Taking Action: Making Teacher Evaluation A …...2016 Research for Better Teaching, Inc. 01720...

Taking Action: Making Teacher Evaluation A Learning-Focused Process

Confederation of Oregon School Administrators42th Annual Seaside Conference

June 22, 2016

Presentation by:Mary Ann Haley-Speca and Deborah Reed

Research for Better Teaching, Inc.

© 2016 Research for Better Teaching, Inc. • One Acton Place, Acton, MA 01720 • 978-263-9449 • www.RBTeach.com

Copyright © 2016 by Research for Better Teaching, Inc.

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Research for Better Teaching, Inc.One Acton PlaceActon, Massachusetts 01720

President: Jon SaphierChief Operating Officer: Beverly Ross DennyDirector of Programs: Nancy LoveDirector of Professional Development: DeNelle West

© 2016 Research for Better Teaching, Inc. • One Acton Place, Acton, MA 01720 • 978-263-9449 • www.RBTeach.com i


Table Of Contents

PageTaking Action: Making Teacher Evaluation A Learning-Focused Process: Course Description............1Learning-Focused Teacher Evaluation Graphic ......................................................................................2Making Every School a Reliable Engine of Constant Adult Learning or Where to Show Up ...............3Making the Shift to Learning-Focused Supervision ...............................................................................4What Does It Take to Make Supervision and Evaluation Really Work? ................................................5Balanced Analysis ...................................................................................................................................6Sample Claims ........................................................................................................................................8Sample Impact Statements ......................................................................................................................9Verbal Responses to Informal Walks ....................................................................................................11Written Responses after Informal or Formal Classroom Observations ................................................13Practice Exercise #1: Observation of Phyllis Jerrold ............................................................................15Sharing Data and Asking Questions .....................................................................................................17Sample Questions to Ask Students .......................................................................................................18The Formative Assessment Conference and/or Report .........................................................................19Knowledge Base of Generic Pedagogy .................................................................................................20Framing Questions for Observers .........................................................................................................21Key Questions in Lesson Planning .......................................................................................................26Putting Objectives on the Board is Not Enough ...................................................................................27Actively Engaging Students, Promoting Learning, and Maximizing Retention ..................................29Instructional Leadership Skills .............................................................................................................30

© 2016 Research for Better Teaching, Inc. • One Acton Place, Acton, MA 01720 • 978-263-9449 • www.RBTeach.com 1


We are in the midst of a significant evolution in the ways we think about and carry out teacher evaluation. These changes include: shifting from a focus on teacher behavior to a focus on student learning in all phases of the process; redefining and expanding what we mean by the terms observation and data from an observation; expecting teachers to be skilled and engaged partners in the process of assessing effectiveness and modifying their own practice.

This session will focus on what skillful leaders need to know and be able to do to successfully navigate this transition, including:

• being able to name, explain, and document what we observe in teacher and student behavior; • connecting instructional behavior and decision making with impact on student learning;• giving teachers evidence-based feedback that builds capacity and stimulates reflection;• using multiple data sources to assess teacher performance.

The Strands of Instructional Leadership

E�ectiveCommunication

High Expectationsfor Adults

Data About Teachingand Learning

Knowledge AboutTeaching

High Student Achievement

© 2016 Research for Better Teaching, Inc. • One Acton Place, Acton, MA 01720 • 978-263-9449 • www.RBTeach.com2

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Making Every School a Reliable Engine of Constant Adult Learning

orWhere to Show Up and What to Do

Clear chartering of leadership team meetings and operating agreements

Doing walkthroughs and learning walks

Facilitating the work of coaches/instructional

specialists

Ensuring high-functioning meetings of teams that share content (PLCs)

(common planning time)

Planning and leading faculty meetings

Student by student accountability talks

Doing planning and goal-setting conferences

Arranging public teaching and peer observation

Doing formal observations and

reports

Frequent classroom presence and hall-wall availability

Doing frequent short visits and having

conversations about CEIQ

Building-based study groups

and professional development planning

How Leaders Improve

Teaching and Learning

INDUCTIONHIRING WORKPLACE STRUCTURE and WORKPLACE CULTURE


Making the Shift to Learning-Focused SupervisionTeaching-Focused

SupervisionLearning-Focused

Supervision

Emphasis in analysis,

conversation, and

documentation

• What the teacher has done

• Teacher’s performance in relation to a set of standards

• How the teacher “felt” the lesson went (i.e., liked/disliked)

• How/what the teacher might change and why

• How what the teacher has planned and done has affected what students know and are able to do

• Teacher’s and students’ performance in relation to standards

• What formative assessment showed about the instruction

• Reflection on instructional choices that helped or hindered student learning; what next steps need to be taken

Characteristic activities

• Classroom observation 1-3 times a year depending on years of experience

• Requests that teachers submit “participation” information for non-classroom standards

• Conference(s) to review supervisors’ findings and “sign-off” on reports

• Suggestions/recommendations focused on activities to do

• Frequent classroom visits of 5-20 minutes plus one or more formally scheduled full-length observations

• Evidence-gathering from job-alike or PLC meetings, LASW sessions, data analysis, and artifacts showing student learning

• Conferences to review student learning and reflect on teacher and school goals for students

• Suggestions/recommendations that specify desired outcomes as well as steps to take

Role of the supervisor

• Check the teaching against a set of “best practices,” program requirements, or standards of performance

• Fulfill minimum requirements for documentation in order to demonstrate compliance with contract

• Collaborate with the teacher to assess the impact of programs and practices on learners and identify what to change, how to make the changes, what data to collect, and how to monitor progress

• Ensure frequent interactions to stimulate teacher thinking and problem-solving

Role of the teacher

• Provide a display of teaching prowess during required observations

• Provide documentation of participation or compliance

• Analyze data, adjust instruction, and collaborate with colleagues, coaches/evaluators to identify next steps for student learning

• Share and use evidence analysis, reflection, and outcomes to set/revise goals for continuous improvement in learner-focused practice


What Does It Take to Make Supervision and Evaluation Really Work?

