Ladder of Inference Instructional Leadership:

© AZ Board of Regents, All rights reserved, Name of Superintendent –Welcome & Why Important Name of Facilitator –Overview / Agenda –Enduring Understandings –Guiding Questions –Targeted Objectives –Introductions Welcome & Introductions

Proposed Norms & Expectations Stay focused and fully engaged –no competing conversations please Participate to grow –share openly and monitor your listening Be a learner –create your own meaning and application Get your needs met –ask questions that benefit the group –personal questions on breaks Housekeeping –silence cell phones –handle business later – share ONE point …then next person

© AZ Board of Regents, All rights reserved,  Surface prior knowledge effective teachers.  Explain the Ladder of Inference as a tool for stimulating conversation.  Apply knowledge about at-risk student tendencies.  Clarify why it is important to test perceptions by checking for data, evidence, etc.  Connect with current practices to gather data.  Organize indicators of quality instruction in a framework with monitoring methods.  Create a plan of action to take back to your building to monitor for quality instruction. Intended Outcomes

© AZ Board of Regents, All rights reserved, Student Achievement Teacher Quality Instructional Leadership ImplementingMonitoring Supporting CommunicatingAdvocatingPlanning Instructional Leadership Key Processes Applied to Performance Accountability

© AZ Board of Regents, All rights reserved, There are effective instructional practices that maximize student academic and social learning Quality Instruction:

© AZ Board of Regents, All rights reserved,  How do instructional leaders observe each teacher’s instructional practices routinely to provide feedback?  How do instructional leaders evaluate how instructional time is used?  How do instructional leaders use data to monitor the quality of instruction?  How do instructional leaders evaluate teachers’ instructional practices? Research-Based Critical Behaviors

© AZ Board of Regents, All rights reserved,  By the end of this workshop you will develop an action plan focused on applying the Research- Based Critical Behaviors.  In the column labeled “Current Reality”  Rate yourself on a scale of 1-5  5 = Highly effective  3 = Satisfactorily Effective  1 = Ineffective  Describe the evidence that supports your application of this concept Action Plan

© AZ Board of Regents, All rights reserved,  How does the Ladder of Inference help us to test perceptions by checking for data, evidence, etc. Ladder of Inference Segment Guiding Question

© AZ Board of Regents, All rights reserved,  What did that teacher do to bring out the best in you?  Share Think back to your childhood and pick out the teacher that did the most for you? Flashback:

© AZ Board of Regents, All rights reserved, The most effective teachers have….  High energy and the ability to help all students learn – the low achievers, the average achievers, and the high achievers. They tend to be hard workers who are willing to share their expertise and resources with each other. They keep themselves and their students on task…Interestingly, they frequently are described as having a good sense of humor (1992, 32). According to Bratton’s view

© AZ Board of Regents, All rights reserved,  But there is an apparent difficulty with this structure  Do we jump up the ladder?  Do we stick to the facts? Ladder of Inference  The concept is actually a Reinforcing Loop, where the interactions build on what comes before it and influence what comes next

© AZ Board of Regents, All rights reserved, Systems Tool: The Ladder of Inference

© AZ Board of Regents, All rights reserved, S cenario One: Work Situation Bob, it’s plain as day.” You think everything’s my fault, and you’re motivated to get me. Obviously Bob always disapproves of the way I do things. Bob thinks I don’t know how to handle this type of situation but he doesn’t want to say so. Bob is expressing criticism of me. On the tape, Bob said, “Diana, you were advocating and not inquiring just now.” ©AZ Board of Regents, BEST Professional Development, All rights reserved.

© AZ Board of Regents, All rights reserved, Scenario Two: Classroom Assumption Anna will never function as a capable adult Anna is so disorganized. Anna can never find anything Anna has lost her homework. Anna says she can’t find her homework. ©AZ Board of Regents, BEST Professional Development, All rights reserved.

© AZ Board of Regents, All rights reserved, Scenario Three: Student Perception Ms. Kenerson is going to be fired. She’s always getting into trouble in this school. Ms. Kenerson must have done something wrong. The principal was pretty mad. The principal came in and said “I need to speak to you in the hallway right now.”

© AZ Board of Regents, All rights reserved, Scenario Four: Friendships My friends might not tell me the truth. She lied to me about being busy with family. My best friend doesn’t like me anymore. He/She must be here with another friend. I see my best friend at the mall after he/she told me that they were busy with family today and couldn’t go to the mall with me.

© AZ Board of Regents, All rights reserved, How do my experiences and perceptions affect my beliefs? Research Articles: Choose one of the following articles to read: Learning from Poor and Minority Students Who Succeed in School. Harvard Education Letter (May/June 1999) or Tasting Failure: Thoughts of an At-Risk Learner. Phi Delta Kappan ( , pg ). ©AZ Board of Regents, BEST Professional Development, All rights reserved.

© AZ Board of Regents, All rights reserved,  Work with a partner  Stop after a small chunk & discuss  one comment and one question  Identify -x- that influences the situation  Factual data, affixed meaning, assumptions,  Conclusions, beliefs, & actions  How might each affect a person’s success.  After reading fill-in the blank graphic  Consider the following  What insights are provided by your awareness of the Ladder of Inference.  What implications might this have for monitoring the quality of instruction? TASK: Reading for a Purpose

© AZ Board of Regents, All rights reserved,  What insights are provided by your awareness of the Ladder of Inference. Sharing  What implications might this have for monitoring the quality of instruction?

© AZ Board of Regents, All rights reserved,  Why is it important to understand the human tendency to “climb the ladder”?  Why is it important to test perceptions by checking for evidence, etc.?  How might this tool be used to guide an instructional leader in gathering observation data and/or in planning a conversation with a teacher about instruction? Application of the Ladder of Inference

© AZ Board of Regents, All rights reserved,  Consider the guiding question  Use column labeled “Strategies/Ideas”  Connect today’s discussions with the “Research-Based Critical Behaviors.”  List at least THREE things per box  Pair Share ONE strategy you learned today and how you plan to use it at your school. Closure for this Segment 22

© AZ Board of Regents, All rights reserved,  Review the following…  Targeted Objectives  Research-Based Critical Behaviors  Next Steps  What additional data do you need?  Who will you involve in process?  What resources do you need?  Action Plan  Do what? By when? Conclusion and Development of an Action Plan

© AZ Board of Regents, All rights reserved,  In table groups (in a round robin format)  Share one new learning and describe how you will apply it in your job  NO REPEATS! Workshop Closure

© AZ Board of Regents, All rights reserved,  Please complete “Participant Feedback” form  Grant research  Improve future workshops Workshop Closure