The development of teacher teams is a key early structural component of middle schooling. In the United States, teacher teaming has been touted as the keystone of middle years education. Research has shown that the successful implementation of teaming practices appear to 'have significant effect on the degree to which other elements of the Turning Points 200 reforms may have been accomplished" (Felner et al., 1997, p. 534). In Australia, a study of innovative Australian schools showed that, during the implementation of a middle school reform, the 'typical' trajectory of reforming schools revealed a major 'dip' in their implementation phase and the developmental phase of the reform (Pendergast et al., 2005). One of the key factors identified that could reduce the diversity and duration of this dip was effective team practices, particularly: consistency in team membership; congenial, philosophically aligned dynamics among team members' and a strong emphasis on posing and solving problems as a team. Thus, how well teacher teams function has a direct influence on both the level of the implementation and the effectiveness of other components of a middle years philosophy.