Instructional Rounds Overview
- 2. Intended Results: ➢ Develop a foundational understanding of instructional rounds ▪ What, why, how, and when? ➢ So that, administrators and teachers feel prepared for and comfortable with the process, and eager to participate.
- 3. What are Instructional Rounds? ➢ Reading Response Activity: ▪ 4 colored cards designate a role: leader, reader, “amen-er,” questioner/clarifier ▪ Read card 1 – time for responses, change roles ▪ Read card 2 – time for responses, change roles ▪ So on
- 4. The rounds process is an explicit practice that is designed to bring discussions of instruction directly into the process of school improvement.
- 5. During rounds, teams of educators briefly visit classrooms to observe and collect data around a question of practice.
- 6. ➢ Instructional Rounds process is research-based and is modeled after clinical rounds in the medical field. Are about learning, growing, improving Result in a plan of action (next level of work) Seek to improve through challenging one another’s thinking & practice. Involve communication and collaboration about how to respond to a problem Require trust and mutual respect Deal with complex work that has life impacting outcomes
- 7. The Instructional Rounds process views educators as highly-skilled professionals, like heart surgeons, . . . continuously learning, reflecting on, and improving their practice.
- 8. The rounds process was created by researchers at Harvard and is described in depth in the book Instructional Rounds in Education (Elmore, City, Fiarman, and Teitel)
- 9. Scripting Activity Take notes on what you see/hear https://www.youtu be.com/watch?v= ugcR1535Yhw
- 10. Rounds are descriptive and analytic, not evaluative. At no point in rounds do we declare what we see to be “good” or “bad” or something we “like” or “don’t like.” Elmore
- 11. What Instructional Rounds ARE NOT? ✓Rounds are descriptive, analytic, inferential inquiry – NOT walkthrough observations. ✓Rounds focus on the practice – NOT a teacher evaluation tool that focuses on the person.
- 12. ✓Rounds focus on patterns of practice – NOT compliance with directives NOT an implementation checklist. ✓Rounds focus on collective learning – NOT individual supervisory practice for an individual’s learning.
- 13. ✓Rounds are a practice designed to support an existing improvement strategy at the school or system level NOT a program or project or an add-on NOT an initiative
- 14. Instructional Rounds and Walkthroughs Sorting Activity
- 15. Instructional Rounds Walkthroughs Conducted by a community of practitioners Usually conducted by 1 administrator For the observers’ learning and systemic instructional improvement For teacher evaluation and improvement Focused on a common problem or question of practice Focused on one teacher, one classroom Requires observers to suspend judgment and gather descriptive, non- evaluative data Observer gathers evaluation data Teachers are not identified or referred to by name or room number. Data that is gathered is organized cumulatively in order to consider and analyze patterns of practice. Teachers being evaluated are identified by name and provided with focused, teacher- specific observation feedback The observers ask, “What is our next level of work based on the cumulative data?” Teachers are give individual improvement goals and/or strategies.
- 16. Why do Instructional Rounds? Acceleration of Instructional Improvement “…to help schools and districts develop effective and powerful teaching and learning on a large scale.”
- 17. How Not To “Rounds”
- 18. How do you do Instructional Rounds? A 4-Step Process 1. Define a Problem of Practice 2. Observation of Practice 3. Observation Debrief 4. Identify the Next Level of Work
- 19. Step 1: Define the Problem of Practice An instructional problem or question that the school and/or the school system wants to solve in order to improve student learning. PoP comes from data, dialogue, and current work.
- 20. The Problem of Practice should be: ➢ Directly observable. ➢ Actionable within a school’s control in real time. ➢ Connected to a broader strategy of improvement. ➢ High-leverage (would make a significant difference for student learning). ➢ Focused on the Instructional Core (Student – Teacher -Content).
- 21. The Instructional Core is defined as the relationship between the teacher and the student in the presence of content TEACHER STUDENT CONTENT Learning Task Super important! This is where school improvement happens!! • Not interventions • Not tutoring • Not assessment or accountability • Not initiatives or programs • Not technology • Not schedules
- 22. TEACHER STUDENT CONTENT Learning Task The Learning Task is the actual work students are doing. What predicts performance is what students are actually doing. The task predicts the performance!
- 23. Problem of Practice Example Students struggle with articulating a clearly defined learning goal and interacting at high cognitive levels with that goal and the aligned learning task.
- 24. Theory of Action Example If students can articulate the learning goal, interact at high cognitive levels with learning tasks that are aligned to the goal, and track their progress toward the learning goal, then … …student achievement will improve.
- 25. Students struggle with articulating a clearly defined learning goal and interacting at high cognitive levels with that goal and the aligned learning task. If students can articulate the learning goal, interact at high cognitive levels with learning tasks that are aligned to the goal, and track their progress toward the learning goal, then … Unpacking the Problem of Practice
- 26. Unpacking the Problem of Practice 1. Think about the key word or phrase, expand upon it. What are all the different classroom implications and applications of the word? 2. Based on that expanded thinking – what are the essential inquiry questions that come to mind about the instructional core and student learning as it relates to that key word or phrase and the PoP? See the example question. 3. At the most effective level, what might this key word or phrase look like in the classroom? 4. What “next level of work” might you recommend to support instructional improvement related to this key component of the PoP and T of A?
- 27. When are the Instructional Rounds? Instructional Rounds are not a single, isolated “event.” They are an ongoing improvement process to move instructional practices toward effective responses to the PoP.
- 28. 4 Learning Modules: 1. Learning Goals 2. Using the New Bloom’s to Align Instructional Tasks with Learning Goals 3. Creating and Using Scales and Rubrics 4. Using Formative Assessment to Help Students Track Progress
- 29. • Collaborative • Non-evaluative • Focused on collective practices • Respect teachers as highly-skilled professionals