the coaching model defined

COLLEGIALCOACHING

?TOOLKIT

WEST VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

West Virginia Department of Education

West Virginia Board of Education2006-2007

Lowell E. Johnson, PresidentDelores W. Cook, Vice President

Priscilla M. Haden, Secretary

Robert W. Dunlevy, MemberBarbara N. Fish, Member

Sheila M. Hamilton, MemberBurma Hatfield, MemberJenny N. Phillips, Member

Ronald B. Spencer, Member

Brian E. Noland, Ex OfficioChancellor

West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission

James L. Skidmore, Ex OfficioChancellor

West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission

Steven L. Paine, Ex Officio

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State Superintendent of Schools

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Table of Contents

Topic Page(s)

The Coaching Model Defined

The Coaching Model.............................................................................................1Lessons from Research.........................................................................................2The School Administrator.................................................................................5-10Instructional Coaches http://www.aasa.org/publications/saarticledetail.cfm?ItemNumber=5874&snItemNumber=950&tnItemNumber=951Instructional Coaching ResearchUniversity of Kansas Center for Research on Learning.......................................11Professional Development Outcomes.................................................................12Coaching Continuum Based on the Gradual Release of Responsibility..............13Language for Coaching ......................................................................................14Protocols for Setting Norms ................................................................................15Protocols for Study Groups ................................................................................16Protocols for Questioning Techniques ................................................................17

Levels of Coaching Activities

Level I

National Staff Development Council Self Assessment and Planning Tool ....18-25What is a Study Group? ................................................................................26-27How Do I Conduct a Study Group? ...............................................................28-30Roles of Participants in Study Groups ................................................................31Learner-Based Coaching ....................................................................................32Assessment Instruments ...............................................................................33-34

Level II

How Effective is Your Team? .............................................................................35Profile Assessment .............................................................................................36Role and Responsibilities Guidelines .................................................................37Team Meeting Planning ......................................................................................38Team Mission Making .........................................................................................39Team Roles and Responsibilities .......................................................................40Great Teams Engage in the Following Activities ...........................................41-42Quality Classroom Assessment .....................................................................43-45Looking at Data to Determine if Student Learning Has Increased ......................46

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Level III

Teacher Modeling ..........................................................................................47-48Teacher Modeling Strategies ........................................................................49-61Teacher Feedback Form ....................................................................................62Recognition .........................................................................................................63Ways to Recognize Student Work ......................................................................64Questioning ........................................................................................................65Elaborating, Hypothetical and Clarification Questions ........................................66The Socratic Questioning Technique ............................................................67-69Modeling, Coaching and Scaffolding .............................................................70-72Using Scaffolded Instruction to Optimize Learning ........................................73-76

Coaching Plan

Collaboration: Essential Understandings ...........................................................77Collegial Collaboration: Practices that Promote School Success .................78-79Co-Teaching .......................................................................................................80Benefits of Co-Teaching For Teachers ...............................................................81Benefits of Co-Teaching for Students .................................................................82Do’s and Don’ts of Co-Teaching .........................................................................83Co-Teaching Approaches: An Overview ...........................................................84Co-Teaching Lesson Plan Considerations .........................................................85Looking at Outcome Data of Co-Teaching .........................................................86References .........................................................................................................87

Tool Kit Development Committee

This tool kit was developed through the collaborative efforts of the following individuals:

June Angle Vicki NeslerLori Ashcraft Cynthia NesselroadeLynne Bostic Pat PorterRebecca Derenge Nancy RichmondDee Grimm Drexel SammonsBarbara Jones Debbie SmithAnna Lewis Jan StanleyJane Lynch Sherri WoodsKim Mathews Paula Wykle

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The Coaching Model Defined

Recent studies on coaching (Neufeld & Roper, 2003; Poglinco, et al., 2003; Richard, 2003) note that coaches may be specialized full or part-time professional development facilitators, or they may be teachers making a career transition from the classroom to coaching. Coaches frequently work one-on-one with a teacher directly in the classroom and meet with the teacher before or after a lesson. Student work is used as a springboard to discuss teaching strategies or as help to plan next steps for instruction. Susan Poglinco et al. defines coaching as "a form of inquiry-based learning characterized by collaboration between individual, or groups of, teachers and more accomplished peers".

The professional development begins with subject specific training, focusing on theory and instructional practice. Using a repertoire of effective instructional practices, coaches collaborate with classroom teachers to identify practice(s) that effectively address teachers’ and students’ needs. Through this process, coaches work collaboratively with teachers setting professional goals for developing, extending and improving research-based skills, strategies and practices. Powerful instructional strategies make a profound difference for all students when they are implemented by a skilled, caring and well-supported teacher.

Coaches use a wide variety of professional development procedures to foster extensive, high-quality implementation of interventions. These procedures include (a) conducting individual or small group meetings to identify how best to collaborate with a teacher/teachers in addressing their most pressing concerns, (b) guiding teachers through instructional manuals, checklists and other materials, (c) collaboratively planning with teachers to identify when and how to implement intervention, (d) preparing materials for teachers prior to instruction, (e) modeling instructional practices in teachers’ classrooms, (f) observing teachers using interventions and (g) providing feedback (Knight, 2004).

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Lessons from Research

Instructional coaching is grounded in current research and clinical knowledge on leadership and schools as “professional communities of practice”. Recent research on professional development suggests that it is most effective when it includes components that are based in the school and embedded in the job and when it increases teachers’ theoretical understandings of their work (Miller 1995). Supports for improved teaching and learning are also more effective when they are tailored to needs identified by teachers and when their approach to learning is collaborative and inquiry-based (Darling-Hammond and McLaughlin 1995).

Coaching provides such supports through an array of activities designed to build collective leadership and continuously improve teacher instructional capacity and student learning. These activities, ideally, coalesce in ways that create internal accountability due to the embedded nature of the work and people engaged in it (Barr, Simmons, and Zarrow 2003; WestEd 2000). A well-designed and supported coaching program combines core elements of effective professional development with the essential goals of professional learning communities in ways that advance both school and systemic improvement.

The principles of instructional coaching are grounded in research on effective professional development and professional learning communities. Coaching appears to be a promising approach because it strives to blend what is known about effective professional development with school-based and school-specific needs, regarding both content and school climate.

Evidence of increased student learning as a direct result of coaching is not yet well documented (Poglinco et al. 2003). Yet, as coaching is increasingly used and its impact measured, researchers expect a direct correlation to be established between coaching and student achievement. A growing body of research suggests that coaching is a promising element of effective professional development in some of the following ways.

The following paragraphs describe the positive effects of coaching:

Effective coaching encourages collaborative, reflective practice. Coaching shifts professional learning from direct instruction outside the context of practice (such as workshops and conferences) to more varied opportunities to improve discipline-specific practice. Most studies indicate that coaching leads to improvements in instructional capacity. For instance, teachers apply their learning more deeply, frequently and consistently than teachers working alone; teachers improve their capacity to reflect; and teachers apply their learning not only to their work with students, but also to their work with each other (Neufeld and Roper 2003; Roglinco et al. 2003).

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Effective embedded professional learning promotes positive cultural change. The impact of coaching often goes beyond improving content instruction. The conditions, behaviors and practices required by an effective coaching program can affect the culture of a school or system, thus embedding instructional change within broader efforts to improve school-based culture and conditions (Neufeld and Roper 2003).

A focus on content encourages the use of data analysis to inform practice. Effective coaching programs respond to particular needs suggested by data, allowing improvement efforts to target issues such as closing achievement gaps, supporting teachers across career stages, and advocating for equity (e.g., through differentiated instruction). A coaching program guided by data helps both to create coherence within a school and to bridge different levels of the system (Barr, Simmons, and Zarrow 2003). This is accomplished by focusing on strategic areas of need that are suggested by evidence, rather than by individual and sometimes conflicting opinions. Coaches are selected from those professionals who have the content expertise and organizational development capacity to lead their “cadres” toward more effective practice in these areas of need within various levels of the educational system.

Coaching promotes the implementation of learning and reciprocal accountability. Coaching is an embedded, visible support, usually funded by the district that attempts to respond to student and teacher needs in ongoing, consistent, dedicated ways. The likelihood of using new learning and sharing responsibility rises when colleagues, guided by a coach, work together and hold each other accountable for improved teaching and learning (Barr, Simmons, and Zarrow 2003; Coggins, Stoddard, and Cutler 2003; WestEd 2000). Because instructional coaching takes place in a natural setting, the classroom, observation, learning and experimentation occur in real situations (Neufeld and Roper 2003).

Coaching supports collective, interconnected leadership across a school system. An essential feature of coaching is that it uses the relationships between coaches, principals and teachers to create the conversation that leads to behavioral, pedagogical and content knowledge change. Effective coaching distributes leadership, supporting the goals of effective principals though the coaches by keeping the focus on teaching and learning. This focus promotes the development of leadership skills, professional learning and support for teachers that target ways to improve student outcomes (Lyons and Pinnell 2001).

Research findings indicate that effective coaching structures promote a collaborative culture where large numbers of school personnel accept ownership and responsibility for leading improvement efforts in teaching and learning. Coaching attends to the “social infrastructure” issues of schools and systems (Payne 1998) that often impede the deep and lasting change that school reform requires. These issues include school climate, teacher isolation, insufficient

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support and limited instructional and leadership capacity. The attempt to address these critical elements of school quality by incorporating new understandings of effective professional development is a primary reason that coaching holds significant promise toward improving teaching and learning in schools (Neufeld and Roper 2003).

Source: Neufeld, B., & Roper, D. “Coaching: A Strategy for Developing Instructional Capacity, Promises, and Practicalities”

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April 2006

FeaturesInstructional CoachingEight factors for realizing better classroom teaching through support, feedback and intensive, individualized professional learning

By Jim Knight

The number of school districts using instructional coaches is growing at a staggering rate. Coaching is becoming popular, in part, because many educational leaders recognize the old form of professional development, built around traditional in-service sessions for teachers, simply doesn’t affect student achievement. By offering support, feedback, and intensive, individualized professional learning, coaching promises to be a better way to improve instruction in schools. Indeed, preliminary research suggests that effective coaching programs make a difference.For the past decade, researchers at the Kansas University Center for Research on Learning have been implementing, refining and evaluating instructional coaching programs. In the past year alone, our staff has provided professional development and consultation to programs in 14 states across the country. We’ve learned a few lessons while developing, studying and observing effective coaching programs. We believe superintendents and other educational leaders who consider these success factors will be better able to use valuable resources to realize the promise of instructional coaching.No Quick FixFacing intense pressure to improve student achievement, it is tempting to try anything that promises a quick solution. However, the trouble with quick fixes is they often make things worse in the long run. One common fix is what we refer to as the “attempt, attack, abandon cycle.” During this vicious pattern, a new practice or program is introduced into a school and teachers make a half-hearted attempt to implement it. Then, before it has been implemented effectively and for a sufficient length of time, various individuals in the school or district begin to attack the practice or program and, not surprisingly, many of the teachers implementing it begin to lose their will to stick with the program. Eventually, even though it never had a chance to be implemented properly, leaders in the district reject the program as unsuccessful and abandon it, only to propose another approach that is soon pulled into the same vicious cycle. In this manner, schools stay on an unmerry-go-round of attempt, attack, abandon, without ever seeing any meaningful, sustained change in instruction

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taking place.

Instructional coaching represents one way to end this vicious cycle by providing sufficient support for real change to occur. Coaching is a non-evaluative, learning relationship between a professional developer and a teacher, both of whom share the expressed goal of learning together, thereby improving instruction and student achievement.

Coaching requires a trusting relationship and sufficient time to provide the individualized professional learning that is most relevant to a teacher’s needs. Coaches often employ collaborative conversations (sometimes referred to as conferences), model lessons, observations, and mutual problem solving to assist teachers in implementing and mastering new teaching practices.

Coaching can take many forms. We have found eight factors that can increase the likelihood that coaching will be a real fix for a school:

Sufficient time to work with teachers. To move a school forward, coaches must spend the bulk of their time working with teachers on instruction. This seems obvious, but the most frequent concern raised by the more than 300 instructional coaches we worked with in 2005 was that they are asked to complete so many non-instructional tasks they had little time left to work with teachers. Because coaches’ job descriptions are often vague or nonexistent and because their schedules are more flexible than the schedules of others, they often are asked to do many clerical or non-instructional tasks. Paying coaches to copy and bind standards documents or shop for math lab furniture or serve as a substitute teacher is a poor way to spend money and perhaps an even poorer way to improve teaching practices in schools.

Some instructional coaches and principals in the 16,500-student Cecil County, Md., Public Schools have found a way to ensure their instructional coaches use their time productively. In Cecil County, where there is an instructional coach in each of the 17 elementary schools, the coaches and administrators draw up a pie chart that depicts exactly how much time they agree the coaches should spend on various tasks. Then, each week the coaches report to their principals how the time was spent. If necessary, this allows the coach and principal to adjust the time allocations so they can focus their efforts on improving instruction. Proven research-based interventions. If instructional coaches are going to make a difference in the way teachers teach, they need to have scientifically proven practices to share. Hiring coaches but not ensuring they have proven practices is a bit like trying to paint a beautiful painting without any art supplies. Instructional coaches need to have a repertoire of tools to help them assist teachers in addressing their most pressing concerns.

Instructional coaches working with the Center for Research on Learning use interventions that address what we refer to as the “Big Four” areas of behavior, content knowledge, instruction and formative assessment. The coaches develop a deep understanding of scientifically proven practices they can share with teachers to help them improve in any or all of the four areas.

If an instructional coach and teacher agree to address content knowledge, the coach collaborates with teachers to develop critical questions, course and unit content maps and concept diagrams using scientifically proven “content enhancement routines” developed by Keith Lenz, Jan Bulgren and other researchers at the Kansas University Center for Research on Learning.

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Similarly, if an instructional coach and teacher need to work on classroom management tactics, the coach can use the classroom expectations planning sheets from Randy Sprick’s “CHAMPs: A proactive and positive approach to Classroom Management” as a tool for collaboratively developing a classroom management plan with the teacher. Among the tools in CHAMPs is a framework coaches can use to identify and explain what they expect from students in five important areas of behavior, encapsulated in the CHAMPs acronym. The areas of behavior are: (a) Conversation — What kind of conversation is acceptable? (b) Help —How should students ask for help? (c) Activity — What should the student be doing? (d) Movement — What kind of movement, if any, is permitted? and (e) Participation — What does appropriate participation look like?

Professional development for instructional coaches. Coaches need to understand the interventions they are sharing, and they need to understand how to productively employ the coaching process. Without their own professional development, instructional coaches run the risk of being ineffective, wasting time and money or even misinforming teachers. Therefore, coaches need to participate in their own professional development to ensure they know how to coach and what to share when they coach classroom teachers.

Professional development for coaches should address at least two subjects.

First, coaches should engage in various professional learning activities designed to improve their coaching practices. Specifically, instructional coaches affiliated with our center learn how to employ powerful, proven practices to (a) enroll teachers in coaching; (b) identify appropriate interventions for teachers to learn; (c) model and gather data in the classroom; and (d) engage in dialogue about classroom and other data. Additionally, the center’s instructional coaches improve their professional skills in areas such as communication, relationship building, change management and leadership.

