Walkthroughs One Vehicle to Promote Student Learning Developed by: Otto Graf & Joseph Werlinich University of Pittsburgh

Observing Teaching and Learning Taking multiple snapshots of teaching and learning episodes and providing regular feedback to teachers and students. Taking multiple snapshots of teaching and learning episodes and providing regular feedback to teachers and students.

Walkthrough Observations – multiple snapshots of teaching and learning.

Definition of a Walkthrough  A Walkthrough is an organized tour through the school: …using “Look Fors” to focus on elements of effective Instruction and Learning.

How can I have an impact on what happens every day, in every classroom, for every student! Ensure that every child is held to and enabled to meet high standards; Examine how “Look Fors” are manifested in the classroom; Talk to teachers and students about what is being learned and how performance is evaluated.

Walkthrough Objectives 1. Learn more about instruction and learning; 2. Validate effective practice and ensure continued use; 3. Create a community of learners for adults and children; 4. Open the school and classroom to all staff ; 5. Focus teachers and the principal on student work and the learning process; 6. Improve decision making about instruction and learning; 7. Design more useful professional growth opportunities.

Two Minute Pause 1. What are the potential advantages and/or disadvantages of Walkthrough Observations?

Consistency of Best Practices “Inconsistent implementation of best practice strategies is a malfunction of accountability and the major obstacle to school improvement.” Richard Elmore - Harvard

Impact of Using Best Practices and Maintaining Expectations Individual teacher classroom practices produce most of the variability of performance in students. Heibert and Stigler – The Teaching Gap

Using Best Practices Teachers must operate in the body of knowledge that exists around effective instruction and practice – accepted as effective curricula or pedagogy.

Communicating Expectations to Your Staff 1.Conduct a Walkthrough meeting with the staff. This meeting sets the stage for the Walkthrough and helps to establish clear expectations for the staff related to the purpose and process of a Walkthrough. Specific school goals, special programs or areas of focus for the school should also be reviewed at this meeting.

Getting Started with Walkthrough Process 2.Conduct a preliminary Walkthrough to learn important information about the staff, students, curriculum and school. The goal of this Walkthrough is to see the school in operation and to begin collecting base-line data around a wide spectrum of effective instructional practices.

Focus for the Walkthrough 3. Establish a focus for subsequent Walkthroughs. The principal and teachers work together to identify the specific elements of effective instruction or guiding principles of learning that they wish to target for implementation.  This step includes the identification of ‘look-fors’ - precise descriptors of teaching and learning strategies that explain to the observer what the strategy actually looks like when applied in the classroom.

‘Look-fors’, Standards, and Best Practices 4.Connect the 'look-fors’ to established standards. When developing 'look-fors' in the classroom, they should reflect the district's standards for curriculum and instruction. This is an important step with respect to developing a common language for staff and for establishing a matching set of indicators around instruction and learning.

Visible Signs of Clear Expectations “Look-fors”- related to clear expectations:  Are the objectives clearly stated and tied to the standards?  Are standards/rubrics posted in the classroom and discussed with students?  Are models of high quality students work on display?  Are the elements that make student work good quality labeled & articulated?  Can students show examples of their work and describe the criteria they are trying to meet?

Criteria for Completing Assignments

Samples for Each Step of the Writing Process

Sharing Anchor Standards

Self-Evaluation Tools

Almost Good Work

Oakland High School Look For: Creating Clear Expectation for high school students?

Two Minute Pause 1. What evidence did you see that support the implementation of the “look-fors?”

Scheduling the Walkthrough 5.Schedule the Walkthrough. The principal should establish a schedule for Walkthroughs and communicate this to the teachers. Set a reasonable number of times to conduct Walkthrough, schedule them on you calendar, and stick to the schedule.

Data Collection & the Walkthrough 6.Identify the type of data to be collected and gather data during the Walkthrough. Sources of data include student learning behaviors, student’s work, teacher’s behaviors, materials utilized, physical arrangement of the classroom, and class activities. Especially, note specific examples of effective practice and exact details about the implementation/use of "lookfors.”

Observing Students Using the Walkthrough 7.Observe student behaviors that impact learning. A major area of emphasis for the Walkthrough should be centered on the students. Walkthrough participants may observe students’ behaviors, level of engagement, and quality of work. Talking to students about what they are doing and how they evaluate their work presents a wonderful opportunity for assessing effective teaching and learning.

Validating Effective Practice 8.Start by validating effective practice. The Walkthrough begins as a process for validating powerful teaching practice, effective use of guiding principles of learning, and the effective learning strategies demonstrated by students.

Two Minute Pause 1. Why would you validate effective practices first? 2. When and how will you build in a growth element for teaching and learning?

Feedback to Teachers 9.Debrief with teachers. Debriefing with teachers and, in some instances, with students is a critical step in the Walkthrough process. Giving specific feedback based on firsthand observation is a powerful tool.

Debriefing Strategies 10. Utilize a variety of strategies for debriefing with teachers (and in some instances students). Providing feedback to the staff as a whole and to individual teachers is critical. This process begins by validating effective teaching and learning and encouraging its continued use.