KNOWLEDGE

COURAGEPOWER

The foundations• High standards for teaching and learning• Areas of performance, repertoire, and matching to help teachers meet high standards• Data-based feedback about the effects of teaching on learners• Procedures that stimulate and sustain continuous improvement of teaching• Contractual arrangements that require and support efforts to improve student achievement• Professional development, norms, assessment and feedback, and resources to build high-

functioning teams and accountable professional communities

The skills• Conferencing and writing with specificity, clarity, and respect about important aspects of

teaching• Gathering and analyzing data from multiple sources and providing substantive evidence

to support impacts and judgments• Differentiating supervision to acknowledge adult development• Modeling and supporting effective goal-setting• Determining the need for and helping to craft appropriate professional development

Knowledge about, the power to implement, and the courage to pursue . . .


Balanced Analysis

A balanced analysis of instruction incorporates four elements:

CLAIM: A statement that a teacher performs—or does not perform—a certain teaching skill or pattern in his/her instruction; thus, a generalization drawn after looking at evidence.

Mr. R communicated the objective Ms. W communicated three standards of the lesson and the reason it was for quality and quantity of work. worthwhile.

EVIDENCE: A quote or literal description of something said or done; the proof for the claim and one of the reasons for making it.

IMPACT: A statement of what the behavior accomplished or intended to accomplish, what was significant about it, and its effect on students.

Thus when student groups reported out, each of the five groups used their own words to define the concept and had appropriate and substantive discussions about the thinking they would need to do in order to present good opposing arguments.

JUDGMENT or QUESTION

(cont. next page)

“By the end of today’s lesson, you should be able to explain what a counterargument is and two techniques you tried in order to figure out counterarguments. This is an important skill, folks. For the rest of your life people will be trying to persuade you to do things or buy things by using counterarguments...Don’t just tell me the argument; tell me how you figured it out.”

Pointing to the list on the board she said, “Now remember, you need to identify five different ways that he tried to solve his problem. When you write those five ways, they need to be in complete sentences. And, they need to be in the correct sequence.”

Thus students knew exactly what good quality work would look like and were able to assess their own responses.

She did an admirable job of establishing conditions for success.

How do you get students to start internalizing this thinking and applying it to their writing?

An open-ended inquiry to stimulate thinking or improve understanding.

A sentence, phrase, or adjective that lets the reader know what the writer thought of the behavior.


Putting all four elements together, one might hear or see the following:

Example 1, in a conference:

“R, you consistently stick with and return to students who are struggling. For example: with Maria, ‘I don’t want to drop you yet, Maria. What would be the next step?...Yes, and why?’ or with Daryl, ‘So try one more to be sure it’s making sense... OK, explain how you thought about it.’ As a result, students take risks and put their confusion out for everyone to hear. What did you do or say at the beginning of the year to get this outcome so fast?”

Example 2, in writing:

Mr. P has a consistent and highly effective pattern of persevering and returning with students who are confused: • To Maria: “I don’t want to drop you yet,

Maria. What would be the next step?”• To Daryl: “So try one more to be sure

it’s making sense...OK, explain how you thought about it.”

Thus students get the message that he believes in them and that he will not press on and leave them behind.

Example 3, in a conference:

“In each of the last three visits, I’ve captured a pattern of offering help to certain students as soon as you give an assignment—and before they’ve signaled they need it. For example, you went to Brian and Terrence four times respectively during the social studies independent work, and to those same students plus Charlie today while I was observing. I’m concerned that some of these students are getting the message that they don’t even have to struggle a bit; none of them got started independently or took any responsibility until you came. What are some ways to shift expectations so that they get the message they need to listen carefully and try things on their own at first?”

Example 4, in writing:

Ms. S communicates low expectations to some students by routinely offering unsolicited help:• Went to Brian and Terrence four times during

first six minutes of math (10/27).• Provided elaborate instructions to Brian four

times and Shaylene three times during social studies independent work without either student requesting assistance or signaling a problem (11/12).

• Walked immediately to Brian, who was working, and started coaching (“read the question”), then to Charlie and Terrence, who were sitting waiting (12/7).

As a result, these students are likely to get the message that they do not need to listen carefully, try things on their own, or demonstrate effective effort.


Sample Claims

1. Mr. Holmes’ use of checks for understanding throughout the lesson provided opportunities to adjust the lesson to meet students’ needs.

2. Selfridge missed at least six different opportunities to check for student understanding and adjust his instruction to unscramble misconceptions throughout the lesson.

3. Ms. Conklin’s specific feedback to students, aligned to the criteria for success posted on the wall, was designed to promote achievement of the lesson objective.

4. Ms. Clinton’s communication on how to compete the assigned task provided directions but not the standard for the quality of the work itself.

5. Mr. Selfridge has not established the standards for interpersonal behavior in his classroom.6. Ms. Watson’s lesson design and implementation did not provide a variety of learning

experiences in order to meet the developmental needs of the students.7. Ms. Adichie’s clear use of academic language, prompts for students to do so, and the visual

supports throughout the room set the standard for communication about complex concepts.8. Mr. Marple’s use of analogies that connected directly to the life experiences of his students

contributed significantly to student understanding of the challenging concept.9. Ms. Rose has established clear standards for collaborative work and consistently

communicates her expectations to students on how to meet those standards through targeted feedback.

10. Ms. Grantham’s responses to student answers did not allow for students to make their own thinking visible.

11. Mr. Matthews has integrated a variety of strategies into his practice to increase the number of students who participate actively in classroom discussions and responses to teacher questioning.

