35,000 teachers across Kenya and Rwanda are currently taking part in a new professional development programme, with the potential to impact the learning of over 2.6 million learners. Through two UK-aid funded initiatives, teachers have the opportunity to participate in school and cluster based communities of practice (CoPs) where, in collaboration with their colleagues, they take charge of their professional development agenda by sharing experiences and supporting each other to improve teaching practice. Early signs have been promising. These two initiatives are a vital opportunity for the global education community to learn more about ‘what works’ at scale to improve quality teaching and learning. In this report, the authors outline some of the early insights as the analysis of the findings from the baseline research phase in Rwanda begins.