Upcoming Events

Fall 2023 IMPULS Lesson Study Immersion Program in Japan

November 7 – 16, 2023

IMPULS LLC at Tokyo Gakugei University and Lesson Study Alliance are pleased to announce that our popular Lesson Study Immersion Program will take place again this fall.

Application is due by September 25!

Learn more about the program and how to apply here.

Lesson Study Reports Database

Check out our searchable database of research lesson reports. These reports are intended to support the work of lesson study teams and are free to download.

About Lesson Study 

Lesson Study is a structured process for teachers to work together to discover solutions to common teaching-learning challenges. Read “What is Lesson Study? A Primer”.

The members of Lesson Study Alliance help teachers and schools implement an especially powerful form of Lesson Study called Collaborative Lesson Research, or CLR.

About Us

We are a coalition of educators dedicated to helping each other and others learn about lesson study and use the process to improve teaching and learning. The most important work is done by the hard-working teachers who design and teach public research lessons, assist with the annual conference or summer workshops, and more. Backing them up are Tom McDougal, who handles the day-to-day business of Lesson Study Alliance and supports teachers through the lesson study process, and Dr. Akihiko Takahashi of DePaul, who contributes his expertise by giving talks and serving as a knowledgeable other.

Our activities include:

  • hosting the international Chicago Lesson Study Conference
  • hosting smaller conferences and training sessions for teams of teachers;
  • facilitating and giving final comments for research lessons;
  • providing site-based professional development, including knowledgeable other services; and
  • supporting and distributing LessonNote, a free iPad application used in classroom observation and discussion.

Contact us at info@LSAlliance.org or 773-888-3404.

Blog

It’s not the teacher’s job to teach the students!

It’s not the teacher’s job to teach the students!

What?? you might be thinking. What else could the teacher's job be but to teach? The teacher's job is to ensure that students learn – all of them, we hope, though we know we will usually fall short. In Japan, most (elementary) math lessons are designed as "teaching...

The choice of numbers matters!

The choice of numbers matters!

I am looking at a lesson research proposal for grade 5 on division of decimal values by a whole number. The problem the team plans to use is 4.26 ÷ 3, and their goal is for students to discover that the same processes they use to model division with whole numbers...

Meaning of ‘3/4’

Meaning of ‘3/4’

How do we want students to understand a fraction such as 3/4? Yesterday I had the privilege of working with an elementary team that is starting lesson study for the first time. They decided their theme would be around developing persistence in their students through...

+1 773.888.3404

Chicago, Illinois