12. Ms. Tennyson’s careful scaffolding of questions provides the opportunity for students to practice a range of thinking skills.

13. Mr. Banks’ design of the rubric for student self-assessment clearly represented the range and depth of unit goals that had been established as targets at the outset of the project.

14. Mr. Lincoln’s continued reliance on student desks arranged in rows, 7 desks deep in each row, eliminates the opportunity for academic discussions.

15. Mr. Lincoln’s lesson was not designed provide students with the opportunities to generate and test hypotheses.

16. Mr. Gomes’ communicates to students that he cares about who they are as people.17. Mr. Martin’s lesson consisted of a series of low level activities that had little connection to his

objective.18. Mr. Leyden focused his lesson on covering the time period and key dates of the Civil War

rather than on helping students reach a challenging, measurable and meaningful objective.


Sample Impact StatementsNote: These impact statements are directly paired to the sample claims on p. 40.

(cont. next page)

1. Therefore, at the end of the lesson, 22 out of 24 students had demonstrated achievement of the original objective.

2. As a result, students had no chance to indicate where they were confused and Mr. Selfridge could not determine what targeted reteaching should take place.

3. Based on a review of student work with Ms. Conklin, 20 of the 22 students had made revisions to their work based on the criteria for success and feedback and had met the standards for the assignment. Three of the 22 students’ work now met the standard for exemplary work. Ms. Conklin has arranged for the two students whose work has not yet met the standards to receive corrective instruction during the Intervention Block.

4. As a result, students were focused on following directions rather than on the standards for the work itself, both in their questions to the teacher and in their conversation with each other. Ten students requested help from the teacher about what to do and in what order, reducing the teacher’s opportunity to circulate and address the quality of the work itself.

5. As a result, during a 25-minute lesson, 12 of the 22 students were off task for more than half of the instructional time and were unable to...

6. Consequently, the group of 5 students who demonstrated proficiency within 10 minutes and the group of 4 students who required corrective instruction were unable to make meaningful use of instructional time.

7. As a result, during group work, at least 10 students independently used the following terms as a part of their problem-solving: “data,” “demand,” “derivative,” “elasticity,” and “equilibrium.” When prompted by the teacher to do so, 4 students restated their contributions to include the appropriate term.

8. In a written check for understanding, all 12 pairs of students were able to explain an analogy comparing the four points of the particle model of matter to four parts of a middle school dance.

9. As a result, 4 of the 5 groups completed the solution to the problem in ways that allowed each of them to be ready to present. The remaining group will be responsible for assessment of their collaborative skills, and based on that assessment, prepare a solution to an alternative problem for tomorrow.

10. Consequently, students’ responses were tentative and limited to their own guesses about what the teacher wanted them to say.


11. As a result, 12 of the 15 students in the class responded to the teacher with at least 2-3 complete sentence responses. Four students referenced other students’ comments when they responded.

12. As a result, students successfully generated possible themes within the short story and supported their assertions with relevant evidence from the text itself.

13. In this way, partner conversations demonstrated that students had internalized the standards for expository writing in order to respond to an “open response question” for the state exam.

14. Consequently, only 5 students, all of whom were seated near the front of the room, responded to the questions. None of the 5 referenced anything said by the others. All 5 looked directly at the teacher. None spoke in more than 1-2 sentences.

15. As a result, students filled in the blanks on the lab report worksheet but were unable to respond with more than one sentence to the section on the worksheet that required them to list possible hypotheses and project the tests that could be used to determine which of the hypotheses was most likely to have caused the reaction.

16. As a result, there were no comments or incidents that disrupted the respectful climate of cooperation in the room.

17. As a result, student work provided no evidence of progress towards meeting the stated objective.

18. As a result, all 8 of the students, when asked what they were supposed to know and be able to do, responded with some variation of “memorize dates and names for the quiz on Friday.”


Hallway conversation with first-year teacher, gr. 2, after early-year grade-level walk of under 10 minutes:

“When I visited your room yesterday, I noticed that you were using a wide range of strategies to get and keep your students’ attention. You already know the students’ names and used three of those names (Charlie, Lynn, Kareem) to let them know you remembered that they had talked about how much they loved pasta. Your use of the clapping pattern and wait time as they settled into the circle had them all ready for that huge pasta pot you put down right next to you. Every child’s eyes were on you and that kettle when you began to read Strega Nona and the Pasta Pot.” (Feedback/effective praise)

Private conversation in the teacher’s classroom, gr. 9, after mid-year schoolwide focus walk on school goal for strengthening student collaboration skills:

“When I walked through your room today, I noticed that the students were working in groups of three and four on their lab experiment. Four other students worked alone. I looked at what was on their desks, and it was the same experiment that the others were working on together. I’m interested as to why they were working alone and how they are doing academically. Do you have 10 minutes either tomorrow or Friday so we can touch base?” (Feedback/data-based question)

Conversation with gr. 6 team after a teacher’s aside Family Night Presentation of student projects on model cities:

“The students were clearly excited to show their work to their families and be with their teammates. When I stopped by for a few moments, you mentioned some concern that the students’ presentations lacked the depth that you had expected. You also stated that these projects were hard to assess in an objective way. That raises a great question for all of us to think about. How do we set standards for inquiry based-projects? How do we provide students with meaningful feedback that helps them to self-assess and you to know exactly who has learned what? I’d like to sit down with your team to listen to your thoughts about next steps.” (Data-based question) Conversation with veteran teacher after diagnostic walkthrough to gather data on curriculum alignment to the Common Core:

“The objective for the lesson today was written on the board as ‘SWABAT respond to a writing prompt using specific evidence from the article provided to support that prompt.’ Every student

Verbal Responses to Informal Walks

(cont. next page)

#1

#2

#3

#4


worked without interruption for 15 minutes and every one of them included one specific detail from the article. This is my worry. When I asked six random students what it was they were getting better at…what skills they knew they were strengthening, each of the six replied that they were getting better at writing for the MCAS test. Are we—and I mean as individuals—and as a school—sending the message to the students that what is important is not learning to support our thinking by digging into important text—but that the only reason for learning what we learn is to perform on a test? I really want to know what you think—and where you think we need to go as a school on this.” (Feedback/data-based question)


#1 Observation: Gr. 7 Science, via emailJim,The paragraph reflecting my observation is below. I am interested in the ways in which you both taught these collaboration skills and reinforced the kids’ effective effort. What are some of the things you did to get the kids to this level of independence and collaboration and comfort with each other at tackling this challenging material? I’ll stop by your room later so we can figure out a time to talk.

