Building Instructional Leaders Through Instructional Rounds
- 1. B U I L D I N G I N S T R U C T I O N A L L E A D E R S T H R O U G H I N S T R U C T I O N A L R O U N D S
- 2. L E A R N I N G T A R G E T S F O R T H I S P R E S E N T A T I O N I CAN DESCRIBE KEY FEATURES OF THE INSTRUCTIONAL ROUNDS PROCESS. I CAN COMPARE AND CONTRAST THE FEATURES OF ROUNDS AND WALKTHROUGHS. BASED ON THE INSTRUCTIONAL ROUNDS FRAMEWORK, I CAN COLLABORATIVELY DEVELOP NEW PROTOCOLS FOR SCHOOL- WIDE AND DISTRICT WIDE WALKTHROUGHS.
- 3. T H E B O O K INSTRUCTIONAL ROUNDS IN EDUCATION: A NETWORK APPROACH TO IMPROVING TEACHING AND LEARNING CITY, ELMORE, FIARMAN, AND TEITEL (HARVARD PRESS, 2009)
- 4. B A S E D , I N P A R T , O N T H E I R W O R K W I T H … CONNECTICUT SUPERINTENDENTS NETWORK CAMBRIDGE, MA PUBLIC SCHOOLS OHIO LEADERSHIP COLLABORATIVE IOWA (STATE AND REGIONAL LEVELS) COMING TO KENTUCKY VIA GRREC
- 5. I N S P I R E D B Y T H E M E D I C A L P R O F E S S I O N BASED ON THE MODEL OF MEDICAL ROUNDS GOOD PRACTICE IS HIGHLY CONTEXTUALIZED
- 6. T H E I N S T R U C T I O N A L R O U N D S C O N N E C T I O N WALKTHROUGH Instructional Leadership Teacher Effectiveness Student Achievement
- 7. P R A C T I C E : A D E F I N I T I O N A SET OF PROTOCOLS AND PROCESSES FOR OBSERVING, ANALYZING, DISCUSSING AND UNDERSTANDING INSTRUCTION THAT CAN BE USED TO IMPROVE STUDENT LEARNING “AT SCALE.” THE INSTRUCTIONAL ROUNDS PROCESS IS AN EXAMPLE OF A SPECIFIC PRACTICE.
- 8. W H A T R O U N D S A R E N O T WALKTHROUGHS PLC’S IMPROVEMENT STRATEGIES
- 9. A K E Y I D E A “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.”
- 10. N O T W A L K T H R O U G H S … WALKTHROUGHS PRESUME THAT AS THE INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERS, WE KNOW WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR AND WILL MONITOR TO SEE THAT IT IS THERE. LITTLE OF THE WALKTHROUGH PROCESS CONFRONTS US TO REFLECT ON OUR OWN PRACTICE AS INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERS AND TO GROW IN OUR PRACTICE. INSTRUCTIONAL ROUNDS ARE AS MUCH ABOUT THE LEADERS GROWING THROUGH THE PROCESS AS THE TEACHERS THEY WILL OBSERVE.
- 11. N O T P L C ’ S … PLC'S SUFFER FROM TOO MANY DEFINITIONS AND PURPOSES, THOUGH THE COMMON FACTOR SEEMS TO BE A GROUP OF PROFESSIONALS WHO COLLABORATIVELY ASSIST ONE ANOTHER IN THE PROCESS OF IMPROVING THEIR INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE PRACTICE. ROUNDS, THEN, CAN BE A VEHICLE FOR PLC WORK, WHEN THE FOCUS IS ON GATHERING EVIDENCE ABOUT A COMMONLY- IDENTIFIED PROBLEM OF PRACTICE, WITH THE GOAL OF ENHANCING OUR OVERALL EFFECTIVENESS.
- 12. N O T I M P R O V E M E N T S T R A T E G I E S … ROUNDS INFORM AND ARE INFORMED BY IMPROVEMENT STRATEGIES. ROUNDS START WITH A PROBLEM OF PRACTICE, ONE THAT OFTEN EMERGES FROM SOME IMPROVEMENT STRATEGY, AND END WITH IDEAS FOR MAKING OUR IMPROVEMENT STRATEGIES MORE EFFECTIVE. ROUNDS ARE, THEN, A VEHICLE FOR IMPROVING OUR STRATEGIES AND MAKING US MUCH MORE REFLECTIVE ABOUT OUR WORK.
- 13. R O U N D S A S A N O R G A N I Z A T I O N A L P R O C E S S SCHOOL LEADERS SOMETIMES DON’T HAVE A CLEAR, COMMON DEFINITION OF WHAT HIGH-QUALITY INSTRUCTION REALLY LOOKS LIKE. ROUNDS FORCE US TO DEVELOP COMMON LANGUAGE AND COMMON DEFINITIONS. ROUNDS CONFRONT THE “PRIVACY OF TEACHING.” BUT TEACHERS ARE “JUSTIFIABLY SKEPTICAL ABOUT OPENING UP THEIR CLASSROOMS TO OUTSIDERS WHEN THE RESULT IS CONFLICTING OR VAGUE ADVICE WITH LITTLE PRACTICAL VALUE TO THEM OR THEIR STUDENTS.”