Second, professional development for coaches should deepen their knowledge about the teaching practices they are sharing with teachers. Obviously, if coaches have a superficial knowledge of the information they share with teachers, they will not know what to emphasize when they discuss, model or observe during professional learning with teachers. Indeed, coaches who do not deeply understand what they are sharing with teachers could misinform teachers and actually make things worse, not better, for students.

The Passport to Success statewide coaching program sponsored by the Maryland State Department of Education Division of Special Education emphasizes professional learning for coaches. Prior to starting their new role, the coaches receive two weeks of intensive professional development focusing on the theory, practice, teaching strategies and routines they will share with the teachers. Then, the Passport coaches participate in a week-long summer institute where they deepen their knowledge of the teaching practices they will share with teachers.

During the school year, the instructional coaches meet monthly with other coaches in a coaching professional learning community, and they also participate in formal professional learning sessions twice a semester. Additionally, Passport coaches read research articles and complete many learning tasks that enable them ultimately to become certified professional developers for the content enhancement routines and learning strategies they share with teachers.

Protecting the coaching relationship. Many, perhaps most, teachers see their profession as an integral part of their self-identity. Consequently, if coaches and others are careless with their comments or suggestions about teachers’ practices in the classroom, they run the risk of offending teachers, damaging relationships, or at the very

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least not being heard. Because teaching is such a personal activity, coaches need to win teachers’ trust. Trust is an essential component of an open coaching relationship.

Coaches who learn our center’s approach to instructional coaching define their relationship with teachers as a partnership. This partnership approach is based on the assumptions that (a) coaches and teachers are equal partners, (b) teachers should have a choice about what and how they learn, (c) teachers should reflect and apply learning to their real-life practice as they are learning, (d) professional development should enable authentic dialogue and (e) coaches should respect and enable the voices of teachers.

Sue Woodruff, a leader of professional developers from Grand Rapids, Mich., considers the partnership principles to be a central part of her professional practice. “The principles really help me think through what should happen when I work with teachers,” she says. “On those occasions when I don’t feel I’ve been successful, I go back to the principles and I usually discover that I failed because I violated one of the principles.”

To make it easier for coaches to work as partners with teachers, educational leaders must protect the coaching relationship. If leaders ask coaches to hold the dual role of administrator and coach, they put their coaches in a difficult situation. Administrators, by definition, are not peers. Usually people are more guarded when they talk with their bosses than when they talk with their peers. Coaches will find it easier to have open conversations about teaching practices if their collaborating teachers do not view them as bosses and, therefore, do not have to worry about how their comments might affect the way they will be evaluated.

Ensuring principals and coaches work together. The instructional coach can be and should be the right-hand person of the principal when it comes to instructional leadership in schools, but the principal must remain the instructional leader. No matter how much a coach knows, and no matter how effective a coach is, the principal’s voice is ultimately the one most important to teachers. For that reason, coaches must understand fully what their principals’ vision is for school improvement, and principals need to understand fully the interventions that their coaches have to offer teachers.

One way to ensure principals get the most out of their instructional coaches is to provide them with sufficient training. Principals who do not understand the importance of protecting the coaching relationship may act in ways that make it difficult for a coach to be successful. Also, a principal who is unaware of the tools that an instructional coach can offer will be unable to suggest them to teachers who might benefit from learning them.

District administrators in Pflugerville, Texas, a district with three high schools, four middle and 15 elementary schools, address this issue by providing coaching professional development for administrators. In Pflugerville, middle and elementary principals, along with the directors of special education, language arts, mathematics and technology, attended sessions with their lead teachers and coaches to ensure that both administrators and coaches developed a shared understanding of each coach’s goals, responsibilities and methods.

Another way to ensure principals are on the same page as their coaches has been adopted by principals working with instructional coaches from the center’s Pathways to Success GEARUP project in Topeka, Kan. In Topeka, coaches and principals from six middle schools and three high schools meet one-on-one each week for approximately 45 minutes.

The meetings usually follow the same format. First, the coach asks the principal to discuss her or his most pressing concerns; the issues discussed are usually a blend of

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long- and short-term issues that most interest the principal. Second, the coach and principal solve problems together. Third, the coach reports on what she or he has done since the previous week’s meeting. Fourth, the coach and principal discuss teaching practices they would like to share with each other. In this way, the coach and principal fully understand all the tools they have at their command to help students.

Hiring the right instructional coaches. All the factors described here will not yield success if the wrong people are hired as coaches. Indeed, the most critical factor related to the success or failure of a coaching program may be the skills and attributes of the instructional coach.

First, instructional coaches must be excellent teachers, particularly because they will likely provide model lessons in other teachers’ classrooms. They also need to be flexible since their job requires them to change their plans almost daily to meet the changing needs of teachers.

In addition, coaches should be highly skilled at building relationships. In our experience, whether a teacher adopts a new teaching practice has as much to do with the instructional coach’s communication skills as with whatever intervention the coach has to share. Simply put, if teachers like a coach, they usually will try out what the coach suggests. If they don’t like the coach, they’ll even resist helpful teaching practices.

Jim Collins’ study of great organizations in Good to Great offers additional insight into the desirable attributes of an effective coach. Great leaders, Collins writes, “are ambitious first and foremost for the cause, the movement, the mission, the work — not themselves — and they have the will to do whatever it takes to … make good on that ambition.”

The attributes Collins identifies in great leaders are also found in the best instructional coaches. They need to be ambitious for change in their schools and willing to do, as Collins emphasizes, “whatever it takes” to improve teaching practices. If a coach is too passive about change, chances are that little will happen in the school. At the same time, if a coach is too self-centered or aggressive, there is a good chance the coach will push teachers away.

Effective coaches embody what Collins describes as a “compelling combination of personal humility and professional will.” They are affirmative, humble and deeply respectful of classroom teachers, but they are unwilling to rest unless they achieve significant improvements in teaching and learning in their schools.

Evaluating Coaches Evaluation is a major mechanism for continuous improvement of any coaching program. Evaluating instructional coaches can offer unique challenges because no one in a district, including the principal, may ever have been a coach before and there may be no guidelines for evaluating coaches.

One way to address this challenge is to involve coaches in the process of creating guidelines, standards and tools to be used for their evaluation. Instructional coaches and the leaders of the Pathways to Success project in Topeka, Kan., have done just this. Specifically, project leaders and coaches have collaborated to spell out in detail the knowledge coaches need to have about the various scientifically proven teaching practices they are sharing with teachers. Additionally, project leaders and instructional coaches together have described the skills necessary to build relationships and effectively execute the components of the coaching process.

Involving coaches in the process of writing their evaluation guidelines accomplishes at

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least three goals. First, it enables school districts to develop a rubric for evaluating coaches that is especially designed for coaches. Second, it increases coaches’ buy-in to the guidelines and process of being evaluated since they created them. Third, the dialogue coaches have while creating the guidelines is an excellent form of professional development.

Coaching FixesSchool district leaders can increase the likelihood that their instructional coaching program will succeed if they ensure their coaches have sufficient time to work on instruction with teachers and their coaches know how to coach and what to share with teachers. Additionally, leaders can make it easier for coaches to succeed by protecting the coaching relationship and by preparing coaches and principals to work together effectively. Finally, the effectiveness and continual improvement of any coaching program hinges on hiring the right people and evaluating them professionally.

Instructional coaching holds much potential for improving the way teachers teach and the way students learn, but that potential will only be realized if leaders plan their coaching program with care. Coaching is not a quick fix, but it can be a real fix — a powerful way to help teachers and students be more successful. When planned carefully and when the success factors are addressed, instructional coaching can begin to deliver on the promise of making a real difference in schools.

Jim Knight is a research associate and the director of Instructional Coaching Institutes at the Kansas University Center for Research on Learning, 1122 West Campus Road, Suite 508, Lawrence, KS 66045. E-mail: [email protected]

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Instructional Coaching Research Conducted byUniversity of Kansas Center for Research on Learning

To date, the University of Kansas, Center for Research on Learning, has focused on these three questions:

1. Does coaching lead to successful implementation of instructional methods?

2. Is fidelity to a program crucial to improving student achievement? 3. What do teachers think about instructional coaching?

Does coaching lead to successful implementation of instructional methods?The University of Kansas, Center for Research on Learning, indicates that coaching does indeed lead to successful adoption and effective use of proven instructional methods, with one crucial caveat: the right conditions, in the form of administrative support and qualified coaches, must be in place. In schools in which either of these elements is missing, implementation success rates are low.

Administrative support. The actions and expressed values of principals and district decision-makers can determine the effectiveness of an instructional coaching program. These two levels of administrative support are critical to the success instructional coaches can achieve within a school.

Qualified coaches. Instructional coaches must have a deep understanding of the interventions shared with teachers. Beyond that knowledge, experience has uncovered a less tangible array of personal qualities that allow an instructional collaborator to succeed. Coaches are master teachers who are comfortable in any classroom. They love children and love working with children in schools. They possess energy and a positive outlook, making them the kind of people others enjoy being around. Above all, coaches are able to communicate a deep, honest belief in teachers, even as they suggest ways for teachers to improve.

Is fidelity to a program crucial to improving student achievement?Is it really important for teachers to teach in the manner described in an instructor's manual? Does fidelity matter? Researchers at the University of Kansas feel this is an important question to answer if fidelity is a central goal of coaching. Researchers set out to determine how well students were achieving in "hi-fi" classrooms--those in which teachers' practices closely followed those outlined in instructional manuals--and "low-fi" classrooms--those in which teachers left out significant components of practices outlined in instructional manuals. Yes, the research does support that fidelity to a program does matter.

Coaching in the Context of Professional Learning Communities

Source: University of Kansas, Center for Research on Learning Source: Showers, Joyce & Bennett, 1987

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http://www.instructionalcoach.org/research.html#coaching%23coaching

http://www.instructionalcoach.org/research.html#fidelity%23fidelity

http://www.instructionalcoach.org/research.html#implementation%23implementation

http://www.instructionalcoach.org/research.html#implementation%23implementation


Instructional coaching is most effective when it occurs within a successful professional learning community. At the heart of this community is a belief in the need for continuous improvement, where a constant and collective search for improving classroom instruction is conducted. The process of professional learning includes:

Research, presentation and explanation of the theory behind the practice Demonstration and modeling of instructional strategies Opportunities for initial guided practice Prompt feedback from guided practice Sustained coaching for institutionalization of instructional practice

The chart below depicts the outcomes of different elements of professional development: theory, demonstration, practice and coaching. Based on research, an estimated 95% of teachers who receive ongoing support and guidance through coaching are more likely to learn and implement new practices in the classroom. Researchers also estimate that teachers generally need to utilize a new instructional strategy approximately 25 times before it is transferred into their daily teaching routine.

Professional Development Outcomes

Professional Development

Elements

Knowledge Level(Estimated percentage of participants understanding

contents)

Skill Level(Estimated percentage of participants demonstrating

proficiency in the instructional practices)

Transfer to Practice

(Estimated percentage of participants regularly

implementing instructional practices in the classroom)

Theory(e.g., presenter explains content - what it is, why it is important, and how to teach it)

10% 5% 0%

Demonstration(e.g., presenter models instructional practices)

30% 30% 0%

Practice(e.g., participants implement instructional practices during the session)

60% 60% 5%

Coaching(e.g., participants receive ongoing support and guidance when the return to the classroom)

95% 95% 95%

Coaching Continuum For Coach/Teacher EngagementBased On The Gradual Release Of Responsibility

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A. Build Common Knowledge and Experience Assist with teachers to align instruction to the WV Content

Standards and Objectives Encourage visits to other teachers’ classrooms Organize study groups, workshops and book studies Examine student work and assist teachers in adjusting

instructional strategies


Source: Larner, Margorie, “Pathways: Charting a Course for Professional Learning”

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B. Commit to a Learning Relationship Model and demonstrate lessons while the teacher observes Use research to support instructional decisions Assist with assessing students Establish collaborative relationships with teachers

C. Coach/Teacher Build a Co-Teaching Relationship Use results of both formal/informal assessment to co-plan

lessons and adjust instructional strategies Assist in the development of plans the coach and teacher will

follow Continue collaborative relationships with all teachers

D. Teacher Transitions to Guided Practice with Coaching Support Conduct a pre-visit conference Co-teach or model lessons Visit classrooms and provide feedback for teachers from

observing students Conduct lesson studies with teachers and assist teachers in

analyzing student work

E. Teacher Refines Implementation with Coaching Feedback Observe teacher practicing research based instructional

practices Conduct a post-visit conference Participate in reflective lesson review and planning Use data to continue to make instructional decisions Sustain and continue collaboration with teachers


Helpful Language to Use in Coaching Conversation

1. It’s wonderful to step into this classroom and see (point out specifics).2. I noticed that more attention is paid to the front of the room.3. The children were (engaged, working, etc.) except for . . . Why do you

think that was happening?4. After the students viewed the video, what were you hoping would happen

next?5. When I was watching, I was excited about your questioning technique.6. What has happened lately that you felt really excited and pleased about?7. The students were really learning actively when they divided the

assignment…Does that fit with your sense of what was going on?8. Students were really learning actively when . . . Does that fit with your sense of what was going on?9. How did you know that students were understanding?10. Can you help me understand what was happening when the two students were allowed to go to the gym?11. Try (a specific action or technique) and let me know how it works.12. Try this (book, idea) and give me some feedback on how it went.13. What are your priorities for these children?14. What do you want these children to be able to do in (time period)?15. Did students perform as you expected today?16. Tell me about (child, event, book).17. I was impressed with the children’s (independence, enjoyment, oral discussion, reading, writing, etc.). What helped them learn that?18. It appears that you are really enjoying these children. How is this group different?19. I was listening to the respectful way children talk to one another. What did you do to help achieve this?20. You seemed concerned about (event, child, time, etc.). Can you talk about it?21. I thought (child) was (attitude, behavior, etc.). Is that right? Can you tell me more?22. How can I help you in your teaching? (I have a suggestion. Tell me what you think).23. Students were roaming around the room. Is that typical?24. You selected the same students for every activity. Can you talk about your decision?25. Was this a typical (morning, reading, group, lesson, etc.)?

Source: Lyon, C. & Pinnell, G.S., “System for Change in Literacy Education”

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Protocols for Setting Norms

Purpose of NormsThe purpose of establishing norms is to curtail some unproductive behaviors (i.e., “Don’t monopolize the airtime.”) Norms also allow participants permission to be bolder than what one might otherwise be (i.e., “Take some risks here.”) Additionally, norms remind individuals that people learn in different ways (i.e., “Give everyone time to think.”) Norms are useful when newcomers arrive after the work of the group is already underway (which happens frequently in professional learning groups). When newcomers arrive, norms provide an update of the group expectations. Norms are also useful when in addressing “tricky” conversations that are frequent in real-life groups.

Steps -1. Brainstorming. The facilitator encourages the group to brainstorm all

possible norms, and lists the offerings on chart paper. The process of setting norms begins with a few moments of silence as participants consider what is essential for cooperative group functions. The facilitator also participates in the brainstorming, adding whatever seems lacking for the emerging lists – for example, “We want to create a place that is safe enough in order for us to endure discomfort,” or “We want to be allowed to take a risk.”

