The Teacher Team Rubric: How Would You Score Your Team?
A teacher team rubric scores how well a grade-level or subject team actually collaborates, from Level 0 (no teaming at all) to Level 4 (weekly meetings built into the schedule, with shared goals and real accountability). Score your team honestly against each level, then use the gap to set one concrete goal for improvement.
Most teachers who say they "don't team" aren't against it. They just can't find the time, and no one's carved out a slot for it in the schedule. Lack of protected time is one of the most commonly cited barriers to effective teacher collaboration, and it isn't a teacher failing to collaborate. It's a school that hasn't built the structure yet.
This overlaps with what's often called a Professional Learning Community, or PLC, a structured model for teacher collaboration typically centered on student learning and evidence of student progress. Research suggests that well-structured teacher collaboration can support instruction, student learning, and teacher well-being. Whether we're talking about a two-person team in a small rural school, including some of Montana's very small rural "frontier schools," or a full grade-level pod in a large urban building, the same question applies: is teaming something that happens here, or something people talk about?
The rubric below breaks that question into five levels, from a staff where no one teams to one where teaming has become part of the culture. Read through each level honestly. The goal isn't to feel bad about where you land: it's to see exactly what the next level actually requires, so you can go after it.
Level 0: Isolated
Your school does not have a team. You are a team of one! You feel like you are on an island. You may want to team, but there just isn't anyone who wants to work harder than they already do. Others see teaming as just one more thing on their metaphorical "educational plate." Here are some descriptors for this level:
- No one teams at your school; or, if you do, someone sabotages the experience.
- You design all curriculum and learning opportunities on your own; you are not worried about pacing.
- No one is willing to team with you, or they are unaware of the benefits of teaming.
- The school culture doesn't permit, nor does it allow time, to team with anyone else on staff.
- If you do team, you may think (or your teammates may think) that you would lose valuable time that could be used grading papers or testing.
- Teachers may set goals individually and privately.
- The administration does not see the benefits of teaming and does not speak of it.
Level 1: Occasional
Your school "teams" at times, but you meet infrequently. You understand that teaming is important, but you don't realize the power of fully utilizing the people on your team. You team infrequently to design learning opportunities for students. Here are some descriptors for this level:
- Some people team at your school.
- You design activities with other teachers, but usually for big events. Many events are not directly related to the curriculum, but geared more towards building culture and fun activities tied to holidays.
- Some times when you meet a few people don't show up because they are busy doing something else.
- The school culture allows for some teaming; in fact, some grade level teams meet more frequently than others.
- Unfortunately, many other school-related tasks will take precedence over teaming time, making it hard to ever team.
- Teaming conversations focus on breaking up photocopying jobs, preparing supplies for a big event, or divvying up volunteer roles to support it.
- Teachers don't necessarily share their lesson plans; there are completely different learning experiences going on in each room.
- Some teachers on the team may not get along with each other, but meet because they feel obligated.
- Some teachers may not show up to the teaming time because they forget or don't want to deal with certain teachers.
- Teachers and administrators may or may not set goals individually, and they may or may not set goals for the entire school; it is inconsistent from year to year.
- Administration talks about teaming, but doesn't support the expectation for anyone to actually do it.
Level 2: Routine
Your school uses teaming regularly. It may not be an expectation, but teachers understand that it can be a powerful tool for student success. Some teachers meet more frequently; some don't meet at all, but there is visible teaming in your school. Administration talks about teaming and they may even find time for your team to meet. Here are some descriptors for this level:
- Your team routinely meets once a month, maybe even twice.
- The administration frequently talks about teaming and its power.
- Teachers meet to decide who will handle photocopying and other tasks for the upcoming events.
- Administration may meet with teams once a month to discuss team needs or to check on certain curriculum, instruction, or assessment expectations.
- Teachers routinely plan learning events based on the curriculum; once a month, "celebrations of learning" occur.
- Teachers discuss lesson plans and may share them with each other, but in most classrooms, there are completely different learning experiences going on.
- Sometimes teachers discuss student achievement…especially after school-wide testing events.
- Teachers sometimes share students when they teach interventions; some schools use a "walk to reading" or "walk to math" format, where students receive differentiated instruction for a portion of their day and have to go to a different classroom for that instructional time.
