Accident or design: To what extent do teachers plan and own their professional learning?

The National Teacher Research Panel was set up about 15 years ago by CUREE supported by a group of national education agencies most of which no longer exist. It had three main goals:

• To ensure that all research in education takes account of the teacher perspective
• To ensure a higher profile for research and evidence informed practice in government, academic and practitioner communities
• To increase the number of teachers engaged in and with the full spectrum of research activity.

Over the several years of its existence, the Panel, supported by its expert advisers in CUREE, has helped and encouraged dozens of teachers and school leaders to do high quality but practical research. The Panel also helped them report their findings succinctly, in plain English and focused on relevance to other practitioners. This is one such example of that work.