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Educator Resources

Case Studies / Teaching Cases


The three OLAC teaching cases offer a resource to help educator candidates and practicing educators learn about educational improvement strategies. Because they are grounded in rigorous case-study research, the teaching cases detail actual improvement challenges and improvement initiatives.

Each teaching case describes the district's context, performance record, and improvement trajectory. It poses questions to readers (either individuals or teams) to help them process what they are reading and think about how it applies to their own circumstances.

Teaching cases give participants opportunities for active exploration, teamwork, and open-ended consideration of ideas. Use of teaching cases promotes development of personal competencies in

  • critical thinking,
  • analysis of complex situations,
  • decision-making,
  • dealing with ambiguities, and
  • communication.

How to Use Teaching Cases