One of the challenges that continue to face teachers in Jamaica is finding practical, meaningful, on-going professional development. One critical underlying question is: Why has the teaching strategy, learnt during a pro­fessional development workshop or seminar that everyone was excited about at the beginning of the year, faded from use by the end of the year? Another question is: How can we guarantee that teachers will continue to practise new classroom strategies throughout the year, not just during the weeks immediately after the initial training? 
Until recently, educational administrators have not been able to ensure that professional development directly related to classroom change. Given the vast number of demands for reform, restructuring, and school improvement, finding an effective approach to teacher professional development is vital for change to occur (Pullan 1993; Garet, Porter, Desimone, Birman and Yoon 2001). Teacher study groups can be the answer to the questions relating to the lack of transfer of training from workshop and preservice settings to daily classroom practice and enhanced teacher professional development (Murphy and Lick 1998, 2001).