2. Discussion. The facilitator says, “So far this is just a brainstormed list--we have not yet agreed to it. Is there something which needs discussion, which you want to question?”

3. Synthesis. In a transparent way--that is, voicing his or her deliberations aloud--the facilitator synthesizes and fine-tunes: “I think that what I’m hearing is that we want to be assured that good judgment will prevail. There can be situations where a phone must be left on, and we don’t want to prevent that when needed. On the other hand, we don’t want a number of phones ringing. So maybe the norm should be that we will only leave phones on when our judgment tells us we must. This is good. I was going to just say, ‘No phones,’ but this is much better.”

4. Consensus. Noting that consensus means that all group members can live with and support the norms, the facilitator moves the group to affirm the list.

Source: Sweeney, Diane, “The Power of Protocols”

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Protocols for Study Groups

The study group is many times the first experience that teachers have in this type of professional development. Thus, it is essential to begin by defining how the group chooses to function as a learning community.

Basic rules for study groups consist of the following. The learning community will:

Establish a safe and secure environment/culture; Address the self-interests of group members; Develop a clear set of norms; Engage in shared leadership; Encourage mutual respect; Provide productive and fun time together; Identify a flexible shared vision; Provide opportunities for members the chance to really know each other; Celebrate various learning opportunities; Respect differences and opinions of all group members.

Norms to follow in the learning community: Listen to each other without interrupting; Maintain a nonjudgmental attitude; Accept responsibility for your own learning; Honor the other learners in the group; Consider all questions to be safe questions; Participate willingly and actively; Prepare before attending the study group.

Source: Sweeney, Diane, “The Power of Protocols” Source: Sweeney, Diane, “The Power of Protocols”

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Protocols for Questioning Techniques

When using protocols, is it very important to consider questioning techniques. Questions are distinguished as two types: clarifying questions and probing questions. Characteristics of the two types of questions are described below.

Clarifying questions: Designed to assist responders in obtaining a complete picture of the

question by providing factual information. Include these sample questions:

o What did you do before this particular lesson?o What was your goal for the lesson?o How many students do you have?o What is the students’ educational background?

Probing questions: Projected to assist the group to think more deeply about the dilemma; Requires practice; Several purposes are identified for probing questions:

o Help uncover a belief rather than a solution;o Create depth in conversation;o Reinforce that a culture is being created to learn together;o Move the presenter into new territory;o Assist the group to move beyond the original insight; and o Lead to an “aha”.

Construction of probing questions involves the following actions: Preparing questions before answering them; Verifying that no “right” answer is identified. If so, delete judgment from

the question or don’t ask it; Referring to the presenter’s original question; and Checking to see that you are staying within the presenter’s agenda.

National Staff Development Council Self-Assessment and Planning Tool

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Groups may use this self-assessment to determine the current state of implementation of the context, process, and content of effective staff development in their schools. The assessment may be used to reveal strengths as well as areas for improvement.

Because of the value in obtaining multiple perspectives, the self-assessment is most useful if completed by a group rather than individually.

Directions for using the NSDC Standards Self-Assessment

1. Individual work.Time: One hour.(Note: In preparation for this, the facilitator should make individual copies of the Self-Assessment for group members.)

Distribute copies of the Self-Assessment. Ask each group member to complete the Self-Assessment alone. Time: 30 minutes.

Have participants compare their individual scores and discuss similarities and differences. Time: 30 minutes.

2. Group work.Time: One hour.(Note: In preparation for this, the facilitator should make two poster-size copies of the scoring guide.)

After individuals have had time for small group discussions, assemble the whole group.

Post one copy of the scoring guide on the wall of your meeting room. When group members have completed their individual scoring, ask them to transfer their scores to the scoring guide. Group members could do this by making hatch marks, posting colored dots, making X’s in the appropriate places of using any other method the facilitator devises.

The facilitator should count the number of group members who gave each score to the various questions. For example, in question #1, how many group members gave your school a score of 5? How many group members gave your school a score of 3?

Transfer those numbers to the second copy of the scoring guide. Post this copy of the scoring guide on the wall.Since there are two questions for each standard, the facilitator may want

to combine the scores for those two questions. Do not attempt to average the scores. Instead, ask the group to look for patterns in the numbers.

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The facilitator may want to rank the standards in ascending or descending order to give group members a graphic display of which standards they need to address first.

At the conclusion of the group discussion about the scores, the group should prepare an action plan based on it findings.

Self-Assessment: School Staff DevelopmentStronglyDisagree

Disagree SomewhatAgree

Agree Strongly Agree

Source: National Staff Development Council

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Context1. Staff development is ongoing and job-embedded.

1 2 3 4 5

2. Staff development activities result in changes in classroom practice for most teachers on the staff.

1 2 3 4 5

3. The budget allocation supports ongoing professional development.

1 2 3 4 5

4. There is widespread support for professional development among administration, teachers, parents, school board members, and other influential members of the community.

1 2 3 4 5

5. Staff development is viewed as an essential component for achieving the purpose of the organization and is valued as an integral part of the strategic plan.

1 2 3 4 5

6. Central administration supports the work necessary to accomplish school improvement goals and provides an adequate budget.

1 2 3 4 5

7. Strategies for facilitating planning and learning during the school day exist.

1 2 3 4 5

8. A minimum of 20 percent of the work week is devoted to joint learning and work.

1 2 3 4 5

9. The school staff is organized into study groups to learn about the change process and/or about particular innovations.

1 2 3 4 5

10. Teachers are observed randomly to determine their use of an innovation and

1 2 3 4 5

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the innovation’s effect of students.

StronglyDisagree


Agree StronglyAgree

Process11. The school’s improvement plan addresses important aspects of organizational effectiveness such as decision making, communication, and team functioning.

1 2 3 4 5

12. Information about systems thinking and the change process are used in making school improvement decisions.

1 2 3 4 5

13. The principles of adult learning permeate staff development.

1 2 3 4 5

14. The learning climate of staff development activities is collaborative, informal, and respectful.

1 2 3 4 5

15. The three phases of the change process are initiation, implementation, and institutionalization in the planning of programs.

1 2 3 4 5

16. Staff and administration are aware of the “implementation dip” (things often get worse before they get better.)

1 2 3 4 5

17. Staff development decisions are based on data regarding valued student outcomes.

1 2 3 4 5

18. Recognition of a need to seek improvement exists. 1 2 3 4 5

19. Staff reading, study, and discussion of educational innovations

1 2 3 4 5

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precede decisions concerning staff development.20. Research-based content serves as the core of staff learning.

1 2 3 4 5

21. Improvement plans include a carefully-designed framework for the integration of innovations being implemented.

1 2 3 4 5

22. An instructional framework that describes how selected innovations collectively address school priorities exits.

1 2 3 4 5

23. Program evaluation assesses participants’ reactions to the program and measures participants’ learning.

1 2 3 4 5

24. Program evaluation assesses participants’ use of new knowledge and skills and the impact on student learning.

1 2 3 4 5

25. Staff development includes activities other than “training workshops.”

1 2 3 4 5

26. All staff development training activities include theory, demonstration, practice with feedback, and coaching.

1 2 3 4 5

27. Desired changes in on-the-job behavior are supported and result in improved student learning.

1 2 3 4 5

28. Staff members regularly analyze and self-correct performance.

1 2 3 4 5

29. Site-based management councils focus primarily on

1 2 3 4 5

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instruction and student learning.30. Consensus decision making is used to increase staff ownership.

1 2 3 4 5

31. School teams/groups are models of effective interpersonal and group skills.

1 2 3 4 5

32. Training and development in collaborative skills occurs regularly, especially, for new teams or committees.

1 2 3 4 5

StronglyDisagree


Agree StronglyAgree

Content33. Teachers and admini-strators are knowledgeable regarding the needs of children and adolescents.

1 2 3 4 5

34. Decisions about instruction and new programs are based on how well they reflect developmentally appropriate practice.

1 2 3 4 5

35. Teachers’ classroom management strategies increase academic learning time.

1 2 3 4 5

36. Teachers are familiar with and use research-based findings.

1 2 3 4 5

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37. The school’s staff possesses the knowledge, attitudes, and skills needed to ensure a quality education for all students regardless of culture, race, gender, or ethnicity.

1 2 3 4 5

38. School data confirm that all students have equal access to and participation in the school’s programs and activities.

1 2 3 4 5

39. Students can discuss the connection between the various content areas and their real-life concerns.

1 2 3 4 5

40. Teachers offer skills and knowledge to all students in an integrated manner based on essential themes and questions.

1 2 3 4 5

41. Teachers use a variety of approaches to teaching, know underlying instruction-al theories, and understand relevant research.

1 2 3 4 5

42. There is research to suggest that the content of a school’s staff development programs will increase student learning.

1 2 3 4 5

43. Through the use of a variety of instructional strategies, administrators and teachers demonstrate a belief that all students can learn.

1 2 3 4 5

44. Teachers use strategies that demonstrate high expectations for all students.

1 2 3 4 5

45. There is regular communication between the school staff and parents/families about an individual student’s academic progress.

1 2 3 4 5

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46. Parent/staff communication focuses on the school’s goals, classes and curriculum with special attention to in-school and community opportunities to enhance student achievement.

1 2 3 4 5

47. Student performance assessments include interviews, observations, portfolios, projects, and demonstrations.

1 2 3 4 5

48. Student performance assessments focus on what students can actually do with the knowledge and skills they have acquired.

1 2 3 4 5

Scoring GuideCompare individual, group, and schoolwide scores from the self-assessment for each question.

ContextScore

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Question 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10Standard Continuous

Improve-ment

Leadership/Advocacy

Organiza-tional

AlignmentAnd

Support

Time for Learning

StaffDevelop-

ment as an Innovation

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What Is a Study Group?

A study group is a collaborative group of 6-12 individuals who meet on a regular basis to expand content knowledge, update expertise and learn current best practices. This is done by exchanging ideas and knowledge about texts and other resources for the benefit of student learning.

Richard Allington in What Really Matters for Struggling Readers says that during the exchange of ideas and discussion, the primary focus should be on responding to some questions:

What was the author suggesting? Does the text seem to offer useful ideas for our school/classrooms? What do you need more information about or still have questions about? What strategies or ideas have you tried to implement in your classroom? What have you learned from the reading and use of these new ideas?

Study groups can serve many purposes, but they all center on the study of professional material to improve instruction to better meet the needs of their students. Depending on the needs of the group at any time, study groups can cycle through three levels: Knowledge Level, Application Level, and Evaluation Level.

Level I: Knowledge Level – In this level, participants:

Build a knowledge base and develop skills. Review professional literature and research texts on a topic and

participate in discussion. Investigate new instructional practices. View videos to learn about new strategies.

Level II: Application Level – In this level, participants:

Implement and apply new knowledge to instructional practice. Examine student data and student work to develop instructional

plans. Investigate school and district improvement ideas or mandates. Write curriculum and lesson plans.

Level III: Evaluation Level – In this level, participants:

Evaluate own instruction. Invite a peer coach to observe a lesson and provide feedback. Videotape lessons done by members of the group for the purpose

of providing constructive feedback. Do peer coaching, observation, and modeling.

Why Study Groups?

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Teachers, who are able to meet on a regular basis to discuss pedagogy, take care of personal learning which plays a larger role in their own professional development. During the lifespan of an effective study group, friendships are developed and an ongoing collegial support is formed, making it possible for teachers to think in terms of shared problems, rather than my problem or your problem and provide shared solutions.

Study groups create an ongoing, meaningful and job-embedded professional development by providing support and follow-up for new learning. This allows participants to continually upgrade their expertise and become lifelong learners within a community of learners, ultimately changing the culture of the school.

As indicated in Designing Teacher Study Groups: A Guide For Success, the authors state that study groups also meet all the characteristics of high quality professional development through the following activities:

Providing an opportunity to analyze a variety of student achievement data (informal observations, examples of student work and projects, feedback from students, and test results) when considering the progression of individual and collective learning.

Utilizing a logical long-term method of planning, related to the county/school strategic plan, and taking school goals and students’/teachers’ individual needs into consideration.

Reserving time for professional learning to occur in a meaningful way. Promoting and validating teachers as leaders and experts in their field. Building upon and enhancing teachers’ knowledge and instructional

abilities. Encouraging lifelong inquiry and reflection. Providing for group and individual study. Using open lines of communication, information-sharing, and

community-wide collaboration to create broad-based support of professional development.

The authors further state that study groups are a perfect way for teachers to become superior educators. As professionals, teachers should continuously strive to increase their knowledge and expertise to more effectively meet the needs of students and enhance student success. An effective study group provides an opportunity for teachers to meet, greet, share ideas, and research educational texts and materials.

How Do I Conduct a Study Group?

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Book studies are an effective form of professional development. There are five steps, from forming a book study group to implementing the discussion and follow-up strategies:

STEP 1: Seek volunteers who are interested in new learning. This can be done with a survey offering an open invitation to participants with similar skills and interests. Limit the number to 6-12 participants for optimum discussion. Smaller groups may not provide sufficient interaction or variety; larger groups make it difficult to allow all members to actively participate.

STEP 2: Identify a need or topic of interest and select a focus for the group. Select a thought-provoking book, article, and/or video series based on the needs of the group. Clearly determine one or two learning objectives before proceeding. What does the group want to learn?

STEP 3: Reach consensus on a schedule for meeting times, dates, and place and distribute a copy to all participants. Study groups can be scheduled in the morning before school, during lunch, after school, or during the school day if substitutes or coverage is available. Decide on the following:

How often do we meet? (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly) How long will each session be? (60 minutes, 90 minutes) Where do we meet? (Have enough tables, chairs, work area for the

group.) Which chapters will be read for each meeting date?

STEP 4: Set norms or expected behaviors and establish a predictable routine for the session. Some groups find it beneficial to select a facilitator or discussion leader who may come prepared with discussion questions and will summarize the discussion. Study groups can be broken into three components (Becoming a Literacy Leader, Jennifer Allen):

Whole group discussion (15-20 minutes) – Begin each session with teachers taking a few minutes to jot down their thinking since last session. This helps keep the discussion focused and allows participants to process their thinking. It also allows the less vocal members to have points to discuss. Some possible reflections:

o What are you thinking as a result of our last session? o What have you tried since our last session? o What is working well in your classroom? o Share one exciting thing happening in your classroom. o What are some obstacles/roadblocks you have come across?o What do you still need to help you try this strategy?

Tie discussion to application to the classroom--sharing of what was tried and how it worked. Members can rotate keeping the group log for each session.

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Reading a book excerpt, article or viewing of a video (20-30 minutes) - Take time to read a thought-provoking part of the book that is being used for the study or an article that pertains to the objectives. There are also many excellent videos that can be useful tools to model effective instruction. Teachers enjoy and learn from viewing real classroom experiences.

Whole group discussion/reflection (20 minutes) – This is the time to discuss the book excerpt, article or video and how to put the ideas into practice. How has your thinking changed? What will you take with you and try in your classroom? What do you need at this time to be able to implement this new strategy, concept, or idea? What is your next step?