- Teachers get along with each other most of the time, but there may be visible jealousies or struggles that play out during the school year.
- Teachers set goals individually, and administrators set goals for the entire school with minimal support from teachers during this process.
Level 3: Established
Teams are part of the school culture. They are used weekly, and communication between teachers and the administration about students is frequent. The administration finds ways for teachers to meet on a regular basis.
- Teachers often share students when they teach interventions; they use a "walk to reading" or "walk to math" format, where students receive differentiated instruction for a portion of their day and have to go to a different classroom for that instructional time.
- Teachers meet weekly during a common prep time designed by the administration through the school-wide schedule, or meet after or before school once a week.
- Teachers meet and discuss curriculum, instruction, and assessment (C.I.A.) of students.
- Teachers plan "celebrations of learning" for the parents and the community at least once a quarter.
- Teachers get along with one another and understand the strengths and weaknesses of team members.
- Teachers talk about curriculum, instruction, and student assessment and may even bring common student products.
- Teachers share lesson plans weekly, but their plans may differ in learning experiences; pacing is discussed.
- Teachers set goals individually.
- Administrators set goals for the entire school with support from the teachers.
- Individual teachers often seek feedback from their colleagues, coaches, or administration.
- Teaming teachers look for professional development opportunities to support their learning journey.
- Teaming teachers are self-reflective and frequently adjust C.I.A. based on feedback given.
- Teaming teachers often talk about new and interesting ways to engage students in C.I.A.
- Teaming teachers understand a student's experience and know that adding too many big activities can cause anxiety for students.
- Teaming teachers often seek feedback and ask for parental and community support in educational learning opportunities with students.
- Teaming teachers hold themselves accountable.
- Teaming teachers often take part in book clubs, share articles and research, and discuss best practices in education.
- Teaming teachers often create after-school learning opportunities (i.e., homework) that are meaningful and respectful to students and their families.
- Administration finds time in the schedule for teams to meet weekly. They may use a PLC model or use a common planning time where all teachers can meet and talk.
- Administration often gives the team topics to discuss or cover.
- Administration often, but not routinely, meets with these teams.
- The administration may keep track of how often they meet and what is discussed during team meetings.
Level 4: Self-Sustaining
The quintessential team is always learning and always evolving. They change with the students they have in their classrooms, use current evidence-based instructional practices and relevant educational research, and they frequently set short-term and long-term goals.
- Teachers share students routinely and flexibly when they teach interventions; they use a "walk to reading" or "walk to math" format, where students receive differentiated instruction for a portion of their day and must go to a different classroom for that instructional time.
- Teachers meet weekly or more often during a common prep time designed by the administration through the schoolwide schedule, or they meet after or before school once a week.
- Teachers seek other times to meet through the week because they know how powerful teaming is for the students.
- Teachers meet and discuss curriculum, instruction, and assessment (C.I.A.) of students.
- Teachers often bring student products to meetings to discuss progress; they may also bring examples of final products that fall into the following three categories: high, medium, and low. This leads to deeper discussions on C.I.A.
- Teachers plan "celebrations of learning" for the parents and the community as much as two to three times a quarter.
- Teachers get along with one another and understand the strengths and weaknesses of team members. They meet outside of school routinely because they know an effective team needs strong collegial relationships (activities are often non-school-related).
- Teachers share lesson plans weekly; their plans often have many similarities in learning experiences, and pacing is always discussed.
- Teachers set goals individually and also support administrators in goal setting for the entire school.
- Teachers observe their team members teaching or planning team-teaching opportunities.
- Teaming teachers routinely request feedback from their colleagues, coaches, administration, and others to improve instruction techniques and strategies.
- Teaming teachers look for professional development opportunities that help them not only individually but also as a team!
- Teaming teachers are not afraid to take risks when teaching; they are not afraid of failure, nor of on-the-spot problem-solving or troubleshooting.
- Teaming teachers are self-reflective and frequently adjust C.I.A. based on feedback, not only individually but as a team, too.
- Teaming teachers routinely participate in book clubs, share articles and research, and discuss best practices in education.