Mr. W has communicated and reinforced clear standards for the work of collaborative groups. (II-B-2—Collaborative Learning Environment)

• He has posted a Criteria for Cooperative Groups poster at the front of the room which makes a strong visual statement about the level of performance he expects. It’s big, and it stands alone.

• It took under two minutes for the students to gather materials, head to their designated lab tables, and get to work.

• Students referenced their roles frequently and asked questions of each other rather than assume that they were on the right track. (“What is this vehicle supposed to do?” “We need to check that data.” “Lucy, did you get that down? We’ll push and get the time and then we can switch and we’ll write down the data.” “Wait, aren’t we supposed to calibrate?” “I don’t think that makes sense. What are we missing?”)

• No students worked alone, and the groups reflected a cross-section of learners—by gender, race, and level of fluency in English.

• Students collected and stowed their equipment and then moved into the data-reporting part of the class without any need for the teacher’s prompting or intervention.

As a result, all groups, except one, completed the lab and submitted both their standard lab report and data poster according to guidelines provided. The remaining group, who voluntarily re-did part of the experiment when they realized they had not followed directions, met with the teacher to identify a time later in the day when they could return to complete their work.

(Feedback, data-based praise, data-based question)

#2 Claim and Supporting Evidence from an Observation: Gr. 4 Social Studies, drafted prior to joint analysis of student learning and next steps (I-A-4—Well-structured Lesson)

Mrs. B framed the learning in her lesson by...• Communicating the objective orally and in writing (“By the end of the period, you will

Written Responses after Informal or Formal Classroom Observations

(10-15 minutes in length)

(cont. next page)


be able to cite three specific quotations from the President’s speech that provide evidence for your support or opposition for his position and explain why you selected your specific quotations.”)

• Providing the itinerary (“We’ll start by creating a T-chart with your position written as a claim across the top of the chart and a column for your quotations and a column for your reasons for choosing those quotations. After you have 20 minutes to work independently creating your chart, you’ll explain your claim and your reasons to a partner.”)

• Sharing a student’s T-chart from a previous class as an exemplar and generating criteria for the explanation section of the chart (“I’d like you to look at this example from one of my students. I’m covering up the second column because I’d like you to think aloud as to why the student selected this quote to support her argument. Think about what her rationale was and how she might have made that rationale more clear.”)

Impact 1: Consequently, within 15 minutes, all students were moving from text to T-chart; each had selected at least one quotation and provided a rationale for his/her choice.

Impact 2: Pending analysis of student work and next steps. (Feedback)

#3 Observation: Gr. 9 Foreign Language, including results of follow-up conference, via email

You clearly communicated high expectations that each student in this class could be successful at being able to recognize and pronounce foundational words and expressions in Mandarin Chinese (Domain 2a: Creating an Environment of Respect and Rapport, 2b: Establishing a Culture for Learning). Using the large visuals via flashcards from the front of the room, you watched every face, looking for the choral response and correct pronunciation. You noticed five students struggling with a particular pronunciation. You stopped and went directly to the students with a smile. Each student stood, and with your guidance, practiced saying the word 5 times. This occurred with 9 of the 12 students. Because of this immediate and individual feedback, these students’ pronunciation of the characters strengthened.

As we discussed, three students’ choral responses were so low that it was challenging to hear if they were pronouncing the words correctly. We discussed strategies to address the needs of these students. The student-to-student rapport is clearly so strong that, as you suggested, pairing the students to peer-assess pronunciation would give you that opportunity to check in and provide feedback to the pairs and individuals who may find it challenging to speak with assertiveness in a large-group setting. Let me know what happens. I look forward to thinking with you.

(Feedback, suggestions, effective praise, encouragement)


Practice Exercise #1:Observation of Phyllis Jerrold

January 12, ______ Grade 7 Social Studies

ContextThis observation took place for 45 minutes during extended block. There were 26 students present. In our pre-conference, Mrs. J indicated that she was working on Learning Goals 9 and 17 of the middle level Social Studies frameworks. Following up on our discussion of 10/13, we agreed that I would pay particular attention to

• how often and in what different ways Mrs. J reminded students of their learning objective and checked for understanding

• the quality of discussions during small-group work and whether students were paying attention to the criteria for success for their final position statements

Lesson Alignment and Level of ChallengeMrs. J planned and carried out a lesson that had been carefully crafted to help students meet a clear mastery objective: By the end of today, you will be able to explain how archaeologists use artifacts and evidence to figure out who lived in a particular place. And you’ll be able to say why that is important for us today. You will apply your learning by taking a position on a potentially interesting archaeological site in Ben’s neighborhood. She1) communicated the learning objective at least six different times and in different ways during the

first 40 minutes of class, e.g.:• posted on the whiteboard.• read by a student (“Get us focused Eliza. Read what’s important for us to show that we know by

the end of class.”)• reiterated during transitions (e.g., “Remember you have to tell someone who doesn’t get why we

should care about this site. Jay, we have to know how they figure out who was there and how they lived. Leon, think like an archaeologist; your goal is to figure out what kind of people lived here. What will you look for? Why is that important?”)