Feedback Effective Practice Providing Feedback to Teachers Around Effective Practice

Debriefing Tools Oral Feedback: Provide verbal feedback to teachers about something observed during the Walkthrough. Be specific and connect the feedback to ‘look-fors’ or elements of effective instruction. Written Feedback to Staff: Write a general narrative about what was observed during the Walkthrough and distribute the information to the entire staff. The narrative includes specific examples (without identifying the specific teacher or classroom) and evidence of how ‘Lookfors’ are present in the school. Written Feedback to Teachers: Short notes or to individual teachers can be very effective also. The notes should include specific examples or descriptions that provide evidence of how ‘Lookfors’ are present in the classroom. Debriefing the Faculty: Conduct a short meeting to debrief the faculty immediately after completing the Walkthrough. The meeting is generally held after school and attendance is most often voluntary. This meeting begins with a general overview of effective practices observed during the Walkthrough and specific evidence of ‘look-fors’ employed in classrooms. Feedback is focused on what is present in the school and not on individual teachers. Group Conference: Conduct a group conference with teachers to highlight and validate the teacher’s use of effective practices and/or implementation of ‘Lookfors’. The conference begins with a general overview about what was observed during the Walkthrough. This is followed by giving each teacher one or two specific positive examples of effective teaching strategies or ‘Lookfors’ he/she demonstrated during the Walkthrough. Growth Conference: Conduct a group conference focused on improvement. To create a specific growth objective for the conference, utilize framing questions, identify areas of consideration, encourage teachers to complete a self- reflection sheet, examine examples of student work, or share instructional artifacts from students and the classroom. Other Tools: Walkthrough observation forms; videotape lessons; professional portfolios; student work; teaching artifacts; teacher’s lesson plans; and projects.

Coaching Each Other 11.Coach each other during the Walkthrough. The Walkthrough provides an excellent opportunity for participants to talk about instruction and learning and to coach one another. While this process begins with the principal and other administrators walking through classrooms and the school, including teachers in the process is a powerful tool.

Coaching Each Other Walkthrough participants can use the Walkthrough as an opportunity to coach each other. It is amazing how much there is to learn by being able to visit classrooms, especially accompanied by another colleague. The rich discussion that occurs after each classroom visit helps to build a sound base of knowledge about effective instructional practice.

Changing the School’s Culture 12.Create a school culture where teaching, learning and sharing are embedded in the fabric of continuous improvement. The Walkthrough should be seen as part of the culture and not as an event. To make this process a part of the culture, principals must establish a visible presence in classrooms.

The Learning Community 13.When teachers, students, and the principal discover a way to connect around teaching and learning, everyone benefits. The Walkthrough Observation can be the connector that advances learning for everyone and embraces a change in culture..

Set Guidelines for Participation 14.Establish guidelines for all participants in the Walkthrough. Clear expectations need to be established concerning the professional behaviors for individuals participating in this process. While feedback is important, negative or judgmental comments to others regarding a teacher or a student are not appropriate.

Set Guidelines for Participation Keep the water safe for everyone engaged in the Walkthrough.

Walkthrough Observations “The first time I experienced a walkthrough of my classroom, it was like inviting someone to walk through my home” - Barry B. high school social studies teacher

TeachingLearning Creating an Intense Focus for Teaching and Learning

Creating an intense and specific focus for Teaching and Learning is a key element of the Walkthrough. The question to be answered by the principal & faculty is: “What strategy or process if implemented consistently, will make the strongest impact on student learning and achievement?”

TeachingLearning Creating an Intense Focus for Teaching and Learning The answer to the question is rooted in data collected through standardized assessments of student achievement, data collected by teachers through classroom practices and data collected by administrators during classroom observations.

TeachingLearning Creating an Intense Focus for Teaching and Learning Using multiple sources of data helps to identify key areas of teaching and learning for intense focus.

Establishing the Look-fors Creating an intense focus means identifying specific descriptors or “look-fors” that clearly describe what teaching behaviors and learning behaviors will be consistently utilized by all teachers and students.

Seeking Input from Teachers Engaging the faculty in identifying the strategy or area for focus is highly recommended. Faculty input into identifying the focus and “look- fors” establishes ownership of the intense focus and accountability for implementation of identified “look-fors”.

TeachingLearning Creating an Intense Focus for Teaching and Learning  Provide multiple sources of data for the faculty to review & analyze.  Select specific teaching and learning strategies to target.  Engage the faculty in a professional learning community to examine best practices.

What are the Most Frequently Asked Questions Asked by Teachers? Walkthrough Observations

Frequently Asked Questions about Walkthroughs 1.Why are you encouraging our administrators to come into our classrooms so often? I liked it when they left me alone to teach. 2.Why are you here so often? Am I doing something wrong? 3.What do you think about our school? How good [or bad] are we? 4.What do I need to do to improve?

Frequently Asked Questions about Walkthroughs 5.How long will we have to do this? 6.Does anyone care what I think is important related to instruction? 7.Can you just tell me what you are looking for? 8.You really want me to share my best teaching ideas with all of my colleagues? Why?

Frequently Asked Questions about Walkthroughs 9.What can you possibly learn about my teaching when you only visit my class for fifteen minutes? 10.Is your name really Otto Graf (autograph)? Were your parents trying to be funny?

ALL STUDENTS CAN LEARN But what are the requirements??? E ffort {effort on the part of students} E x pert Teaching {outstanding instruction} C urriculum {aligned curriculum} I nterventions {appropriate supports for students} T ime {vary time to accommodate rate of learning} E valuation {providing specific feedback to teachers and students} D ata {collect and analyze data to drive decisions around instruction & learning}