Improving Teacher Knowledge and Pedagogy: Using Lesson Study as a Means of Professional Development

Improving student achievement is the goal ofeducators and teacher education is the key toimprovement. Teachers must continually improve theirown learning to meet the needs of their students. Itis important for teachers to be involved in decisionmaking and to have access to the professionaldevelopment required to inform their teaching, bothcontent knowledge and pedagogy. Lesson study is aprocess that enables teachers to grow and learntogether to improve their learning and collaborationto maximize student achievement. This book chroniclesthe lesson study experience of a group of elementaryteachers in an urban school in the United States. Thegroup employed a vertical approach to the process.The book concludes with the teachers' opinions aboutthis promising form of professional development.Thisstudy should be of interest to teachers andadministrators who are concerned with improvingstudent achievement.

Joanne Bakos Antrim is on the faculty of the College of Education at Concordia University in Austin, Texas. She has many years of experience as a classroom teacher, reading teacher, and Instructional Specialist on the elementary level.