As a result, every student interviewed at the end of the class was able to explain what s/he had learned about using artifacts and evidence and why it was important. Students frequently referred to the goal of knowing how archaeologists figure something out when they were in small groups.

2) activated students’ prior knowledge by having small groups sort cards according to what they thought were “true and not true statements about how people figure out the past.” As a result, students began making a wide range of links to what they “knew” from novels, museum experiences, a field trip.

3) structured student summarizing (“Stop. Turn to your partner and tell what is important about what we just read.” Or “In your journal, write down 2-3 questions you have and one new idea you learned.”). Thus, by the time students got to the small-group exercise, they were actively applying the concepts and vocabulary from the reading.

4) checked for understanding regularly using a mix of recall questions (“What are artifacts? Define migrate.”), comprehension questions (“Well, if there was really an ancient Native American fishing camp on Grey Pond, how would someone know?”) and a one-question quiz. As a result, students were more aware of what they could not yet explain. At various points, I watched 6-8 individuals go back into the text for more information. Students regularly conversed with partners

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about something that was unclear or to check their own thinking (e.g., “So if we said, … What about if they found arrowheads? Would that mean they weren’t fishing?”).

Standards and ExpectationsMrs. J established and upheld clear standards and criteria for quality and quantity of work and work procedures. For example, she

• posted a “Criteria for Final Position Statements” chart that included “position pro or con is stated in the first sentence, position is backed by 4 arguments, all arguments are backed by two pieces of evidence, arguments are in sentence form,” etc.

• gave direct feedback when draft work was not meeting standard (“These arguments have no back-up evidence.”)

• collected and posted student work with examples of “super analysis and explanation” to illustrate the level of performance that defined good work

As a result, students regularly checked their drafts against the posted criteria and pushed one another to revise and sharpen what they were doing; nine of the ten students I interviewed could give an example of how s/he or the group had made a change to improve a first effort.

Mrs. J conveys to her students that what they are doing is important, she believes in them, and she is there to assist them. For example, she

• encouraged students who had been absent, needed modifications, or showed signs of struggle during independent reading (“Anya, show me how far you got. Which part are you finding confusing? Malik, you have your worried face on. Did your partner give you yesterday’s notes? What do you need next to do your best work?”) Thus each student got the message that his/her success was important and attainable.

• said to Michael, “You know what, we’re going to have to get together and work on these five. Now, write those three, and you and I can work later.”

Thus, Michael heard that his teacher was confident he could do it. He also got a strategy that would help him get back on the road to putting in the effort he needed to invest.

Analysis of Student Learning and Next StepsIn our post-conference, Mrs. J used the data from her listening and the questions students raised when she was checking for understanding to shape her planning for the next day: “I think there are at least three students who still haven’t nailed down the idea of artifacts as evidence. I’m going to have them do a problem-solving exercise from the museum kit that involves making hypotheses about artifacts and then write something before I move on.” My notes corroborated her assessment of two of the three she named; I did not observe Z’s struggles but could see why Mrs. J had him on her follow-up list when we looked at his paper. She also pointed out at least a half dozen students (see Michael above) who had floundered during the reading and said “I moved to abstraction too quickly there; they need to do something concrete.” This habit of reflecting on information is important with all the curriculum demands teachers face. It allows Mrs. J to keep her curriculum focused on mastery and prune out activities that do not contribute to mastery.

Our jointly gathered data from small group work showed that 24 of the 26 students made high-quality contributions to group discussions, referenced the criteria for success orally or gave visual indications they were using them, and/or pointed out improvements in their group’s position statement. All of the position statements demonstrated mastery of the objective at the group level. We will look at individual performance on the unit test to see how effective this structure was. Finally, we decided that the next challenge for this class would be to focus on paraphrasing and summarizing in discussion. Mrs. J plans to ask her team to collaborate in designing a self-assessment tool that students can use to help them with these skills.

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Sharing Data and Asking Questions

The general pattern in conferences should be to share some data and then, if appropriate, ask for the person’s feelings, interpretation, or rationale: “What were you thinking when...?” “How did you feel about it when…?”

Examples of observer’s questions that stimulate reflection:

1. Questions that clarify observed actions, events, or statements “When it was time for the review and summary of the lesson, you had intended to have

students write an entry in their learning logs. Instead, what you did was to pair them up and have them interview one another about what they had learned. What made you decide to change your plan?”

2. Questions that clarify tone or feelings associated with a particular situation “You asked me to pay attention to the directions you gave when you set up the activity. I

noticed that you started talking much more quickly when you described what you wanted students to be concentrating on in their groups. What do you recall about that?”

3. Questions that clarify the reasons and intended consequences of observed actions, events, or statements

“You asked me to note the ways in which you responded to students’ answers. When Paula was explaining how the action in the story shifted, you stopped her in the middle of her answer and asked Ken what he thought. What was your intention when you did that?”

4. Questions that ask about the reasons for repeated patterns or incidents of the same nature

“I noticed that each time you went back to the circle you always knelt down in the same spot. Was there a particular reason for that?”

5. Questions that connect an observation with a past conversation or event “When you called on Deb she said, ‘Why would you ask me that?’ Was that the kind of

reaction you were telling me about when we were discussing Gwen?”

“You mentioned earlier that Andy was one of the kids who usually doesn’t participate. I noted that he talked and offered ideas four times during the discussion. How does that compare to what you have seen before? What do you think might have contributed to his participation today?”