- Teaming teachers routinely talk about new and interesting ways to engage students in C.I.A.
- Teaming teachers routinely and proactively seek feedback and ask for parental and community support in educational learning opportunities with students.
- Teaming teachers routinely create after-school learning opportunities (i.e., homework) that are meaningful and respectful to students and their families.
- Teaming teachers routinely discuss the workload of students and plan "celebrations of learning" events accordingly; they understand that too many events can cause anxiety.
- Teaming teachers have similar classroom management plans; parents can expect discipline to be handled similarly by the teaming teachers and in a manner consistent with the whole school.
- Teaming teachers hold themselves and their team accountable.
- Administration finds time in the schedule for teams to meet weekly. They may use a PLC model or use a common planning time where all teachers can meet and talk.
- The administration offers an option to pay teachers to meet outside the school day.
- The administration provides teachers with the option to find substitutes during school days so they can meet and plan routinely.
- Often, administration gives the team topics to discuss and provides feedback for future consideration and goal setting.
- The administration keeps track of how often they meet and what is discussed in team meetings.
- The Administration routinely meets with these teams and contributes to their success.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is a teacher team rubric?
It's a scoring tool that describes what teaming actually looks like at five levels, from no collaboration at all (Level 0) to a team that meets weekly, shares goals, and holds itself accountable (Level 4). You match your team's real habits to the descriptors and see where you land, not where you'd like to be.
How often should teacher teams meet?
In this rubric, weekly meetings characterize Levels 3 and 4, built around a common prep period or a standing before/after-school slot. More broadly, research supports providing regular, protected collaboration time, but there is no universally established minimum frequency. Level 2 (routine monthly or twice-monthly teaming) is where informal check-ins become a regular habit, without yet reaching that weekly cadence.
Why don't more teams team well?
Lack of protected time is one of the most commonly cited barriers. Teachers rarely object to teaming in principle. What's missing is a schedule that protects time and administrative support that treats teaming as an expectation rather than an extra. Without both, teams default to logistics: photocopying, event planning, instead of the curriculum and student-data conversations that actually move a team up the rubric.
What's the difference between "teaming" and a PLC?
Teaming is a broad term for teacher collaboration. A Professional Learning Community (PLC) is one structured model for that collaboration, typically centered on student learning and evidence of student progress. They overlap heavily, but common planning time, grade-level teaming, and a formal PLC aren't strictly interchangeable; a school can run one without fully matching the others.
Who's responsible for teaming: teachers or administration?
Both, but they're responsible for different halves. Administration builds the structure: the schedule, the common planning period, the expectation that teams meet. Teachers do the work inside that structure: sharing lesson plans, bringing student work to compare, holding each other accountable to goals. At Levels 0 and 1, inadequate scheduling or administrative support may be part of the problem, alongside whatever else is keeping a team from meeting.
- Teaming runs on a spectrum - from Level 0, where no one teams at all, to Level 4, where teams meet weekly and hold each other accountable without being asked.
- Time is the real barrier - most teams stall because no one's protected a slot on the schedule, not because teachers don't see the value in collaborating.
- Administration builds the structure - a common planning period or PLC block is what turns "we should team" into a team that actually does.
- Score honestly, then pick one goal - the rubric only helps if you use it to name where your team really is, not where you wish it were.
Scoring your team honestly is the easy part - building the systems that take it to the next level requires ongoing work. The programs featured on this page include curriculum and instructional design options for teachers who want the training to lead that work at their school.
As a 5th grade teacher, in 2010 Jon won the Presidential Award for Elementary Math and Science Teaching (PAEMST). As a principal, his school won the 2012 Blue Ribbon Award. In 2018, he won the National Distinguished Principal Award (NDP). In 2019 he won the National No Kid Hungry Breakfast Hero Award.
Jon is the author of three guides published on teacher.org: An Educator's Guide to Combat Bullying & Bully Prevention; Teacher Evaluation: A Transition Guide to Exemplary Performance; and You are the Wild Card: Infusing Fun Back into Curriculum. He has authored a children's picture book that was released January 2019 titled Benjamin’s Visit to Principal Reads Office…again! (available at www.archwaypublishing.com)
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