Mills Teacher Scholar, Dana Sudduth, has been teaching in Oakland for over 20 years, and many Oakland students have learned strong reading skills thanks to her excellent teaching. This year, she was asked to apply her understanding of reading to a group of students at Montera Middle School. These were students who, as Dana wrote in one of her Mills Teacher Scholars reflections, “were chosen for this class because of low test scores. They consist of mostly African American and Latino students.”

  by Carrie Wilson “What does a successful science journal look like in second grade?” “What do I hope this partner reading conversation sounds like?” “What data would indicate that my students have really internalized the science concept we are studying?” These are the kinds of questions that our teacher scholars grapple with in their collaborative Mills Teacher Scholars work sessions. On the surface, these questions may seem straightforward. But in practice, seeking thoughtful answers to questions about student understanding of content involves delving in to messy issues. Perhaps the most common struggle our teachers scholars face is teasing apart evidence of student understanding from evidence of a student’s ability to follow directions. Upon looking closely and reflecting with colleagues teachers discover that a well scaffolded assignment  may yield more data about students’ ability to follow directions than about their understanding of the key concepts. So how can we figure out what students really understand?

Our first Mills Teacher Scholars School-site partner, Roosevelt Elementary School, has just begun its fourth year of work with our program. Roosevelt teachers recently gathered for their initial meeting, facilitated by their amazing teacher scholar leaders (Cynthia Epps, Wendy Papciak, and Kenny Moy) who are adapting meeting agendas to respond to the specific feedback from their colleagues around how the inquiry work could best suit their professional development goals. Twelve Roosevelt teachers—70% of the staff—self-selected to join the Roosevelt Mills Teacher Scholars group this year.

In June over 175 people attended the Mills Teacher Scholars Inquiry in Action Forum where 40 teacher scholars presented their work. Please check out our video clip of the event. Here’s the link to the video:...