Learning in tandem as response and resistance to reforms: Conceptualizing professional development in high-stakes times.

Recent educational reforms have a twin focus that complicates the environment for teaching and learning. New standards position inquiry as central in promoting thinking while accountability policies constrict opportunities for risk-taking and collaboration in professional practice which are necessary for true inquiry learning to occur. This paper presents a conceptual approach to professional development that enables teachers to respond to new standards while intentionally creating necessary spaces for creativity in risk-averse environments. The paper presents a theory of change based on experiencing inquiry, collaborating through networks, and learning in tandem where inquiry is both a tool for professional learning and a pedagogical practice. In doing so, we explain how the theory informs signature designs of the model and then consider evidence from seven years and over 100 teacher participants that illustrate and complicate the theory in practice.