Sample Questions to Ask Students

1. What is the most important thing you learned today?

2. What does your teacher want you to know (or be able to do) by the time you leave today?

3. How do you know when your work is excellent?

4. What was the hardest work you did this term? Why?

5. What does it take to get a good grade in this class? (or to get a sticker, star, etc.)

6. What are you most proud of about your work in this class?

7. What happens if you make a mistake? (mess up?)

8. What does your teacher do that really helps you to learn?

9. How often do you do homework in this class? What kind of homework is most helpful to your learning? What happens if you don’t do homework?

10. What is still confusing to you after today’s lesson? What was the hardest part of today’s lesson?

11. When you want help understanding an idea, who do you ask? Why?

12. What gets you into trouble in this class? What are some of the things you shouldn’t do?

13. What is most important to your teacher? or What will you most remember about this class? This team? This school?

14. What have you gotten much better at as a result of being in this class? What are you still working on?

15. Why is the work you are doing important?

16. What does your work show that you understand and are able to do?

17. What does your work have to include to make it excellent work?

18. What do you predict the teacher will say about your work? Why?

19. Why are you working in a group instead of individually?

20. How do you decide who does what in your group?

21. What’s the biggest challenge to working together as a group?

22. What are the different ways/strategies you have learned to solve the challenges of working together?

23. Will both your group work and your final product be graded? How?


Ideas toshare,

things towork on

schoolwide

Decisions about

next stepsstudents need or adjustments

in strategy

Teacherreflections

Recommendationsor judgments

Feedback aboutthe likelyimpact ofteaching

choices onstudentlearning

Observationnotes

Teachers’thinking and responses

Artifacts

Studentwork,

studentquotes

The Formative Assessment Conference and/or Report

and is meant to generate ...

Containsinformation

from ... for the purpose of giving...

Teacher goals

Benchmark data


© 2014 Research for Better Teaching, Inc. • One Acton Place, Acton, MA 01720 • 978-263-9449 • www.RBTeach.com

MAP OF PEDAGOGICAL KNOWLEDGE

Excerpted from The Skillful Teacher (6th edition, 2008) by Jon Saphier, Mary Ann Haley-Speca and Robert Gower. Chapter 1.

Overarching Objectives

Curriculum Design

Objectives

Assessment Learning Experiences

Personal Relationship

Building Class Climate

Expectations

Clarity Principles of Learning

Models of Teaching

Space Time Routines

Attention Momentum Discipline

FOUNDATION OF ESSENTIAL BELIEFS

Curriculum Planning

Motivation

Instructional Strategies

Management

Planning

KEY CONCEPTS

• Areas of Performance • Repertoire • Matching

Knowledge Base of Generic Pedagogy


Framing Questions for Observers

MANAGEMENTATTENTION 1. How does the teacher get and keep the attention of the students? 2. In what ways is the teacher able to use a variety of matched moves to gain, maintain, and

regain student attention to task? Does the teacher have a range of moves from winning, acknowledging, enlisting, alerting, to desisting?

3. In what ways does the teacher draw from some less-used but effective moves, such as “I-message,” pre-alert, props, acknowledging, and dramatizing?

MOMENTUM 1. How does the teacher organize materials so that they are prepared and ready to go and the

space is set up (provisioning)? 2. How does the teacher minimize the amount of downtime by giving notice of transitions,

by subdividing students when it is necessary for them to move, by managing intrusions, and by providing fillers when not all students are able to begin or end an activity at the same time?

3. How does the teacher anticipate blocks to momentum and take action to prevent or minimize them?

4. How does the teacher vary the format or change the objective when the lesson isn’t working (lesson flexibility)?

5. In what ways is the teacher able to monitor more than one activity at the same time (overlapping)?

DISCIPLINE 1. How does the teacher attend to areas of classroom management that often cause

discipline problems, such as personal relationship building, attention, and momentum? 2. How does the teacher diagnose the cause of the disruptive or inattentive behavior so that

the solution can be matched to the problem? 3. How does the teacher work on building cooperation and self-discipline among students as

well as enlarge his/her repertoire of ways to eliminate disruptions or inattentive behavior?

SPACE 1. How does the physical arrangement of the class match the mastery objective, and can it

easily be changed to match different objectives and activities? 2. How is the room arranged to put the least distance and fewest barriers between the

teacher and any student in the class to help prevent or stop discipline problems?

(cont. next page)


TIME 1. How does the teacher allocate time for student learning and how efficient is the teacher in

ensuring that during this time students are actually working or attending to the lesson? 2. How does the teacher match his/her pacing and scheduling to the needs of different

classes? ROUTINES

1. How does the teacher establish routines around work procedures and housekeeping?

INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIESCLARITY: FRAMING THE LEARNING

1. Framing the Big PictureIn what ways does the teacher . . .

a. Communicate orally and/or in writing what students will know or be able to do at the end of the class, unit, semester (objectives)?

b. Let the students know what the order or flow of events during the class period, week, or unit will be (itinerary)?

c. Establish the larger context and importance of the lesson(s) or unit by linking to, and frequently reminding students of, a big idea/essential question?

d. Help students see the relevance of what they are learning by communicating the reason the objective is worthwhile and the reason for activities?

e. Make the details of the objective clearer by planning and communicating criteria for success?

2. Getting Ready for InstructionHow does the teacher...a. Motivate students to be interested in the new topic and help them attach new

information to what they already know (activating prior knowledge)?b. Find out what the students know or do not know in advance of instruction (pre-

assessment)?c. Surface incorrect ideas and partial knowledge and anticipate misconceptions and

confusions?

(cont. next page)


CLARITY: PRESENTING INFORMATION3. Explanatory Devices

How does the teacher choose from a repertoire of explanatory devices (e.g., models, pictures, diagrams, cues, highlighting, technology) according to the objectives of the lesson, demands of the content, and the needs of the students?

4. SpeechIn what ways does the precision, caliber, and cultural proficiency of the teacher’s speech help or hinder students’ understanding of the ideas and skills being taught?

CLARITY: CREATING MENTAL ENGAGEMENT5. Explicitness

How does the teacher make certain students understand exactly what s/he means by the cues, questions, and references offered in explanations? How are the necessary steps in directions communicated fully and precisely?

6. Making Cognitive ConnectionsHow does the teacher...a. Make—or invite students to make—links that show the resemblance of new/current

knowledge to past knowledge or foreshadow the ways in which current knowledge will be used in the future?

b. Make clear transitions between ideas and use clear language to signal shifts in activity, pace, or level of challenge?

c. Regularly ask students to compare and contrast concepts, content, skills, and processes?

CLARITY: GETTING INSIDE STUDENTS’ HEADS (COGNITIVE EMPATHY)7. Checking for Understanding

In what ways does the teacher...a. Check frequently and broadly across all students, or does s/he simply call on the same

small set of individuals?b. Check for comprehension with why, how, or what if questions as well as with recall

questions?c. Use a variety of strategies for determining individual understanding?

8. Unscrambling Confusionsa. When a teacher detects confusion, how does s/he take steps to find out where the

students are confused and provide strategies to help different individuals unscramble their misunderstandings or make missing connections?

b. How does the teacher return to students who have indicated confusion to determine whether their misunderstandings have actually been resolved?

(cont. next page)


9. Making Students’ Thinking VisibleHow does the teacher...a. Structure interactions with students so that they are frequently asked to explain their

thought processes, assumptions, questions, etc., either verbally or in writing?b. Get the students engaged in explaining and supporting the reasons for their thinking

out loud?c. Cause and support interaction among students about the thinking explained by

classmates?d. Build a climate of safety and mutual support among students so that they are willing to

take risks and speak their minds?

CLARITY: CONSOLIDATING AND ANCHORING THE LEARNING10. Summarizing

How does the teacher...a. Chunk instruction to provide processing time for students to consolidate or develop

ownership of information (10-2 rule)?b. End a lesson or major lesson segment by highlighting important points and/or causing

students to do so?

CLARITY: QUESTIONING11. How does the teacher...

a. Vary the purposes for which questions are used (e.g., to assess learning, instruct, promote cognitive and emotional engagement, manage the learning environment) in order to match to the learning objectives and the needs of the students?

b. Frequently ask questions that require higher-level thinking?c. Use invitational language in questioning?d. Avoid language patterns that send students miscues or limit the level of their

thinking?

PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING1. How does the teacher consciously build one or more principles of learning into every

lesson?2. How does the teacher consistently use principles of learning designed to motivate and

energize students to learn, such as active participation, say-do, meaning, vividness, andfeeling tone?

MOTIVATIONEXPECTATIONS

1. What types of evidence are present that show how the teacher believes that almost allchildren come to school with enough innate ability to achieve at a high level if we help them to have confidence in themselves as learners and to apply effective effort?

(cont. next page)


2. Does the teacher have clear, high standards and the conviction that s/he has the right to expect that students will reach them?

3. How does the teacher communicate the standards verbally and/or in writing to students and parents?

4. Does the teacher use a repertoire of strategies to enable all students to reach the standards?

5. In what ways is the teacher communicating “what we’re doing is important, you can do it, and I won’t give up on you” messages through such arenas as giving help, responding to students’ answers, grading, grouping, dealing with students who don’t have it yet, praising, and dealing with students who don’t respond.

PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP BUILDING1. How does the teacher...

a. Make students feel noticed and acknowledged?b. Show students that s/he values them as individuals?c. Treat students with fairness and respect?d. Demonstrate realness?e. Use humor and fun to demonstrate enjoyment of students and teaching?

CLASSROOM CLIMATE1. In what ways does the teacher communicate and create a sense of community and

mutual support within the classroom?2. How does the teacher work to create a climate that encourages risk-taking and builds

students' confidence to tackle difficult work?3. How does the teacher provide opportunities for students to develop a strong sense of

ownership and responsibility for the work of the classroom?4. How does the teacher build in opportunities for students to have choices and the

ability to influence their lives in school?

CURRICULUM PLANNINGOBJECTIVES

1. When teachers are planning their lessons, at what level are they thinking?a. Coverage: What topic is being taught? What am I doing?b. Activity: What activities are students doing? Are activities congruent with mastery

objectives?c. Involvement: How do I get students cognitively active and engaged and choose

activities that will complement and stretch various learning styles, personality styles, and need for movement?

d. Mastery: What do I want students to know or be able to do and how will they know if they can do it? This includes content, physical skills, and social skills.

e. Thinking skill: What thinking skills will be explicitly taught and practiced?


Thinking BehindOBJECTIVES

THINKING SKILLS OBJECTIVES What thinking skills do I want students

to be able to use?How will I know if they can do it?

MASTERY OBJECTIVES What do I want students to know or

be able to do when the lesson is over? How will I know if they know it or can do it?

INVOLVEMENT How can I get students

really engaged?

ACTIVITIES What activities could students

do to gain understanding or to develop these skills?

COVERAGE What knowledge, skill, or concept am I teaching?

Source: Jon Saphier, Mary Ann Haley-Speca, and Robert Gower. 2008. The Skillful Teacher: Building Your Teaching Skills, 6th ed. Acton, MA: Research for Better Teaching, p. 386.

Key Questions in Lesson Planning


Putting Objectives on the Board is Not Enough

Why should we have objectives?

1. Surprisingly, first it’s for us: to crystalize in our own minds and pinpoint what the most important take-aways are for the students, and thus

2. to give us a clear place from which to assess if the students have adequate prior knowledge and skills to attain this objective today (pre-assessment)

3. and to reflect on whether the activities we plan would logically lead the students to learn the learning we want them to learn

4. and to make up a quick, informal assessment at the end of this lesson (exit card; looking over shoulders; 3-2-1 summarizer…) , that would tell us if the students have met the objective, and if not, who hasn’t and why

5. and REALLY IMPORTANT: to communicate to the students a focus for their learning energy so they know what their goal.

