Abstract:
In this chapter Helen Timperley illustrates some qualities of conversations that were differentiallv effective in focusing teaching practice in ways that impacted on student learning in New Zealand. The qualities of the more effective conversations betv;een these leaders and their teachers demonstrated an urgenc)t to solve the achievement problems of slow-progress students and the use of multiple sources of evidence to diagnose student leanting dfficttlties. The achievement data were used in these conversations as a catalyst for gathering further evidence to refine diagnoses and develop more effective solutions for struggling readers. Less effective conversations became stuck in activity traps in which examining data and having conversations was seen as a good thing to do with only a vaguely defined purpose for doing so.