Connecting Caring and Action: Teachers Who Create Learning Communities in Their Classrooms

A number of recent studies suggest that teacher expertise is one of the most important factors in determining student achievement, followed by the smaller but consistently positive influences of small schools and small class sizes. That is, teachers who know a lot about teaching and learning and who work in environments that allow them to know students well are the critical elements of successful learning. (Darling-Hammond 1998, p. 6)