STEP 5: Evaluate the book and plan for future book studies. At the conclusion of the book study, take time to reflect and consider:

Did the book stimulate thought and discussion? How has this study impacted thinking? Did the group meet the learning objectives? How might the experience be improved?

Then, plan for the next book study determining the same topic or investigating another topic.

In Learning Along the Way, Diane Sweeney provides practical steps for planning a study group. Study groups are most effective when the teams according to Sweeney:

are voluntary; involve participants in the decision-making process regarding the

content, facilitation, and focus; reflect regularly on whether the time spent has been productive; include rituals and celebrations, (begin with humor, bring snacks); determine norms and procedures as a group; spend little time discussing unpopular district or school policies; consider the study group a time for sharing and discovery; avoid assuming that certain participants are experts; and include a diverse set of staff members, such as teachers, the principal,

the librarian, special education teachers, and other members of the school community.

Final Thought: Study groups provide teachers the opportunity to work with one another in a collaborative environment moving teachers from the isolation they have been so accustomed to in the past to a supportive community of learners. Jennifer Allen in her book, Becoming a Literacy Leader states,

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“Study groups are what I am most passionate about as a literacy specialist. I believe in teachers and their ability to direct, reflect, and facilitate their own learning. I have seen firsthand how study groups drive new instructional practices in the classroom. In my experience, study groups are the most effective form of professional development for teachers. They require the smallest financial investment, yet yield the greatest return.”

Roles of Participants In Study Group

Roles Tasks TipsFacilitator - Guides the discussion

- Ensures that the protocol is - Be assertive about the time- Ensure no one monopolizes

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followed- Keeps track of time- Redirects conversation that gets off track- Attends to the focus question posed by the presenter

- Invite quiet participants to join the conversation, but don’t force comments- Be protective of the presenter Remember that when teachers make their work public, they are highly vulnerable- Encourage provocative comments. Everyone should leave the conversation with a new or altered insight- Encourage warm comments, but don’t let all the comments stay on the warm side- Seek divergent points of view Ask if anyone sees the situation another way

Presenter(s) - Presents student work- Decides on the appropriate protocol- Frames a question- Listens and takes notes of comments- At the appropriated time, responds to the comments

- Select work that raises a question for you- Take a risk; avoid “masterpieces”- Meet with the facilitator beforehand to frame your question- Even when the group is on the wrong track when discussing your work, listen for new insights or for the reasons for misunderstanding. Sometimes what sends the group in a wrong direction is what also misdirects students

Process Observer - Notes the dynamics of the group- Provides a picture of how the group works together

- Identify who has the floor space and who doesn’t- Note who emerges as the leader- Record the kind of comments made- Attend to what can be observed rather than what can be inferred

Responders - Discuss the work- Provide feedback- Follow the protocol

- Be respectful of the presenter(s) Remember how vulnerable they are when they make their work public Contribute to substantive conversation. Keep in mind that we grow for understanding our strengths and from having a new understanding provoked- Respect the time- Invite quiet participants to join the conversation- Encourage divergent points of view

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LEARNER-BASED COACHING

ColleaguesNames

Learning Focus? (What have you and your colleague decided to focus on?)

Strengths of the Colleague (What does s/he already know?)

Learning Stage Based on the Gradual Release of Responsibility Continuum

A Specific Coaching Move (What will move the learner forward?)

Assessment Instruments

Source: Sweeney, Diane, Learning Along the Way.

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The following 24 reviewed measures were found to have “sufficient evidence” for use as screening, diagnosis, progress monitoring, and/or outcome instruments to assess one or more essential reading components at levels K-3.

Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals – 3rd Edition (CELF-3) Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP) CBM Oral Reading Fluency Degrees of Reading Power (DRP) Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills – 5th Edition (DIBELS) Early Reading Diagnostic Assessment (ERDA) Gray Oral Reading Test – IV (GORT-IV) Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) Letter Sound Fluency Lindamood Auditory Conceptualization Test, LAC Test Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test – III (PPVT-3) Phonological Awareness Test Slosson Oral Reading Test – Revised (SORT-R) Stanford Achievement Test – 9th Edition (SAT-9) Terra Nova – CAT (2nd edition Terra Nova; 6th edition CAT) Test of Language Development – Primary: 3 (TOLD-P:3) Test of Phonological Awareness (TOPA) Test of Word Knowledge (TOWK) Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE) Texas Primary Reading Inventory (TPRI) Wechsler Individual Achievement Test – II (WIAT-II) Woodcock Reading Mastery Test – Revised (WRMT-R) Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement Yopp-Singer Test Of Phoneme

The following reviewed measures were found not to have “sufficient evidence” for use as screening, diagnosis, progress monitoring, or outcome instruments to assess essential reading components at levels K-3.

Auditory Analysis Test An Observation Survey of Early Literacy Achievement Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI) Roswell-Chall Auditory Blending Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Abilities

Additional Student Assessments Baseline assessment Leveled reading passage Reading log Textbook tests Teacher made tests

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Running record Benchmark tests IRI – Informal Reading Inventory Star Reading and Mathematics SRI – Scholastic Reading Inventory

Source: Institute for the Development of Educational Achievement(2002).Overview of the Reading Assessment Report and Analysis. Retrieved June 1, 2006, from http://idea.uoregon.edu/assessment/sept_02_workshops/workshops/html

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http://idea.uoregon.edu/assessment/sept_02_workshops/workshops/html


How Effective Is Your Team?

Goals:

What is your team’s long-term goal?

What are your team’s short-term goals?

Roles and Responsibilities:

What is your role and responsibility?

Why do you have the role and responsibility that you have?

Communication:

Do you say what you think during team meetings? Why or why not?

Do you listen more than you talk during team meetings?

Do you speak positively towards other team members during meetings?

Do you have all the information you need to work on your team?

Procedures and Efficiency:

Do your meetings have an agenda?

Do your meetings always use a facilitator?

Do your meetings start and end on time?

Do you avoid meeting to discuss unimportant information?

Leadership:

Do you avoid blaming?

Do your leaders lead by example?

Do your leaders know how to acquire resources?

Do your leaders delegate responsibilities?

Source: The University of Kansas, Center for Research on Learning

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Profile Assessment

Place a 4 in the blank which describes you the most. Place a 3 in the blank which describes you next to the most. Place a 2 in the blank that describes you next to the least. Place a 1 in the blank which describes you the least.

A. _____ Likes Authority A. _____ Enjoys ChallengesB. _____ Likes Instructions B. _____ PredictableC. _____ Initiator C. _____ SpontaneousD. _____ Indecisive D. _____ Enjoys Routine

A. _____ Takes Charge A. _____ PersistentB. _____ Reserved B. _____ ConsistentC. _____ Mixes Easily C. _____ VisionaryD. _____ Adaptable D. _____ Gives In

A. _____ Action Oriented A. _____ IndependentB. _____ Deliberate B. _____ SensitiveC. _____ Creative-New Ideas C. _____ Group OrientedD. _____ Non-Demanding D. _____ Warm & Relational

A. _____ Adventurous A. _____ ControllingB. _____ Analytical B. _____ ControlledC. _____ Takes Risks C. _____ PopularityD. _____ Even-Keeled D. _____ Tolerant

A. _____ Determined A. _____ ProductiveB. _____ Practical B. _____ PerfectionistC. _____ Energetic C. _____ Infectious LaughterD. _____ Avoids Confrontations D. _____ Patient

_____ Total Score for Category A __________

_____ Total Score for Category B __________

_____ Total Score for Category C __________

_____ Total Score for Category D __________

(Your total for all four categories listed above should equal 100. If your total does not equal 100, you have not completed the survey correctly or added correctly.)

Role and Responsibilities GuidelinesSource: Scearce, Carol, 100 Ways to Build Teams.

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If a team is to be successful, everyone must be aware of the importance of roles.

Everyone on a team must have a role.

All roles are of equal importance.

Everyone is accountable.

When a team has a problem it is often because it hasn’t clearly defined the roles.

A role is a person’s place on the team, the part he or she expects to play and that others expect him or her to play.

Defining roles and responsibilities is one of the most challenging problems a team faces.

Once teams learn about roles and responsibilities and realize the importance of them it is fairly easy to correct problems.

You seldom have to coerce, goad, or force team members to work in a team when you have clearly defined roles.

Well done is better than well said.

Once the team defines and accepts its roles, it experiences a dramatic increase in its cohesiveness.

Team members must not only be responsible for their individual roles but also must support the roles of others.

Feedback on performance is necessary to be successful in a role.

When a team works together to define roles it helps to inspire each team’s commitment.

Suggestion:Make sure each person has a role and that he or she is given feedback on their performance.

Team Meeting Planning

Source: High-Performing Teams, Michigan Schools in the Middle

Source: SREB documents and 100 Ways to Build Teams by Carol Scearce

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Before the meeting: Plan the agenda Share concerns to be discussed Prepare each person’s responsibilities Have ideas – do your homework

At the beginning of the meeting: Have an ice breaker or trust building activity Review agenda Add or delete items Start on time

During the meeting: Involve everyone Discuss issues Take turns talking Make decisions Brainstorm Stay on task

At the end of the meeting: Evaluate Plan next meeting Summarize Delegate responsibilities

Topics to discuss: Classroom management Grading Homework Discipline Conference format Team identity Team moto/theme/name Team colors/logo/mascot Goal Team identity

Team Mission Making

It is the leader’s job to get people to thinking along the same lines.

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The leader’s role in planning is to share his or her vision and then empower as many people as possible whose contributions will ensure successful planning.

The leader needs to create a shared image of what the team can become.

Teams need a vision of greatness that can propel them to unprecedented levels of performance.

To succeed in a big way, a team needs to think as one.

A mission has to be a team thing; everyone has to buy into it.

Every team must have a mission. Without a mission the team will cease to exist.

Values are basic to all matters of choice and decision.

Team members characteristically exhibit a high degree of individualistic behavior due to the many different beliefs, values, and assumptions they make about the purpose of what they are doing.

The different values and beliefs of team members often lead them to be at odds with one another.

Suggestions:

The team mission statement should: be stated in writing, be clearly understood, be visible to the teams, and

guide the team’s actions provide focus and structure for continuity of the educational environment

for teachers and students identify what function the team performs define who performs each function define how the team achieves this attitude

Source: 100 Ways to Build Teams by Carol Scearce

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Team Roles and Responsibilities

Not all of these roles are necessary, depending on the team’s needs and personnel. The positions of Leader and Secretary are considered to be vital.

Team Leader = team facilitator

The qualities a team leader should possess are good organizational skills, trustworthiness, self-motivation, and a positive attitude. The leader sets the tone for the meetings.

Secretary = team recorderThis person should also be highly organized, because he or she is responsible for recording and maintaining any documentation that the team may need.

Timekeeper = team taskmasterThis person must be diligent because a certain amount of time should be allowed for each subject and the timekeeper is responsible for making sure that the team honors the allotted time.

Communicator = team informerThis person relays information to non-team members about team activities. It is particularly important that the communicator keeps the related arts/encore teams and the principal informed.

Resource Person = team supply managerThis person takes responsibility for making sure that all materials the team may need for the team meeting are gathered and brought to the meeting. These may include: team calendar, curriculum map, parent conference forms, discipline forms, and any other forms relevant to the team.

Public Relations Person = team publicist & greeterThis is the person who shares all the positive things that the team is doing with the entire school (and the public). This individual also serves as the “meet and greet” person for parents and substitutes who are in your building.

Comforter = team well-being personThis person provides feedback on how the team is functioning and plans the celebrations of success.

Source: http://reinvent.k12.wv.us

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Great Teams Engage in the Following Activities

Coordinate homework

Coordinate tests and quizzes

Conduct joint parent conferences

Conduct joint student conferences

Use support personnel such as the media specialist and administrators on

a regular basis

Coordinate with their counselor

Conduct full team meetings on a regular basis

Give frequent student awards and rewards on a regular basis

Have written team policies for their students

Have common discipline procedures

Have team bulletin boards

Monitor student academic and personal progress on a regular basis

Provide orientation opportunities for students and parents

Have common rules for providing homework to students who have been

absent

Have common paper headings

Conduct team help sessions for students

Have and maintain a strong team identity

Maintain a team notebook complete with agenda, minutes, telephone

contacts, conferences, etc.

Have and use a flex block of time

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Have common grading policies

Have common policies regarding extra credit

Reschedule their own students

Coordinate and share with exploratory teachers

Conduct interdisciplinary units

Common classroom rules

Share successes and failures

Quality Classroom Assessment

Source: 100 Ways to Build Teams by Carol Scearce.

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A ten-year critical review of classroom assessment research (Black and Wiliam, 1998) shows that the way to improve student learning is to deeply engage students in the classroom assessment process and increase the specific and descriptive feedback they receive while they are learning. More testing and more drill and practice for test taking will not improve student learning.

Students need a clear learning destination so that they can better make decisions that support their learning. Quality and success also become clearer for students when teachers engage them in setting the criteria by which something can be judged--the standards. When students help set the standards, they have the opportunity to participate in quality self-assessment.

Quality self-assessment gives the student a chance to figure out what she knows and what needs to be learned next. As students self-assess in relation to the standards they helped set, they then have the chance to take stock of where they are in relation to where they need to be going. Often teachers despair over students who do not take self-assessment seriously, but, like other classroom strategies, self-assessment has to be practiced to be learned well.

When a teacher gives a student oral feedback which very specifically addresses what is working and what might improve the work, or when a peer uses the language of successful criteria to give feedback, the student has a model of quality self-assessment. In addition, feedback for learning does not place a letter grade or a percentage on the work. Instead, the learner receives specific information concerning what needs to be adjusted so the student can do better. This way, students have an opportunity to practice and learn prior to their efforts being judged.

The teacher should also consider these resources for providing feedback for the learner:

Art teachers might post works of great art and have students analyze them and build criteria.

Students can build criteria about what makes a great piece of writing by listening to the teacher read powerful language.

Teachers can videotape a physical education class and analyze what worked and what didn’t with student athletes.

Using the kinds of samples found in Marie Clay’s What Did I Write?, teachers can display samples of student writing developed over time and then ask young students to analyze their writing and think about what to do differently with future efforts.

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When students are deeply involved in the assessment process, teachers can then collect a range of evidence. This evidence is produced over time and from a variety of sources. Through the collection, teachers look for patterns and trends. There are three sources of evidence.

Teachers will collect products. These include, but are not limited to, tests, assignments, student writings, projects, demonstrations, photographs, and videos and audiotapes.

Teachers also observe the process of learning. Notes can be taken in regard to hands-on/minds-on learning activities, learning journals and performances across subject areas.

Talking with students about their learning is a third source of evidence. This will include conferences, written peer assessments, self-assessments and interview notes.

It is important that teachers make sure to collect evidence in relation to standards agreed upon at the outset. However, this may be rather complex.

Not all students produce exactly the same kind of evidence to show they have met criteria. Learning needs and styles as well as multiple intelligences will result in different types of evidence. Also, students vary in their background experience, knowledge and skill set and may require different kinds of input and different levels of support when learning.

But, when students are involved in collecting their own evidence as well as reflecting and organizing it, that evidence often goes way beyond what the teacher alone can produce. Students can provide comprehensive collections of learning evidence, such as work folders, portfolios, or web sites to show the extent to which they have succeeded in reaching their learning destination.