- 14. R O U N D S A S A L E A R N I N G P R O C E S S MOST EDUCATORS ARE WORKING, FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE, AT, OR VERY NEAR, THE LIMIT OF THEIR EXISTING KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL. PD ALONE IS NOT AN ANSWER. EVEN WITH GOOD PD, WE OFTEN LACK THE INTERNAL STRUCTURES, PROCESSES, AND NORMS NECESSARY TO PICK UP NEW KNOWLEDGE AND DEPLOY IT IN CLASSROOMS.
- 15. R O U N D S A S A L E A R N I N G P R O C E S S , C O N T . ROUNDS ADDRESS THE GAP BETWEEN PD AND OUR ABILITY TO IMPLEMENT THE KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS OFFERED IN PD BY FORCING US TO LOOK AT OUR UNDERLYING ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT INSTRUCTIONAL IMPROVEMENT AND IDENTIFYING AND ADDRESSING THE STRUCTURAL GAPS THAT PREVENT MEANINGFUL IMPLEMENTATION OF VARIOUS INITIATIVES.
- 16. R O U N D S A S A C U L T U R E - B U I L D I N G P R O C E S S LANGUAGE SHAPES CULTURE AND ROUNDS FORCE PARTICIPANTS TO DEVELOP A COMMON LANGUAGE ABOUT PRACTICE. ROUNDS FORCE US TO ENGAGE IN LANGUAGE THAT FOCUSES ON THE OUTCOMES OF OUR BEHAVIORS.
- 17. R O U N D S A S A P O L I T I C A L P R O C E S S TEACHING IS TOO OFTEN SEEN AS A LOW-SKILL PROFESSION (A PERCEPTION THAT SUITS THE AGENDAS OF CERTAIN POLITICAL FACTIONS AND IS UNFORTUNATELY REINFORCED SOMETIMES BY TEACHERS THEMSELVES). APPROACHING OUR WORK AS PRACTICE RAISES THE STATUS AND ESTEEM OF OUR WORK AS PROFESSIONALS.
- 18. Q U E S T I O N S F O R R E F L E C T I O N WHAT ARE YOUR REACTIONS TO THE NOTION THAT EDUCATION IS A PROFESSION IN SEARCH OF A PRACTICE? HOW WOULD OUR WORK DIFFER IF WE UNDERSTOOD OUR WORK AS PRACTICE? TO WHAT EXTENT DOES OUR WORK IN THIS DISTRICT ALREADY EMBODY THE NOTION OF PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE? IN WHAT WAYS IS OUR WORK LACKING IN THIS DIMENSION? WHAT SPECIFIC EXAMPLES FROM OUR DISTRICT’S EXPERIENCE OR FROM YOUR OWN PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE ILLUSTRATE OR CONFLICT WITH ANY OF THE ISSUES NOTED SO FAR?
- 19. T H E I N S T R U C T I O N A L C O R E THE “INSTRUCTIONAL CORE” IS THE INTERACTION OF: LEVEL OF CONTENT TEACHERS’KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL STUDENT ENGAGEMENT
- 20. T H E I N S T R U C T I O N A L C O R E , C O N T . ONLY IMPROVEMENTS IN THE INSTRUCTIONAL CORE WILL ACTUALLY MAKE A LARGE DIFFERENCE IN LEARNING. IMPROVING ONE ELEMENT OF THE CORE MUST LEAD TO IMPROVEMENT IN THE OTHER TWO.
- 21. T A S K P R E D I C T S P E R F O R M A N C E THE BEST WAY TO GET A GLIMPSE OF THE INSTRUCTIONAL CORE IS TO LOOK AT WHAT THE STUDENTS ARE DOING, NOT NECESSARILY WHAT THE TEACHER IS DOING. FEEDBACK AND GUIDANCE FOR THE TEACHER SHOULD FOCUS ON THE TASKS STUDENTS COMPLETE, WITH ATTENTION TO HOW THE THREE DIMENSIONS OF THE INSTRUCTIONAL CORE MUST BE ADDRESSED.
- 22. T H E L A D D E R O F I N F E R E N C E IN SCHOOL LEADERSHIP, WE ARE CONDITIONED TO JUMP FROM OBSERVATION IMMEDIATELY TO EVALUATION. THE ROUNDS PROCESS ASKS US TO BREAK THIS PERPETUAL HABIT BY USING THE LADDER OF INFERENCE: DESCRIPTION BEFORE ANALYSIS ANALYSIS BEFORE PREDICTION PREDICTION BEFORE EVALUATION
- 23. T H E U L T I M A T E Q U E S T I O N I S … WHAT IS THE NEXT LEVEL OF WORK IN THIS CLASSROOM, SCHOOL, OR SYSTEM? THUS, WE REINFORCE THE IDEA THAT IMPROVEMENT IS A CLINICAL PRACTICE. OUR JOB IS TO MAKE THE PRACTICE BETTER OVER TIME, NOT TO METE OUT REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS.