In the beginning pages of Instructional Rounds in Education–a new book by HGSE faculty members Richard Elmore, Elizabeth City, and Lee Teitel, along with doctoral student and Cambridge school principal Sarah Fiarman–the authors remind their readers that “Teaching causes learning.” While this might seem obvious, teaching is often the last focus of education–shifted to the side by standardized testing, changing curricula, faculty room politics, overbearing or aloof administrators, and shrinking school budgets. And yet, argue the book’s authors, the “instructional core”–the essential interaction between teacher, student, and content that creates the basis of learning– is the first place that schools should look to improve student learning. Now a time-honored tradition borrowed from medical practice is helping school leaders gain new insights into teachers’ work.