To complete the assessment cycle, communicating using evidence of learning causes the student to step back and assess what he is doing, much like a performance review in the workplace. As students become involved in conferences, their learning is acknowledged and supported.

When students present evidence of their learning, they give everyone the chance to better understand the learning and to take action to provide necessary support. Involving parents and other audiences can support learning by the following:

When students articulate what they have learned as well as what they still need to learn, achievement improves.

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Through the process of selecting what evidence, to whom to show it, and what kind of feedback is requested, students have the opportunity to construct their understanding and help others make meaning of their learning.

When students show evidence of learning to an audience, the students receive feedback as well as recognition from themselves and others. This can help guide and support their learning.

When parents are involved in talking about learning, student achievement increases. (Gregory, Cameron, and Davies, 2001)

With a growing emphasis on assessment of learning, classroom teachers must do even more assessment for learning. This will ensure that students know and can do what they need to at the level of quality expected (pp. 1-3).

Source: Davies, Anne. (2004). Transforming learning and teaching through quality classroom assessment: what does the research say? National Council of Teachers of English, 10(1). Retrieved June 6, 2006, from http://www.ncte.org/library/files/Free/Journals/st/ST0101October04.pdf

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Looking at Data to See if Student Learning Has Increased

Three times a year, teachers collect one assignment and five student responses to be shared during a faculty meeting.

Teachers are organized into interdisciplinary, vertical teams. Each teacher presents an assignment to be discussed by team members. The discussion deals with determining if the work demonstrates the level

of cognition expected and identifying evidence to support the determination. The discussion takes no more than 10 minutes.

Near the end of the meeting, teams complete an anonymous summary sheet that identifies the levels of thinking required in all five assignments and the number of students who demonstrated the appropriate level of thinking.

This ongoing data assists staff in planning plan for ongoing year-long professional development on higher-order thinking skills and will provide the school with evidence of progress.

Source: Killion, Joellen, “Data can show if all the efforts pay off in student learning.”

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Teacher ModelingWhat is it?

Teacher both describes and models the skill/concept. Teacher clearly describes features of the concept or steps in performing

the skill. Teacher breaks the concept/skill into learnable parts. Teacher describes/models using multi-sensory techniques. Teacher engages students in learning through demonstrating enthusiasm,

through maintaining a lively pace, through periodically questioning students, and through checking for student understanding.

There are eight essential components of explicit instruction

Concept/skill is broken down into critical features/elements. Teacher clearly describes concept/skill. Teacher clearly models concept/skill. Multi-sensory instruction (visual, auditory, tactile, kinesthetic) is provided. Teacher thinks aloud as she/he models. Teacher models examples and non-examples. Cueing is provided for students. High levels of teacher-student interaction occur.

How do I implement the strategy?

Ensure that your students have the prerequisite skills to perform the skill. Break down the skill into logical and learnable parts (Ask yourself, "What

do I do and what do I think as I perform the skill?"). Provide a meaningful context for the skill (e.g. word or story problem

suited to the age & interests of your students). Provide visual, auditory, kinesthetic (movement), and tactile means for

illustrating important aspects of the concept/skill (e.g. visually display word problem and equation, orally cue students by varying vocal intonations, point, circle, highlight computation signs or important information in story problems).

"Think aloud" as you perform each step of the skill (i.e. say aloud what you are thinking as you problem-solve).

Link each step of the problem solving process (e.g. restate what you did in the previous step, what you are going to do in the next step, and why the next step is important to the previous step).

Periodically check student understanding with questions, remodeling steps when there is confusion.

Maintain a lively pace while being conscious of student information processing difficulties (e.g. need additional time to process questions).

Model a concept/skill at least three times before beginning to scaffold your instruction.

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How Does Modeling Positively Impact Students Who Have Learning Problems?

Teacher models learning to make the concept/skill clear and learnable. High levels of teacher support and direction enable student to make

meaningful, cognitive connections. Modeling provides students who have attention problems, processing

problems, memory retrieval problems, and metacognitive difficulties an accessible "learning map".

Links between subskills are directly made, making confusion and misunderstanding less likely.

Multi-sensory cueing provides students multiple modes to process and thereby learn information.

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Teacher Modeling Strategies(Intel Innovation in Education)

The time it takes to model a concept or skill is dependent on the size of the task students are being required to do. Modeling some skills may take just a few minutes while other, more complex skills, may take extended teaching time. It is important that the teacher know ahead of time what she wants students to know as a result of the modeling, so when students are set out to work on their own they know expectations and requirements. Specifying the desired behaviors before modeling them also makes assessment more constructive and accurate.

Teacher Modeling in Action

Think AloudsDoing think alouds is a way for teachers to make their thinking “visible” to students. The teacher models the skill or strategy by verbalizing their thinking at each step. Posing questions and ideas along the way to get students to think about their ideas is another piece of think alouds. Think alouds are an effective way to model thinking skills for students so they can “see” what goes on in the teacher’s mind as they are listening to a story, learning a new skill, or developing understanding of a new concept.

Think Aloud Example: Teacher: As I read this story about immigrants coming over to America I can’t believe what they had to go through on the ships. I would be so scared to leave my family and home. I think you have to be really brave to do that. I would also be excited about coming to a New World and seeing a new place. I predict that the little boy in this story will make it to America and meet his uncle. I think he will like it once he gets there. When I write in my journal today, I am going to write about the rats and how we have to eat stale bread and water while on the ship. Yeah. I’m also going to write about how I miss my family so much and how it’s been hard to sleep with the ship rocking back and forth. I wonder if I will make it to America? I know some ships never do. (The teacher could actually write this while thinking aloud on a piece of chart paper for students to follow along.)

Teacher directions to the students: After modeling has occurred, have students ask questions and give their ideas. Give clear directions for the reading and journal writing, check for understanding by having one or two students restate the directions in their own words, and then set students out to work independently.

Instructional Strategies for Engaged LearningInstructional strategies that engage students and involve them in the learning process are at the heart of what great teachers do. Research shows that certain strategies help students achieve success and learn at higher levels.

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Prior KnowledgeFor a student, new content can be overwhelming. There are new vocabulary words, ideas, and concepts that others seem to understand easily or have experienced before. Teachers can help their students make the transition from the unfamiliar by tapping students’ prior knowledge. Research shows that we can jump-start learning by accessing pre-existing attitudes, experiences, and knowledge and bridge the gap between what is being taught and what is already known.

Teachers can also use prior knowledge to make instruction more meaningful. Many researchers (Peshkin, 1992; Protheroe & Barsdate, 1992; and Lee, 1992) emphasize the importance of incorporating a student's cultural background into the curriculum. As the world changes, students must learn to understand and appreciate the experiences and contributions of people from different backgrounds. A culturally-responsive education links curriculum, instruction, and assessment to the students' experiences, language, and culture, in other words, to their prior knowledge. Additionally, this instructional strategy defines a proper starting place for instruction and the sequence of instructional activities. As stated by educational psychologist David Ausubel, “The most important single factor influencing learning is what the learner already knows.”

Make it Happen in the ClassroomExercises to access prior knowledge can be used at any grade level, with any content area, and with any subject. Prior knowledge is the proper entry point for instruction because it builds on what is already known, supports comprehension, and makes sense of new learning (Kujawa and Huske, 1995). Tapping students’ prior knowledge is an effective way to start a new unit or lesson and an even better way to get students involved right from the start. Referring back to this knowledge throughout a unit of study will keep students engaged in their learning and keep the material relevant.

Examples Across the CurriculumFrom simply asking questions aloud to formally using a journal to document students' prior knowledge, there are a wide range of activities teachers can use. The following examples can be used across the curriculum and at any grade level.

Written ActivitiesWritten activities prompt students to write and reflect about what they already know about new content. These include quick writes, journals, and learning logs. Written activities that prompt students to write and reflect upon what they already know help students tap prior knowledge.

Quick WritesQuick writes are usually done at the beginning of the lesson or unit to get students to think about the new content or respond to a prompt. The writing is not

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graded and allows students the freedom to express their ideas and make personal connections to the new content being addressed. Occasionally, teachers will challenge students to write or brainstorm their ideas within a time limit. Once they are completed, these quick writes stimulate class discussion.

Example Prompt: Take five minutes to write about what friendship means to you. Use examples and brainstorm characteristics of a good friend.

Example Response: Friendship means everything to me. I have many friends. We like to play together and tell each other our secrets. My friend, Melanie, spends the night at my house. She is kind, caring, and funny. That’s what I like about her. Friends should never be mean and if they are, they should apologize and say they’re sorry. Friends are important people. Everyone should have one.

JournalsAnother way to prompt students and activate prior knowledge is journal writing. Like a quick write, but longer and not necessarily timed, journal writing allows students to respond to a prompt or write what they already know about a topic. These journal responses may be collected and reviewed to give feedback to the student. The journal may cover several topics over the course of a semester or quarter. The entries could be shared with partners or small groups to spark discussion. If graded, journals should not be graded for content but rather for effort, completeness, and thoroughness.

Journaling can be used across the curriculum and is not just a language arts activity. Journaling can be just as effective in a mathematics classroom as it is in an English classroom. Allowing students to organize their thinking, respond to new content, and make personal connections without the threat of grades, is very important in tapping students’ prior knowledge.

Example Journal Prompt: How do you feel about voting? Give examples and support your opinion.

Example Journal Entry: I believe in voting. I believe that democracy is a privilege even if your vote is one voice in a million. It’s hard to see how one vote will make a difference when a simple majority wins. But that is why it is important to vote, your vote may make the difference. Recently, a governor in Washington State was elected by a difference of 200 or so votes in a race where several millions voted.

Learning LogsLearning logs are an excellent way to get students to record thought processes, ideas, and questions throughout a unit of study. Learning logs are similar to quick writes and journals but focus on documenting a learning experience. Students describe what they investigated, accomplished, or learned in an activity or class exercise. Logs are appropriate across the curriculum and at all grade levels.

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Questions, prompts, or free writes can be incorporated into the learning logs. They can be used by teachers as informal ways to check for student understanding. Many times, the teacher uses the learning logs as a way to have a written discussion by responding to the student’s entries and posing more thought-provoking questions. For younger students, words and pictures can be a way to record ideas and thoughts. These can be written documents that students maintain throughout a project.

Teacher entry: February 12: Wow! You have learned more information. You knew some important facts before we started learning about plants but now you know a ton! Isn’t it amazing that plants give us our oxygen and we help them make food by breathing out carbon dioxide? I was so surprised when I learned that. I’m so glad you’ve learned so much while studying plants!

Know-Wonder-Learn Charts (K-W-L)An instructional technique used to activate students’ prior knowledge, set goals, and record new knowledge gleaned from a unit of study.

Learning About Know-Wonder-Learn ChartsA Know-Wonder-Learn (K-W-L) chart is one of the most commonly used graphic organizers to tap students’ prior knowledge. This simple chart activates students’ prior knowledge by asking them what they already know about a particular subject. This allows the students to make personal connections before the content is deeply explored. The students brainstorm their ideas on the Know section of the chart. Then the students independently or collaboratively brainstorm questions they have about the content in the Wonder section. Once students begin to answer these questions during a project, they record this information on the Learn section of the chart. By using this chart, students are constructing meaning from what they’ve been learning, comparing their new knowledge to what they already know, and are able to clarify their ideas. This also keeps students focused and interested in the content and are a way to keep track of what they are learning. Ultimately, the chart could be used as a document for an assessment portfolio to show what the student has learned.

A K-W-L chart can be used across the curriculum at any grade level. It can be used to start a new unit of study and referred to throughout the unit. It is usually not a graded document but rather a place for students to write down their ideas and questions without the fear of being judged or graded. This chart also helps with student organization and can be a starting point for peer-to-peer or whole-class discussion.

Thinking ActivitiesThinking activities tap students’ thinking by giving them an opportunity to make predictions, list and rank ideas, and make analogies based on their prior knowledge.

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Learn About Thinking ActivitiesThinking activities are used to tap students’ prior knowledge by giving them an opportunity to create lists, make predictions, and use analogies. By using these activities, students are put in control of their learning and allowed to make personal connections to new content.

Organized ListsMaking organized lists that rank items in an order that makes sense to the student is one way to help students organize what they know as way of tapping prior knowledge. The Visual Ranking Tool: Is an online thinking tool for ordering and prioritizing items in a list, which helps students analyze and evaluate criteria for their decisions. Visually comparing reasoning promotes collaboration and discussion. With the use of this tool, students can use prior knowledge at the beginning of a unit or lesson to rank items and then see how their new knowledge expands their viewpoint over the course of study.

Discussions Teacher-to-student and whole-class discussions activate students’ prior knowledge by providing opportunities to orally share ideas and discuss opinions. Learn about the importance of tapping students’ prior knowledge to help students construct new understanding.

Learn About DiscussionsTeacher-to-student and whole-class discussions are great ways to activate students’ prior knowledge by allowing them opportunities to orally share their ideas and discuss their opinions. The art of discussion is an important piece in the learning process. A common mistake many teachers make is to present a question or idea and expect most of their students to respond and discuss. It can be frustrating and a waste of time for both the teacher and students to listen to a select few students have a discussion.

To conduct successful discussions, teachers need:

To be armed with the right types of questions and ready to respond to various answers

To be able to use “teachable moments” to spark student interest and keep the discussion lively

To use the discussion as a jumping off point for new content To pose questions that directly relate to students and their prior

knowledge To allow the students to lead the discussion with teacher facilitation and

probing To accept all appropriate answers as correct and encourage additional

responses by others To permit “think time” and use think-pair-share strategies to think about

answers before having students respond.

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Graphic OrganizersGraphic organizers help students to think about, visualize, and arrange their knowledge. In a traditional classroom setting, most teachers rely on talking, reading, and writing for representing and communicating concepts. Studies show that when students create nonlinguistic representations of their knowledge there is increased activity in the brain (Gerlic & Jausovec, 1999). Whether creating a concept map, a flow chart, or a simple storyboard, students must draw upon analysis skills to clarify relationships, organize their thoughts, and formulate plans or process steps. The process of creating the representations helps students retain information and extends students’ ability to convey and exchange their thinking in collaborative group work.

Bring New Strategies to Your ClassroomUsing graphic organizers is a universal strategy that is equally appropriate across all grade levels and subject areas. It can be introduced at the beginning of a unit of study and referred to throughout, and used as a means of assessment. There are many uses for graphic organizers.

A high school English teacher uses a chain-of-events graphic organizer while students are reading a novel. This organizer helps them to document events as they read, reflect upon prior reading, make predictions, and prepare for discussions. The completed work is used as an assessment.

An elementary school teacher has students create a T-chart to compare and contrast the differences and similarities of two Indian tribes. This T-chart is then used to help students with a multimedia presentation.

In middle school, a science teacher has students build a casual map to show the causes and effects of tectonic plate movement in a study of earthquakes. Discussions of each other’s maps lead students to deeper analysis of their findings.

Examples Across the CurriculumMany types of graphic organizers can be used across grades and subject areas.

Concept Maps Concept maps help students cluster and brainstorm ideas and information. A causal map is a specific kind of concept map that shows cause-and-effect relationships.

