Lincoln Middle School reported an average of 7.2 years of experience while Washington Middle School teachers had 5.2 years. The study poses the interesting question, "Does the relative professional youth of the faculty indicate that the building level leadership had actively and successfully complied a staff that would embrace the mission of the school, resulting in the effective use of common planning time?" (Cook & Faulkner, pg. 11, 2010). The entire research study is available online as a PDF here.