Instructional Rounds Peninsula School District Secondary December 8, 2014

Purpose Develop a common district-wide vision of high quality core instruction in order to elevate our practice as instructional leaders

District Problem of Practice The school board has identified graduation rates as a targeted area of improvement, and overall scores have flat- lined. In addition, we have begun working to implement the Common Core standards but question whether students are truly engaged in learning and cognitively challenged, which results in both lower graduation rates and in many graduating students not reaching their full potential.

Agenda - Morning Framing Review and Reflection New Learning - Evidence of student thinking Look Fors Principal Presentation Observation Review and record evidence

Agenda - Afternoon Vet Evidence Construct pattern statements Share pattern statements Reflections on day John/Allie

Process Norms Focus on the instructional core—the interaction of teachers and students around the content Seek evidence and challenge assumptions Be open to learning from observing classroom practices and from interaction with colleagues Stay focused on mission, purpose, growth, and improvement Observations and discussion are confidential

Behavior Norms Actively listen Observe time-limits outlined in the schedule Turn off electronic devices during classroom observations Avoid conferring with colleagues inside the classrooms, where teaching and learning is taking place

Reflection Reflections on problem of practice since our visit at Peninsula HS

Instructional Core Reread Principles 3-5: Can’t see it in the core, it isn’t there Task predicts performance Real Accountability is in the tasks According to Elmore, why are academic tasks critical to the school improvement process?

Background on Videos Concept: Order of Operations Collect evidence of task and student thinking related to the tas

Video Example 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XroJtR9gQc8 Example 2 http://vimeo.com/73703884

Analysis What is the evidence of students thinking from your observations? What does the teacher know about student understanding as a result of each task? Which lesson is more rigorous? Why?

Debrief What did students do related to this task?

Principal Presentation What does the data tell us about engagement? What will we be seeing? (Content area, grade level, student population, context) Question to ask students about engagement

Today’s Look Fors Heidi’s Engagement Question Record task and evidence of student thinking in response to the task

Characteristics of quality evidence Objective Describes what is happening (not what we think should be happening) free from opinion No assumptions or judgements Specific, quantifies Teacher and student actions Quotes What you see and hear Relevant Focused

Observations Descriptive, literal notes Students AND Teachers doing and saying Ask student questions Photos Move around room Schedule

Observations Transition to classrooms

Review Notes Review notes, write at least 6 pieces of evidence on separate sticky notes related to task evidence of student thinking responses to the question about engagement

Jury Evidence “What did you see or hear in the classroom that led you to that conclusion?”

Group evidence Group sticky notes together that show some sort of relationship or connection

Example Pattern Statements Students answered all teacher questions correctly Student discussed the content of the lesson in small groups In 6 out of 8 classrooms, teacher called on students with hand raised in 3 out of 4 classrooms, a select group of student answered all the questions When 43 students were asked, “Is this work easy or challenging?” 29 said it was easy. Of 28 teacher questions recorded, 26 were at the recall or understanding level Tasks were inconsistent with the stated focus of the lesson Assignments matched or exceeded grade level Common Core standards in 3 out 10 classes

Pattern Statements Based on evidence Related to problem of practice Reflects practice from the majority of classrooms and teaching and learning episodes observed

Share Pattern Statements Is it clear? Is it supported by evidence? What clarifying questions does it generate? Does everyone agree with statement and relationship to problem of practice?

Questions generated in November How will we monitor progress? How can we use PLCs more effectively to monitor progress toward CCSS? How do formative/summative assessments demonstrate achievement of CCSS? How do high performing districts monitor progress?

Data generated by Nov QFT protocol Artifacts: Data on teaching practices Student work samples Assessments

Homework - January PLC Visit a single algebra classroom 3 different days Record tasks on at least 3 different occasions Bring evidence of student thinking and task for a single student Bring evidence (pictures, photo copy of tasks, or notes describing task or student thinking, student work)

Plus Delta On two separate sticky notes, please record pluses and deltas Post on chart paper