Cluster MapsThese maps are a useful way to help students cluster and brainstorm ideas and information or show relationships. They can be used as a starting point before beginning a larger project or as a pre-writing activity to be checked by a peer or teacher. This visual representation helps all students to see their ideas on paper and then use these ideas to write essays, reports, or create multimedia presentations. From simple clusters to more complex ones, students at all levels and in all subject areas can use clustering strategies to generate ideas.

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Sequencing Activities These activities help students to sequence information and organize their thoughts in a logical way. These include chain of events, timelines, and storyboard planners.

Chain-of-EventsThe use of a chain-of-events graphic organizer is a valuable way to:

Organize steps in a procedure Trace plot development in a story or novel Document actions of a character Record the important stages of an event

TimelinesLike a chain-of-events organizer, timelines help students place events and people in chronological order. Throughout a lesson or unit, students can add to the timeline, use it as a reference and a benchmark to make sense of dates and events and to see patterns in history. By sequencing important events, students can make connections to past and current content. Individual and class timelines can be effective ways to represent events and time periods.

Storyboard PlannersStoryboard planners are helpful ways to construct ideas and organize information before creating a product. Students can create storyboards, using multimedia technology or paper and pencil. These storyboards can be used as pre-writing or brainstorming activities before students create a final product. The storyboards can be checked by a peer or teacher to make sure the student is on-track and provide feedback before getting to work.

Sequencing Examples Chain of Events Timeline Storyboard Planner

Classification ChartsT-charts and Venn diagrams are charts that help students organize information visually for comparing, contrasting, or finding similarities and differences.

Venn DiagramsVenn diagrams are used across the curriculum and with any grade level to compare information. A venn diagram is made up of two or more overlapping circles. The similarities between topics are listed in the intersection of the two circles. The differences are listed in the remaining sections. From simple two-circle venn diagrams to four-circle venn diagrams, students construct visual representations of their learning. Students use the diagrams to organize information as an aid for developing multimedia presentations, reports, essays, or oral presentations. Teachers can use venn diagrams as a way to assess

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student learning or as a quick, informal means to check for student understanding.

T-ChartsAnother type of classification chart is a T-chart. With T-charts, students can clarify concepts or ideas by comparing and contrasting them visually by listing and examining two facets of a topic. They can, for example, list pros and cons, advantages and disadvantages, facts and opinions, strengths and weaknesses, or problems and solutions. Like the venn diagram, the T-chart can be used to organize learning for a report, presentation, or essay.

Classification Chart Examples Venn Diagram T-chart

Prioritized Lists: These lists help students analyze and prioritize information while evaluating criteria for their decisions.

Analyzing and Prioritizing Information in ListsMaking a list is a pretty simple task, but when a student is required to order and prioritize the list, higher-level skills of analysis and evaluation are put to use. With the use of ordered lists, students visually construct information on paper or with a computer. These lists promote collaboration and discussion among students while they compare their lists and reasoning in a visual diagram.

The Visual Ranking Tool helps students analyze and evaluate criteria for the decisions they make in forming a list. By ranking lists, students must identify and refine criteria as they assign rank to a list. While using this graphic organizer, students can manipulate and order information and visually represent content being learned. These lists can be used to spark debates, create proposals, or to understand the quality of a character in a story.

Cooperative LearningTwo heads learn better than one. This variation on the classic saying is very true for students in a classroom. Cooperative group work is an important part of an effective classroom. However, there is much more to group learning than just having students “work together.” The primary goal of group work is to get students actively involved in their learning where there is an accepted common goal. This grouping allows students to work together to maximize their own and each other’s learning.

“In a cooperative learning situation, interaction is characterized by positive goal interdependence with individual accountability.” (Johnson & Johnson, 1998). One frustration many teachers, students, and parents have with cooperative groups is that many times the high-achieving students do most of the work. In order for cooperative grouping to be effective and make good use of classroom

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time, group work must have clear role responsibilities, goals, and individual accountability.

In a classroom setting, cooperative groups give students opportunities to learn from and teach one another under “real” world conditions. “By the 1990’s, teamwork became the most frequently valued managerial competence in studies of organizations around the world.” (Goleman, 1998). We can prepare our students to enter the working world by giving them these valued opportunities to work together to create products and solve problems.

By organizing a classroom around cooperative group work, the ultimate goal is to get students actively involved in their learning. Grouping students in pairs or small groups increases their chances of involvement. Students feel less pressure when asked to complete a task with a peer than they do completing it independently. Cooperative learning should be used strategically. "Research has established that the cooperative structure outperforms competitive and individualistic structures academically and socially, regardless of content or grade level.” (Kagan 1997). Students often view school as a competitive enterprise where they try to outdo their classmates. Research shows that students are more positive about school, subject area, and teachers when they are provided structure to work cooperatively (Johnson & Johnson).

Make it Happen in Your ClassroomWith time and patience, any teacher at any grade level can incorporate cooperative learning into instruction. The keys to success are maintaining high expectations, keeping students individually and collectively accountable, and creating a classroom environment where cooperation is encouraged.

Cooperative Grouping Across the CurriculumThere are many types of cooperative grouping strategies are supported by research and can be used across grades and subject areas.

Reciprocal TeachingReciprocal teaching is a cooperative grouping strategy that calls on students to become “the teacher” and work as a group to bring meaning to text.

Reciprocal Teaching StrategyReciprocal teaching (Palincsar, 1984) is a cooperative grouping strategy that calls on students to become “the teacher” and work as a group to bring meaning to text. Teachers and students engage in dialogue regarding segments of text. The dialogue is structured by using four strategies:

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Summarizing Question generating Clarifying Predicting

It is important that each of the above strategies has been taught and practiced before reciprocal teaching takes place. The stages of reciprocal teaching are easy to set up.

Jigsaw StrategyA cooperative learning technique that allows greater amounts of content to be studied and shared by students in a group. The jigsaw cooperative-learning technique promotes better learning, improves student motivation, and allows greater amounts of content to be studied and shared by students in a group. The jigsaw technique was first developed by Elliot Aronson and his college students. The technique allows for:

An efficient way to learn content Development of listening, engagement, and empathy skills A way for students to work independently Interaction among all students

Students are divided into small groups of five or six. Each group’s task is to learn about one aspect of a subject area and become ”experts” on the subject. In this “expert” group, students do research together and collaboratively create a report or presentation. Each student is also individually responsible since they will teach others about the content. Once students have become “experts” they are reassigned a new group. Each new group is formed with “experts” from the original groups. The task for each “expert” is to teach the others in their group about the content they have studied. Once all “experts” have presented, each group member has learned five or six new aspects of the subject area and is ready to take an exam, write an essay, or group with another “expert” to create a multimedia presentation.

Think-Pair-ShareA cooperative discussion strategy is made up of three stages of student action where students talk about the content and discuss ideas before sharing with a whole group. Think-Pair-Share is a cooperative discussion strategy where students talk about the content and discuss ideas before sharing with a whole group. It introduces the elements of “think time” and peer interaction, which are two important features of cooperative learning. Think-Pair-Share’s purpose is to help students process information, develop communication skills, and refine their thinking.

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With this strategy the teacher: Poses an open-ended question or problem Gives students a minute or two to think about their answer, pairs

students to discuss the answer and share ideas Gives opportunities for students to share their response with a small group

or the whole class

Because students have time to think about their answer, then share with a peer and get a different perspective, they may be more willing and less apprehensive about sharing with a larger group. It also gives them time to change their response if needed and relieves the fear of giving the “wrong” answer. Brainstorm Groups A cooperative learning strategy that calls upon groups of students to brainstorm thoughts and build upon each other's flow of ideas.

The use of cooperative brainstorming is an effective and valuable strategy that calls upon teams of students to brainstorm thoughts and build upon one another’s flow of ideas in a safe environment. With creative groupings, students have opportunities to work together and learn important content at the same time. Dr. Spencer Kagan, an expert on cooperative grouping structures has created a myriad of cooperative grouping structures to use with students of all ages. The main goal of these structures is to promote:

Participation in structured interactions Equal participation Student interaction Effective communication Cooperative learning as part of any lesson Through many years of research and training, Dr. Spencer Kagan has

refined and developed over 160 structures. All of these give teachers a well planned way to group students and teach them important content in engaging ways.

FeedbackUnderstand how teacher and peer feedback encourages student learning and can be integrated in everyday teaching.

Providing Feedback to StudentsFeedback enhances student achievement by highlighting progress rather than deficiency. With progress feedback, a student is given opportunities for checking-in with the teacher and multiple opportunities to ask questions. Students answer the following questions during progress feedback:

Am I on the right track? What improvements can I make? What am I doing well? How am I doing overall?

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With progress feedback, a student will be able to successfully self-monitor, have higher aspirations for further achievement, greater self-satisfaction, and higher performance overall. By taking the time to sit down with a student and offer constructive criticism, give necessary help, offer suggestions, and provide positive feedback, teachers can positively impact student learning. Marzano, Pickering and Pollock (2001) cite providing feedback as one of the nine effective classroom strategies in their book, Classroom Strategies that Work: Researched-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement. Effective feedback should:

Be “corrective” in nature. Feedback should provide students with an explanation of what they are doing correctly and what they are doing that is not correct.

Be timely. Immediate feedback is necessary in order for it to be the most effective.

Be specific to a criterion. Feedback should reference a specific level of skill or knowledge and not be norm-referenced.

Allow students to provide their own feedback. Students should be able to effectively monitor their own progress through self-evaluation based on the feedback given by the teacher.

Feedback can be informal or formal. With informal feedback, teachers can “drop by” students’ desks and comment on their work. With this type of feedback students receive instantaneous suggestions and can make immediate changes. With formal feedback, students attend a conference with the teacher where teachers check progress toward goals, discuss progress, and work with students to set new goals. Conferences help develop self-direction and protect students from the fear of failure. When students are given feedback along the way, they are able to learn from their mistakes, make the necessary changes and achieve at higher levels. “The best feedback appears to involve an explanation as to what is accurate and what is inaccurate in terms of student responses. In addition, asking students to keep working on a task until they succeed appears to enhance achievement.” (Marzano p. 96).

Learn About Peer FeedbackStudents value each other’s opinions and ideas. In most cases, they enjoy working with one another. If given the opportunity, students can give and receive important and valuable ideas from a peer. When set up correctly, structured peer-to-peer conferences give students time to get suggestions, ideas, and compliments on their work. When conferences are productive, students are aware of what to look for and have specific criteria to follow as they work with their peers. Evaluation guides or checklists can be handy tools to keep students on task and remind them to offer positive feedback as well as suggestions and ideas. With practice and modeling, teachers can implement this strategy into the classroom at any time for a variety of purposes.

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Making the Most of Informal EncountersInformal teacher feedback can take the place of many different forms. This type of feedback is designed to give students on-the-spot responses to work they are immersed in at the time. The teacher can use this time to answer questions, provide suggestions, or just check in with the student to see how they are progressing. Informal feedback can be done in the form of:

Periodic check ups

Students are assigned a few minutes each day to check in with the teacher and go over any questions or ideas they may want to discuss before continuing with the work.

A stop by a student’s desk

A short visit with a few students during a work period to check in on how they are doing, answer questions, and offer feedback.

Written responses in a learning log or on the work itself

Respond to students’ entries in learning logs or journals, pose questions and offer ideas.

Write comments on tests, reports, papers, and other work products that prompt students to see mistakes and ask questions.

Allow students time to retake a test or find the right answers with some improvement to their original score.

Student-Teacher ConferencesTeachers can provide feedback through structured conferences with specific goals. Conferences focus on suggestions and comments along with individualized goal setting on a formal level. Teachers can meet with a few students a day or a week depending on specific projects, deadlines, and individual student needs. It is important to set up these conferences in a structured way so both teacher and student make good use of their time. Below is a list of helpful hints for setting up student-teacher conferences.

1. The teacher should look at student work beforehand. 2. A checklist or feedback form should accompany the work.3. Comments should be specific to the work and elaborated on during the

conference. 4. The teacher should focus on two to three items that need work and be

prepared to share examples on how to improve them. 5. Plenty of positive feedback should be shared throughout the conference. 6. Time for the student to ask questions and give input should be allotted

Student should be able to take the feedback form/checklist with them at the end of the conference to use as a reference in making revisions.

7. Student should be able to take the feedback form/checklist with them at the end of the conference to use as a reference in making revisions.

8. The main goal should be to meet with the students two or more times during the course of a project. This way, students are given multiple opportunities to make sure they are on the right track and make necessary

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improvements to their work. Using formal conferencing along with informal feedback, students are protected from failure and set up for success.

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Teacher Feedback Form

Student name: _______________________________

Title of work: _________________________________

Conference time: _____________________________

Some things you did successfully:

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

Some things you could improve upon:

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

Next steps:

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

Note: Keep this feedback form to refer to as you revise your work.

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Recognition

Can you remember a time when a peer, teacher, or coach recognized the work you did as being valuable and important? How did that make you feel? The power of recognition has an overwhelmingly positive effect on students but unfortunately, doesn’t happen as often as it should. Once a project has been completed, are students recognized for a job well done? How are they given an opportunity to share their work with others, receive recognition for their effort, and showcase the finished product?

Educational reformer, Dr. Phillip Schlechty best defines affirmation of performances as, “Persons who are significant in the lives of the student, including parents, siblings, peers, public audiences, and younger students, are positioned to observe, participate in, and benefit from student performances, as well as the products of those performances, and to affirm the significance and importance of the activity to be undertaken.” (2002). Giving students an opportunity to have their work affirmed and recognized by others makes learning authentic and worthwhile. Some students may engage in the work from the start because they know their work will be affirmed by important people at the end.

Recognition in this sense should not be confused with praise or other kinds of extrinsic rewards. Although, praising students for the work they are doing is important, recognition is far deeper than that. Schlechty states that to “affirm or recognize student work is not to approve or disapprove; it is to declare that what happened matters and is important. Affirmation suggests significance and thusly attaches importance to the event or action” (1997). Teachers hope that students take home their projects, share with their parents, and possibly save them in a portfolio. But the reality may be that students’ work never makes it home, and all the hard work and effort the students put forth is never shared or recognized. By making the work visible to others the students get that opportunity to hear, “Job well done.”

Recognition of student work can take place in many different ways across all grade levels and subject areas. Providing students simple opportunities to display work in the hallways of the school or on a bulletin board in the classroom displays exemplary work to peers and school faculty and staff. Holding Parent and Community Nights, inviting experts into the classroom to see the work students have completed, and sharing work with younger and older buddy classes are all significant ways in which students can be recognized for their hard work and effort. Not only do students share the work products but the important learning that took place as well.

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Ways to Recognize Student Work

Discover ways to affirm and recognize student work at a classroom and school level.

Classroom Level School Level Display student work in hallways of

school.

Display student work on bulletin boards of classroom and invite parents and other school personnel to come by and view the student work and offer positive feedback.

Have a Parent Night, inviting parents and other family members to recognize student work.

Invite experts to view student performances, debates, or work products.

Have students share finished products with a same grade-level class.

Invite the principal, secretary, or other teachers in to view presentations and be part of the audience.

Post student work on classroom Web sites and invite family, friends, and community members to see the work and send emails to students.

