Instructional Rounds Training

Simpson County Schools

January-February 2010

The Book

Instructional Rounds in Education: A Network Approach to Improving

Teaching and Learning

City, Elmore, Fiarman, and Teitel(Harvard Press, 2009)

Inspired by the Medical Profession

Based on the model of medical rounds

Good practice is highly contextualized

Education is a “profession in search of a practice”

A Key Idea

“The idea behind instructional rounds is that everyone involved

is working on their practice, everyone is obliged to be knowledgeable about the

common task of instructional improvement, and everyone’s practice should be subject to

scrutiny, critique, and improvement.”

INSTRUCTIONAL ROUNDS ARE NOT…

Evaluative

For Administrators Only

Checklists or Walkthroughs

Implementation Checks

A New Initiative

The Instructional Core

STUDENT

TEACHER CONTENT

TASK

The Difference We Make

PROPORTION OF VARIANCE IN STUDENT GAIN SCORES-- READING, MATH-- EXPLAINED BY LEVEL--PROSPECTS STUDY

CLASS60%

READING52-72%MATH

STUDENTS28% R19% M

SCHOOLS12% R

10-30 M

ROWAN, ET AL., “. . .PROSPECTS. . .” TEACHERS COLLEGE RECORD ( 2005).

STEPS IN ROUNDS PROCESS Identifying a Problem of Practice based on a

Theory of Action

Using the Ladder of Inference:

Collect descriptive evidence

Conduct analysis

Make predictions

Discuss next level of work

INSTRUCTIONAL ROUNDS THINGS TO REMEMBER

We have not had really systemic powerful ways for schools leaders to learn

You have to do the work to learn the work

Learning will degrade quickly if you don’t use it

Leaders don’t have to have the answers, but they need to ask good questions

Rounds require separation of the practice from the person

To experience deep learning, people need to experience some discomfort

Changes in performance will lag behind changes in practice

There will not be an end point to finding a shared understanding

Learning about…

District and School

Improvement Strategy

Theory of Action

Problem of Practice with Guiding Questions

CLASSROOM OBSERVATIONS

Reminders:

Describe what you see Be specific (fine-grained)Pay attention to the instructional core

(teacher, student, content)Evidence related to the problem of

practice

VIDEO OBSERVATIONS

DESCRIPTIVE DEBRIEFOn your own: Read through your notes. Star data that seems relevant to the

problem of practice and/or data that seems important.

Select 5-10 pieces of data and write each one an individual sticky note.

Share with your group: Help each other stay in the descriptive (not

evaluative) voice. • “What did you see/hear that makes you think

that?” Everyone speak once before anyone

speaks twice

ANALYSIS

Analyze the descriptive evidence, in your small group, placing sticky notes on chart paper, grouping them, and labeling groups.

[A sticky note can stand alone. A sticky note can be duplicated.]

What patterns do you see? Don’t forget to account for variation as well as similarities.

What groupings help you make sense of what you saw?

SHARING ANALYSIS

Chart the patterns that you identified across classes and link the analysis to your data collected during observations

Did we see the same thing? What do you notice?

PREDICTIONS

Predict what students are learning.

If you were a student in this school and you did everything the teacher told you to do, what would you know and be able to do?

NEXT LEVEL OF WORK

Review descriptive evidence, analysis, and prediction in light of the Problem of Practice

Brainstorm and chart recommendations for next moves for school: Write 3 to 4 actions to be completed by next week, by the end of the year, this time next year, etc.