Novice teachers enter the classroom after pre-­‐service programs with expectations to perform the same duties as veteran teachers. Among the demands on all teachers is the nuanced skill of lesson planning. Improving novice teachers’ planning capacity is an overlooked component of most professional development. The purpose of this action research was to improve novice teachers’ planning capacity and, in turn, their classroom instruction. After co-­‐planning cycles, master teacher observations, and a master teacher’s reflection on her planning, novice teachers reflected on their learning. Data collection included pre-­‐ and post-­‐ intervention interviews, pre-­‐and post-­‐ intervention surveys, targeted classroom observations, and a researcher reflection journal. The overview of my findings is as follows and is discussed and supported in this report:

• The intervention increased novice teachers’ planning knowledge about specific planning strategies
• The intervention had the most significant impact on two areas: teachers’ knowledge and skills of how to use data to drive instruction and how to use questions as an instructional tool
• There was no impact on the specific areas in which teachers’ were strongest to begin: planning from Learning Targets and thinking through directions.
• The least impact was felt on planning “with targeted students in mind to make sure I am making directions and content accessible to all students.”

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