Hold Community Nights where family, friends, and community members are invited to watch presentations, view work products, and see performances.

Hold Science Fairs, Art Showcases, Literature Nights, Math Nights, and History Fairs where all students and classes are represented and are able to share work products with the guests.

Implement a buddy class system to pair older and younger classes together to share work with one another.

Hold a monthly or quarterly school walk –through where classes are able to visit other classrooms and view the work products of the students.

Provide comment sheets to give recognition.

Post student work on a school Web site and invite family, friends, and community members to see the work and send emails to classrooms.

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Questioning

Questioning is at the heart of good teaching. Choosing the right types of questions to ask students is necessary to spark thought-provoking answers and engage students in productive discussions. The instructional strategy of questioning is about asking probing and challenging questions that call for higher cognitive thinking skills such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. By asking challenging questions, we call upon students to explore ideas and apply new knowledge to other situations.

Using different types of questioning allows students to think in different and unique ways. At the core of a project-based learning, classrooms are enduring Essential Questions and higher-level Curriculum-Framing Questions. These questions are posed at the beginning of a unit of study, and students continue to explore and revisit these questions throughout.

Questions that require students to defend or explain their positions are open-ended questions. Closed questions are limiting and allow for one or two students to answer either correctly or incorrectly. Open-ended questions are probing and encourage students to think about several ideas. There isn’t just one correct answer. By posing open-ended questions to a group of students, the amount of ideas and answers are limitless. Open-ended questions:

Tell students what is valued and what is important. Elicit a range of responses. Involve teacher and student communication. Stir discussion and debate in the classroom.

Effective questioning involves both teacher and student. It is important for the teacher to give “wait time” before asking for responses. Wait time is defined as the amount of time that lapses between a teacher-initiated question and the next verbal answer given by a student. This allows students the opportunity to reflect and think before they speak. Allowing many student ideas, rather than just a couple, is imperative as well. All who want to share should have an opportunity to do so. If time does not allow, these students should have a place to go such as a journal, a learning log, or a whiteboard, to record ideas that can be discussed at a later time. Effective questioning can be used at all grade levels and with all subjects to engage students in the content being taught.

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Elaborating, Hypothetical and Clarification Questions

See examples of different types of questioning techniques that can be used with students at all levels.

Questions for Different Kinds of ThinkingDifferent kinds of questions generate different kinds of thinking. These definitions and examples describe three kinds: elaborating, hypothetical, and clarification questions.

Questioning Technique Definition Examples

Elaborating QuestionsThese questions help to extend and broaden the importance of the meaning. Students can elaborate on the question making it more personal to them.

What are the implied or suggested meanings?

What does this mean to you?

How could you take the meaning farther?

What could the next step be?

Hypothetical QuestionsThese questions help to explore possibilities and test theories. These are the “what would happen if…” questions, allowing students to use their imaginations based on the facts they have learned.

What if the earth had no sun?

What if the polar ice caps melted?

What if Charlotte in Charlotte’s Web had lived?

What are the possible pros and cons?

Clarification QuestionsThese questions help to define words and concepts and clarify meaning.

How did the character get to this point?

How did they gather the data?

Was it a reliable process?

What is the sequence of ideas and how do they relate to one another?

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The Socratic Questioning Technique

The Socratic approach to questioning is based on the practice of disciplined, thoughtful dialogue. Socrates, the early Greek philosopher/teacher, believed that disciplined practice of thoughtful questioning enabled the student to logically examine ideas and to determine the validity of those ideas. In this technique, the teacher professes ignorance of the topic in order to engage in dialogue with the students. With this “acting dumb,” the student develops the fullest possible knowledge about the topic.

The Socratic Questioning technique is an effective way to explore ideas in depth. It can be used at all levels and is a helpful tool for all teachers. It can be used at different points within a unit or project. By using Socratic Questioning, teachers promote independent thinking in their students and give them ownership of what they are learning. Higher-level thinking skills are present while students think, discuss, debate, evaluate, and analyze content through their own thinking and the thinking of those around them. These types of questions may take some practice on both the teacher and students’ part since it may be a whole new approach.

Tips for Using Socratic Questioning

Plan significant questions that provide meaning and direction to the dialogue.

Use wait time: Allow at least thirty seconds for students to respond. Follow up on students’ responses. Ask probing questions. Periodically summarize in writing key points that have been discussed. Draw as many students as possible into the discussion. Let students discover knowledge on their own through the probing

questions the teacher poses.

Classroom Management of Resources and Technology AccessTechnology can play a big part in project-based units. The use of technology enhances the learning experience and allows students to make connections to the outside world. It gives students a place to find resources and to create work products. Efficient management of available technology during projects takes planning and organization.

The One-Computer ClassroomOne of the biggest challenges many teachers face is the lack of computers. Even with only one computer in the classroom, there are many ways to use technology effectively to improve student learning.

Pair up students and set up a daily computer use schedule. Try to find time to have open blocks of time for individual student use.

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Use a timer to keep students to their time limits. Make sure computer time is used for creating products and doing

research. All other pre-planning work should be done ahead of time (storyboards are a good way to do this).

Use teacher-created templates for students to fill in to save time. Display posters using computer terms and commands. Make sure computer etiquette and guidelines have been modeled.

In a one-computer classroom, students can conduct research in smaller chunks of time, create work products piece by piece, and send and receive email to outside experts. Time is probably the biggest issue with a one-computer classroom, but through creative scheduling, computer use can happen. For example, allowing students to work on the computer when they have finished with other subject work is a resourceful solution. Another solution is to group students and give them a day of the week for their computer day.

On designated days, particular groups of students have access to the computer. They can work independently or in pairs depending on the work that needs to be completed. If a computer is open and not being used by a member of the assigned group, anyone can use it until it is needed.

Learning StationsLearning stations provide teachers and students a structured way to rotate through a small number of computers during class time. With access to three or four computers, students get more time and extended opportunities to work with technology to create projects. Stations should be connected to one another in a way that makes sense for the students to rotate through in a timely fashion. These stations can be set up so the content they are learning and work they are producing relates to each other. For example:

Station One: Storyboard planning

Station Two: Peer reviewing and feedback

Station Three: Revising and drafting

Station Four: Computer use to create work products

Station Five: Computer use: researching, working with experts on the computer, publishing

The amount of time devoted to learning stations depends on how much time is available and the amount of work that will be expected of the students. The important piece in using learning stations effectively is making sure students are aware of what to do at each station through teacher modeling and monitoring. They should be held accountable for their work with checklists and/or teacher conferencing and have a place to store their works in progress for the next day.

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Computer LabsComputer labs are another way to get students to use technology. With the use of computer labs, students are given chunks of time during the week to use computers. With these labs, students must come prepared with the work they need to complete using the computer. Because time is always limited, students need to be able to work independently and efficiently. Depending on how many computers there are, students can work on the computers independently or in pairs. Non-computer learning stations can take place in the classroom beforehand, and the computer station can be saved for the visit to the lab.

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Modeling, Coaching and Scaffolding

In Vygotsky’s Social Enculturation Theory, learning is seen as an active and social process. Learning takes place through learner interactions with more knowledgeable people. The goal of social enculturation is for the learner to internalize processes that are modeled. Once the processes are internalized the learner then becomes self-reliant.

Learning support and fadingThere must be a support relationship between a learner and an expert. Support fades as the learner performs the task (walking).

Sometimes the only way a learner can satisfactorily perform a task is with the support of an expert. The expert should take into account the initial abilities of the learner, the instructional goals, and the task complexity. At the beginning, the learner needs a great deal of support. This support is gradually taken away, as time passes, to allow the learner to experience independency.

The process of gradual reduction of support is called fading. Fading support provides student with feedback about his or her proficiency level of a specific task.

Modeling

In modeling, the focus resides on the performance of an expert.

The modeling concept is credited to Bandura. This type of learning occurs by first observing the expert's behavior. After that, the learner tries to reproduce the actions performed by the expert. Imitation is an important place of the learning process.

Modeling consists in demonstrating to the learner why and how to perform the activities necessary for the completion of some task or objective. This can be accomplished by providing examples of the desired performance. The objective is to articulate the reasoning and decision-making involved in each step of the process. When the model has finally faded, meaning that the students have followed their own thoughts instead of following an example, the modeling becomes has become part of a scaffolding process.

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Coaching

In coaching, the focus resides on the learner's performance.

"Coaching can be defined as the learning support aimed at improving the performance of a student during the carrying out of a task" (Brown, Collins, & Duguid, 1989) "…with the goal of bringing this performance closer to expert performance" (Collins, Brown, & Newman, 1989).

Coaching should intervene at critical points in the instruction in order to provide the learner with encouragement, diagnosis, directions and feedback. Coaching can be as simple as providing a series of timely pre-programmed hints, or as complex as analyzing what the learner is doing and offering help if the learner seems to be lost. Coaching is highly interactive and situated.

A coach needs to be receptive to the learner's current level of performance and realize that learners should become self-reliant during performance of the task. Eventually, a coach will fade the support that is given. So, in the case where coaching has faded, coaching is a part of the scaffolding process.

Scaffolding

In scaffolding, the focus resides on the characteristics of the particular task, the environment, the instructor and the learner.

The main objective of scaffolding is to adjust the task complexity for the learner to match his or her level of performance. In the long run, the objective is to remove all support systems when the learner is ready to think on his or her own.

Scaffolding is not a static, predetermined instructional condition. Rather, the degree of scaffolding changes with the abilities of the learner, the goals of instruction and the complexities of the task. On new or difficult tasks, scaffolding may be substantial at first and then can be gradually removed. The student should do the majority of the work while the expert simply provides the outer structures. A gradual release of responsibility is involved in scaffolding. Scaffolding principle characteristics are listed below:

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1. Provides clear direction and reduces students' confusion. 2. Clarifies purpose. 3. Keeps students on task. 4. Clarifies expectations and incorporates assessment and feedback. 5. Points students to worthy sources. 6. Reduces uncertainty, surprise, and disappointment.

Traditionally, scaffolding occurred through personal interaction between students and instructors. However, scaffolding also is also being integrated into electronic learning environments.

Source: The Council for Exceptional Children

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Using Scaffolded Instruction to Optimize Learning

Today's responsible learners are challenged to (a) know how to learn, (b) access changing information, (c) apply what is learned, and (d) address complex real-world problems in order to be successful. The ultimate academic goal is for students to become independent lifetime learners, so that they can continue to learn on their own or with limited support. Using scaffolded instruction optimizes student learning by providing a supportive environment while facilitating student independence.

What Is Scaffolded Instruction?The concept of scaffolding (Bruner, 1975) is based on the work of Vygotsky, who proposed that with an adult's assistance, children could accomplish tasks that they ordinarily could not independently perform. Scaffolded instruction is "the systematic sequencing of prompted content, materials, tasks, and teacher and peer support to optimize learning." (Dickson, Chard, & Simmons, 1993). Scaffolding is a process in which students are given support until they can independently apply new skills and strategies (Rosenshine & Meister, 1992). When students are learning new or difficult tasks, they are given more assistance. As they begin to demonstrate task mastery, the assistance or support is decreased gradually in order to shift the responsibility for learning from the teacher to the students. Thus, as the students assume more responsibility for their learning, the teacher provides less support. For example, a young child or a child with physical disabilities likely would need assistance when learning how to use a playground slide (Dixon, 1994). At first, an adult might carry the child up the steps and slide with the child several times. Then some of the scaffolding or support would be removed when the adult placed the child on the lower portion of the slide and allowed him or her to slide with little guidance. The adult would continue to remove the scaffolding as the child demonstrated that he or she could successfully slide longer distances without support.

Scaffolding GuidelinesScaffolding is one of the principles of effective instruction that enables teachers to accommodate individual student needs (Kame'enui, Carnine, Dixon, Simmons, & Coyne, 2002). Hogan and Pressley (1997) summarized the literature to identify eight essential elements of scaffolded instruction that teachers can use as general guidelines. Note that these elements do not have to occur in the sequence listed.

Pre-engagement with the student and the curriculum. The teacher considers curriculum goals and the students' needs to select appropriate tasks.

Establish a shared goal. The students may become more motivated and invested in the learning process when the teacher works with each student to plan instructional goals.

Actively diagnose student needs and understandings. The teacher must be knowledgeable of content and sensitive to the students (e.g.,

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aware of the students' background knowledge and misconceptions) to determine if they are making progress.

Provide tailored assistance. This may include cueing or prompting, questioning, modeling, telling, or discussing. The teacher uses these as needed and adjusts them to meet the students' needs.

Maintain pursuit of the goal. The teacher can ask questions and request clarification as well as offer praise and encouragement to help students remain focused on their goals.

Give feedback. To help students learn to monitor their own progress, the teacher can summarize current progress and explicitly note behaviors that contributed to each student's success.

Control for frustration and risk. The teacher can create an environment in which the students feel free to take risks with learning by encouraging them to try alternatives.

Assist internalization, independence, and generalization to other contexts. This means that the teacher helps the students to be less dependent on the teacher's extrinsic signals to begin or complete a task and also provides the opportunity to practice the task in a variety of contexts.

Larkin (2001) interviewed and observed teachers who scaffolded instruction to help their students become more independent learners. She found that these teachers regularly incorporated several of the eight essential elements of scaffolding into instruction. Other guidelines for effective scaffolding that these teachers shared included the following:

Begin with what the students can do. Students need to be aware of their strengths and to feel good about tasks they can do with little or no assistance.

Help students achieve success quickly. Although students need challenging work in order to learn, frustration and a "cycle of failure" may set in quickly if students do not experience frequent success.

Help students to "be" like everyone else. Students want to be similar to and accepted by their peers. If given the opportunity and support, some students may work harder at tasks in order to appear more like their peers.

Know when it is time to stop. Practicing is important to help students remember and apply their knowledge, but too much may impede the learning. "Less is more" may be the rule when students have demonstrated that they can perform the task.

Help students to be independent when they have command of the activity. Teachers need to watch for clues from their students that show when and how much teacher assistance is needed. Scaffolding should be removed gradually as students begin to demonstrate mastery and then no longer provided when students can independently perform the task.

Scaffolding Throughout The Lesson

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In order to incorporate scaffolding throughout the lesson, teachers may find the framework outlined by Ellis & Larkin (1998) helpful.

First, the teacher does it. In other words, the teacher models how to perform a new or difficult task, such as how to use a graphic organizer. For example, the teacher may have a partially completed graphic organizer on an overhead transparency and "think aloud" as he or she describes how the graphic organizer illustrates the relationships among the information contained on it.

Second, the class does it. The teacher and students work together to perform the task. For example, the students may suggest information to be added to the graphic organizer. As the teacher writes the suggestions on the transparency, students fill in their own copies of the organizer.

Third, the group does it. Students work with a partner or a small cooperative group to complete a graphic organizer (i.e., either a partially completed or a blank one).

Fourth, the individual does it. This is the independent practice stage where individual students can demonstrate their task mastery (e.g., successfully completing a graphic organizer to demonstrate appropriate relationships among information) and receive the necessary practice to help them to automatically and quickly perform the task.

For additional scaffolding tips, teachers may want to view the videotape, How to Scaffold Instruction for Student Success (ASCD, 2002). See Beed, Hawkins, & Roller (1991) for examples of teacher-student dialogue during scaffolded instruction.