How do we come up with such an objective and get students to understand it?

Sequence of Teacher Planning Steps for Objectives

COMMUNICATING1. Identify the most worthwhile objective for these students at this time. This means

1. Analyzing the content for the most important elements you want your students to learn…the “must have” take-aways

2. Understanding the relationship (sometimes the hierarchy) of ideas and skills in the content3. Recognizing the misconceptions or particularly difficult items that may be in the intended

learning4. Assessing the prior knowledge students need (perhaps secured by pre-assessment) to

engage the tasks they will do

This need not take a great deal of time, but it does mean doing a few of the problems yourself that will be in their assignment, doing a quick read of the chapter in the social studies book, or a quick-read of the short story they will be discussing. Get out the lab manual, the science text, the language exercise and look at it carefully, yourself.

2. Compose the objective in mastery language so you yourself know what student performance (“will be able to do”) you would take as evidence of mastery.

This means using the language of “mastery” and being sure the language you use with yourself (for this is not what you will say to the students) is not an activity, a task-completion statement,

(cont. next page)


of a set of directions. The result will be better planning for the activities and tasks your choose, the sequence of what the students do, and how you frame it all for them. (Use the 5 objectives circles on page 386 of The Skillful Teacher.)

3. Communicate the objective to the students in student-friendly language. This means rehearsing how to say it, because for many of us, this is not natural. After a while, it will become natural and require no rehearsal.

Student-friendly language often requires a paragraph of talk. For example, “Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve been studying the three branches of government and what they do – legislative, judicial and executive. Now, it turns out that each of them has a way of stopping the other from doing something. It’s like they have brakes they can apply to the other branches in certain situations. Today we’ll learn how they do that. It’s called “Checks and Balances” on each other.” So the objective is “I can give examples of how each of the three branches of government exerts Checks and Balances on the other two.”

Some current writers call these “I can” statements or Learning Targets (Berger, et al 2014.) Learning Targets are formal objectives translated into language the students can understand and can own.

4. Check for a minute or two to be sure the students understand the objective. Unpack it.This means pausing for a minute or two to be sure the students understand the words in and the meaning of the objective. We’ve got to ask questions and get the students to say what they think the objective means. “Someone tell me what you think the word “checks” means in the objective/Learning Target for today.”

FRAMING5. Tell the students the series of steps they’ll be going through to meet the Learning Target. This usually means posting some sort of Itinerary or Agenda for the day.

6. Get the students to understand why the Learning Target is something worth learning; i.e., the reason it is important.

This means connecting the objective/Learning Target to something real, meaningful, or useful in life that the students can understand. You may have done that previously (for example, when learning about punctuation) and not have to do it every time you begin work on a new element of correct punctuation.

7. Return to what the objective is at least once during the lesson and again at the end. This means pausing to do such things as, having the students self-evaluate their progress toward attaining the objective/Learning Target or connecting how the next activity moves them toward accomplishment of the objective/Learning Target.


Actively Engaging Students, Promoting Learning, and Maximizing Retention

Anchoring Prior to Instruction• Communicating objectives, standards, assessment formats, and criteria• Sharing the itinerary of the day/period• Pre-assessing and/or activating students’ current knowledge• Making connections to previous learning/students’ lives

Maximizing Student Concentration During Instruction• Using a variety of explanatory devices

- Auditory (vocal variety, modeling thinking aloud, etc.) - Visual (charts, graphic organizers, mental imagery, etc.) - Kinesthetic (manipulatives, recording sheets, etc.)

• Providing processing time - Chunking input and student processing time - 10-2 or age +2 (pulsed learning) - 37-90 physical stretch

• Structuring the processing - Cooperative learning structures - Alone or in small groups (pairs, trios) - Graphic organizers

• Gathering data and checking for understanding - Frequently, during instruction, with all students (“dipsticking”) - Recall and comprehension

Maximizing Student Retention Following Instruction• Summarizing by the instructor

- Key ideas, concepts, etc. at the conclusion of a lesson - Using visuals to accompany words

• Structuring student reflection and summarization• Assigning meaningful practice or application tasks

- To bridge between one learning experience and the next one

Source: Mary Ann Haley-Speca and Deborah J. Reed, 2010.


Instructional Leadership Skills

Noticing i.e. recognizing the salient events/decisions that are likely to have an impact on students’ learning

Doing this well requires drawing upon a well-developed knowledge base about teaching and an agreed upon set of “look for’s;” it also requires knowledge of standards, knowledge of curriculum and/or subject matter, and the ability to screen the important from the less important.

Collecting Data

i.e. getting a range of evidence about what the teacher knows and does rather than simply relying on general impressions and one-shot observations

Doing this well requires commitment to literal note taking, reviewing student work samples and artifacts generated by the teacher, and varying observation times and venues in order to keep the focus on learning

Making Meaning

i.e. analyzing data for patterns, gaps, use (or not) of key techniques

Doing this well requires drawing upon knowledge of generic and subject specific pedagogy, knowledge of curriculum and programs, ability to recognize patterns and generalizations that can be supported by the evidence, and skill in probing for understanding.

Communicating i.e. giving feedback, coaching, reinforcing standards, explaining impact to learners, documenting performance reviews

Doing this well requires matching conferencing style and content to the nature of the challenge (Green Zone Collegial vs. Red Zone)

Writing and conferencing using a balance of Claims, Evidence, Interpretations, and Judgments

Taking Action: Making Teacher Evaluation A …...2016 Research for Better Teaching, Inc. 01720...

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