How do districts know if the resources they have allocated to support professional learning in their school district are actually improving the quality of teaching and impacting student performance? In an increasingly challenging financial environment, this is important to know. In this article, a Chicago-area district facing a budget deficit engages in teacher action research projects to determine whether its investment in cooperative learning has paid off. The district developed CLEAR (Cooperative Learning Education Action Research) Project as a mechanism to explore teacher action research.