Scaffolding Challenges and CautionsAlthough scaffolding can be used to optimize learning for all students, it is a very demanding form of instruction (Pressley, Hogan, Wharton-McDonald, Mistretta, & Ettenberger 1996). The following are some challenges and cautions for scaffolding instruction.

Use scaffolding when appropriate. Keep in mind that all students may not need scaffolding for all tasks and materials. Provide scaffolding to those students who need it only when they need it.

Be knowledgeable of the curriculum. This will enable you to determine the difficulty level of particular materials and tasks as well as the time and supports necessary to benefit students.

Practice generating possible prompts to help students. The first prompt you give to a student may fail, so you may have to give another prompt or think of a different wording to help the student give an appropriate response.

Be positive, patient, and caring. You may become discouraged if students do not respond or are not successful as a result of your initial scaffolding efforts. Continue to convey a positive tone of voice in a caring

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manner along with continued scaffolding efforts and student success may soon be evident.

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Collaboration: Essential Understandings

Defining characteristics of collaboration

Collaboration is a style of interaction.Collaboration refers to how individuals interact, not the activity they’re doing.

Collaboration is voluntary.Collaborative relationships are entered into freely and exist by choice. However, the service or program that is intended to be collaborative may be mandated.

Collaboration is based on parity. Participants have equal power in decision-making, and their contributions are equally valued.

Collaboration occurs around a common goal.Collaboration occurs in response to a common goal, problem or need that is jointly shared by the participants.

Collaboration includes shared responsibility for key decisions.Participants share responsibility for participating in the activity and in the decision-making that the activity requires.

Collaboration includes shared responsibility for outcomes.Participants in a collaborative activity have equal accountability for the outcome of that activity.

Collaboration implies that participant’s offer shared resources.Participants in a collaborative activity share material and human resources.

Collaboration has certain emergent characteristics.Certain characteristics both contribute to and emerge from effective collaborative relationships. These include beliefs and values that support collaboration, mutual trust, mutual respect, and establishment of a sense of community.

How does collaboration differ from co-teaching?“Although generally it is preferred that co-teaching be collaborative, it might or might not be. Collaboration refers to how individuals interact, not the activity they’re doing. Thus, any activity—co-teaching, problem solving, consultation—may or may not be collaborative.” ~ Friend, 2005

“Co-teaching at its most effective is based on collaboration. Collaboration is a style for interaction between co-equal parties voluntarily engaged in shared decision making as they work toward a common goal. It is HOW you work together, not WHAT you are doing.”

~ Friend & Cook, 1996

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Collegial Collaboration: Practices that Promote School Success

Studies have shown that high performing schools have high levels of collaboration. “The nature of relationships among adults within a school has a greater influence on the character and quality of that school and on student accomplishment than anything else.” ~ Barth, 2006

The most successful schools are schools where all the stakeholders work together to function as professional learning communities.

Successful schools have strong and functional cultures that develop deliberately; they are nurtured and built by the school leadership, the principal, and the members of the learning community.

Barth (2006) believes that collegial relationships are about getting the key players in schools to work together. Indicators of collegiality include: educators talking with one another about professional practice, sharing their craft knowledge, observing one another while engaged in professional practice, and rooting for one another’s success.

Creating a collegial culture within a school requires mutual respect, essential conversations about teaching and learning, shared values and vision, clear expectations, time to share, teamwork, professional development, inquiry, and reflective practice.

In order to become true members of the learning community, teachers must be empowered, by the principal, and by each other.

Kleinsmith (1999) discusses school reform issues, and suggests that school reform is based on three concepts: community, collaboration and collegiality. The principal, teachers, and staff members must join together if a school is to become a learning community intent on increasing student achievement.

Community suggests bonds of "shared values, purposes and commitments" that define reform initiatives.

Schools with strong professional communities are better able to offer authentic pedagogy and are more effective in promoting student achievement.

Collaboration involves replacement of the traditional norms of independence and isolation to create opportunities for constructive interaction among educators.

The collegial community is characterized by a reciprocal relationship between the community and its individual members, where each promotes the growth of the other.

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“When collegiality is high, a strong, professional culture held together by shared work norms emerges in the school. The norms are aligned with school purposes, contributing consistently to increased commitment and extraordinary performance.” ~ Sergiovanni, 2001

Benefits of Collaboration

Shifting an organizational paradigm (Vill, Thousand, Nevin & Malgeri, 1996) Increasing the ability to meet diverse needs

(Purcell & Leppien, 1998) Achieving more complex goals, improving social interactions, and

increasing creativity (Pugach & Johnson, 1995) Assisting with problem-solving (Foley & Mundschenk, 1997) Modeling and communicating the value of collaborative behaviors

(Villa et al., 1996) Providing additional enrichment opportunities (Purcell & Leppien, 1998) Encouraging the interaction of university & K-12 faculty for data collection

& research

(Murawski, 2003)

Co-Teaching

Source: Friend, Marilyn, The Power of Two

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Co-Teaching is:

“Two or more professionals delivering substantive instruction to a diverse, or blended, group of students in a single physical space.”

(Cook & Friend, 1995)

“An educational approach in which two teachers work in a coactive and coordinated fashion to jointly teach academically and behaviorally heterogeneous groups of students in an integrated setting.”

(Bauwens, Hourcade, & Friend, 1989)

“Two or more team members teaching in a class together. When special and general educators teach together, the motivation is often more effective instruction of a diverse group of students.”

(Snell & Janney, 2000)

Co-teaching is a service delivery system in which Two (or more) educators or other certified staff Contract to share instructional responsibility For a single group of students Primarily in a single classroom or workspace For specific content (objectives) With mutual ownership, pooled resources, and joint

accountability Each individual’s level of participation may vary

(Dr. Marilyn Friend)

What Co-Teaching is Not

Co-teaching is sometimes confused with other terminology. Three terms are related to co-teaching, yet they actually have their own specific definition.Collaboration is the way in which individuals interact with each other and does not refer to the actual activity that is taking place. Co-teachers should engage in collaboration to inform their instruction.Inclusion refers to the belief system that all students can and should be included in the general learning environment even though learning abilities differ.

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Benefits of Co-Teaching For Teachers: Dr. Wendy W. Murawski

Teachers involved in co-teaching relationships state that this relationship results in increased professional satisfaction, opportunities for professional growth, personal support, and opportunities for collaboration (Walther-Thomas, 1997).

Special education teachers gain insight into the realities of the general classroom while general educators learn valuable lessons in planning, accommodating, and instructing students with learning or behavioral difficulties (Friend & Cook, 2003; Salend, et al., 1997).

Teachers working together leads to increased friendships, which can in turn increase both morale and student performance (Salend, et al., 1997).

Having two teachers in one room allows for the experimentation with new teaching methodologies (Giangreco, Baumgart, & Doyle, 1995).

Co-teaching makes it easier to conduct hands-on activities and provide flexible testing situations (Cross & Walker-Knight, 1997).

Co-teaching enables whole group instruction to be provided while still meeting individual needs (Adams & Cessna, 1993).

Co-teaching provides for more on-task time as both teachers are able to manage behavior (Cross & Walker-Knight, 1997; Gerber & Popp, 1999).

Co-teaching enourages teachers to share expertise, providing one another with valuable feedback (Cross & Walker-Knight, 1997; Hughes & Murawaki, 2001).

Co-teaching allows educators to assist one another in addressing the issues related to content, accountability, and structure unique to the secondary level (Dieker & Murawaki, 2003).

Educators who experience co-teaching find that they were more energized and creative, are able to trust one another, and have more fun teaching (Adams and Cessna, 1993).

Hohenbrink, Johnston, and Weshoven (1997) report on personal experiences with co-teaching and state that it has prompted self-reflection, as well as led to significant changes in their understandings and teaching practices.

Gately and Gately (2001) state that as co-teachers move into the collaborative state of interaction, “communication, humor, and a high degree of comfort punctuate the co-teaching, collaborative classroom” (p.42).

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Benefits of Co-Teaching For Students: Dr. Wendy W. Murawski

Access to the general curriculum for students with disablities (Bauwens & Hourcade, 1997; Cook & Friend, 1995).

Positive social outcomes for students with and without disablities (Hunt, Alwell, Farron-Davis, & Goetz, 1996; Pugach & Wesson, 1995).

Increased student engagement & more interaction with teachers (Zigmond, Magiera, & Matta, 2003).

More individual attention & more interaction with teachers (Zigmond, Magiera, & Matta, 2003).

Improves students’ social skills and self-concept through the reduction of pull-out situations which are thought to be potentially stigmatizing for students (Jones & Carlier, 1995; Salend et al., 1997; Walther- Thomas, 1997).

Frequently, the delivery of services and modifications can be provided to students with academic difficulties or who are considered “at-risk” without requiring those students to be labeled as needing special education (Adamson, Matthew, &n Schuller, 1990; Bauwens & Hourcae, 1991; Salend, et al., 1997).

Behavior and academic expectations remain high for students with and without disabilities (Dicker, 2000).

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Do’s and Don’ts of Co–TeachingAdapted from: Murawski, W.W. (2002) demystifying co-teaching.

Co-Teaching Is…. Co-Teaching is not…Two or more co-equal (preferably credentialed) faculty working together.

A teacher and an assistant, teacher’s aide, or paraprofessional.

Conducted in the same classroom at the same time.

A few students pulled out of the classroom on a regular basis to work with the special educator. It is also not job-sharing, where teachers teach on different days.

Both teachers plan instruction together. The general education teacher is the content specialist while the special education teacher is the expert on individualizing and delivery to various learning modalities.

Pulling a group of students with disabilities to the back of the general education class.

Both teachers provide substantive instruction together- having planned together, the special education teacher can grade homework, teach content, facilitate activities, etc.

The special education teacher walking around the room all period as the general education teacher teaches the content.

Both teachers assess and evaluate student progress. IEP goals are kept in mind, as are the curricular goals and standards for that grade level.

The general education teacher grades “his” kids - or the general education teacher grades all students and the special education teacher surrepti-tiously changes the grades and call it “modifying after the fact.”

Two teachers maximize the benefits of having two teachers in the room by having both teachers actively engaged with students.

Teachers take turns being “in charge” of the class so that the other teacher can get caught up on grading, photocopying, making phone calls, creating IEP’s.Students remain in the large group setting in lecture-format as teachers rotate who gets to “talk to them.”

Teachers reflect on the progress and process, offering one another feedback on teaching styles, content, activities, and other items pertinent to improving the teaching situation.

Teachers getting frustrated with one another and telling the rest of the faculty in the teachers’ lounge or when one teacher simply tells the other teacher what to do and how to do it.

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Co-Teaching Approaches: Overview(Dr. Marilyn Friend)

1. One Teach, One Support. One of the advantages in co-teaching is that more detailed observation of students engaged in the learning process occurs. With this approach, for example, co-teachers decide in advance what types of specific observational information to gather during instruction and agree on a system for gathering the data. Afterward, both teachers analyze the information.

2. Station Teaching. In this co-teaching approach, teachers divide content and students. Each teacher then teaches the content to one group and subsequently repeats the instruction for the other group. If appropriate, a third “station” could give students an opportunity to work independently.

3. Parallel Teaching. In parallel teaching, the teachers are both teaching the same information to two groups of students.

4. Alternative Teaching. In alternative teaching, one teacher takes responsibility for the large group while the other works with a smaller group. This provides an opportunity to provide specialized attention to students in need of intervention.

5. Teaming. In team teaching, both teachers deliver the same instruction at the same time. Some teachers refer to this as having “one brain in two bodies.” Others call it “tag team teaching.” Most co-teachers consider this approach the most complex, but a satisfying way to co-teach. This approach is most dependent on teachers’ styles.

6. One teach, One Assist. In this approach to co-teaching, one person assumes primary responsibility for teaching while the other professional circulates through the room providing unobtrusive assistance to students as needed.

Factors for Selecting a Co-Teaching Approach: Dr. Marilyn Friend

1. Student characteristics and needs2. Teacher characteristics and needs3. Curriculum, including content and needs4. Pragmatic considerations

Source: Friend, Marilyn, The Power of Two.

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Co-Teaching Lesson Plan Considerations

A. TopicB. Learning Objectives/EvaluationC. Special Considerations for particular studentsD. Selection of Co-Teaching ApproachE. Teaching Strategies (How): large group, small group, stations,F. Teaching Strategies (Who): divided between teacher A & B

Topics for Co-Teachers to Discuss

1. Instructional content and expectations for students2. Instructional format, including who does which part of the instructional

delivery3. Planning, including time to do it and who does which part.4. Parity, or how it is clear that both educators have the same status in the

classroom5. Space, related to both students and teachers6. Noise levels and each educator’s tolerance for it7. Instructional routines8. Organizational routines9. The definition of “help”10.Discipline procedures for the classroom

Evaluating the Co-Teaching Process

1. What sustained training sessions or activities occur to implement collaboration, inclusive strategies, and co-teaching?

a. Professional Developmentb. Parent Educationc. Student Education

2. How does the service for and instruction of students with disabilities change?

a. Is the time spent in pull-out programs decreased?b. To what depth is co-teaching being implemented?c. Where are co-teaching practices experiencing success?d. How much differentiated instruction is taking place?

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Looking at Outcome Data of Co-Teaching

1. What is the impact of the activities/changes implemented?A. How is student achievement influenced by the implemented

activities?B. How is student behavior influenced by the activities?

Ten Factors that Undermine the Effectiveness of a Co-Teaching Program: Dr. Marilyn Friend

1. Ignoring the importance of a shared understanding on the part of all involved professionals (teachers, related services personnel, administrators, and paraprofessionals) of what co-teaching is and what it involves.

2. Using co-teaching as the basis of all inclusive services in a school, often fostering a school culture that implies that if a student with an IEP is in a general education setting, then there must be a special educator there to provide services.

3. Failing to clearly distinguish among the roles of the various adults who might be in classrooms--teachers, related services staff members, paraprofessionals, student teachers, volunteers.

4. Basing co-teaching on the preferences and wishes of staff rather than on clear standards, expectations, and the needs of students. A typical result is that co-teaching may be offered only at certain grade levels or on particular middle school teams or in just some high school departments.

5. Neglecting to develop implementers’ knowledge and skills; co-teaching, differentiated instruction, positive behavior supports, and related areas.

6. Implementing co-teaching without using a range options for grouping students and dividing instructional tasks between the educators. The related question is this: What is being called co-teaching practice?

7. When professionals over-use an approach (e.g., teaming or teacher assisting) on a consistent basis rather than interchanging methods, optimal results are not obtained.

8. Time: Failing to arrange for a least periodic shared planning time for the co-teachers, teachers failing to use that time wisely, using time as a reason not to implement co-teaching practices.

9. Placing too many students with special needs into a co-taught class. One version concerns placing a highly disproportionate number of students with disabilities in the class; another concerns placing an appropriate number of students with disabilities in a class, but then filling the rest of the class slots with students who struggle to learn or who have other special needs.

10.Failing to gather on-going data that demonstrates the impact of the co-teaching services on student achievement.

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Dr. Steven L. PaineState Superintendent of Schools


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