Learning & Teaching

Leadership team members discuss strengthening core classroom reading instruction and their long-term goal of lessening the need for interventions. They explain how data analysis around intervention has identified schoolwide gaps in instruction and how they are addressing gaps without additional layers of intervention.

Includes plans for spiral-reviewing standards and sub-standards into homework assignments, Do Nows, mini-lessons, quizzes, and tests. Identifies whole-class vs. small-group teaching needed to address students' needs, and lists students of significant concern and instructional strategies designed to attend to their needs.

Professional development materials used to inform faculty about high-incidence disabilities and build schoolwide culture of inclusion. Includes descriptions of ten types of disabilities, lists of appropriate accommodations and services, and two hypothetical case studies for workshop on planning lessons with appropriate accommodations.

A high school screens and places incoming ninth-graders at risk of getting off track for graduation in supplemental classes that support and accelerate learning in core subjects. Teachers integrate affective development into instruction and in one-on-one student conferences. Staff uses academic and affective data to monitor and adjust interventions.

PowerPoint presentation used by the school's leadership to establish a sense of urgency for implementing a reading intervention program. Includes data projections to show teachers that even if students' test scores increase steadily every year, only 40 percent of the student body will reach proficiency in five years.

YES Prep full-lesson, evaluative observation form. Includes descriptions of teacher-performance standards from school's Instructional Excellence Rubric with numerical ratings. Rubric scores, key take-aways, and next steps discussed during post-observation conference to prepare for formal evaluation meetings. Used midyear and at end of the year.

Principal shares protocol for and benefits of teacher observation. Shows observation of 3rd-grade teacher conducting lesson based on recent data-team meeting during which teachers analyzed a diagnostic assessment and determined which students did not yet understand fraction equivalency. Also includes parts of a debrief between principal and teacher.

Explores how a principal implements "Data Talks," a systemized, schoolwide protocol for ensuring teachers know how to use data to drive instruction. Highlights how she developed the roles of "lead teachers" to support their grade-level peers in honing their instruction.

Highlights a selection team's postdemonstration lesson debrief with a teaching candidate and an activity designed to simulate a coaching session with the school's literacy coach. The team then meets alone to analyze the candidate's performance during the lesson and postlesson interview and decide on next steps.

A chief academic officer, principal, and curriculum coordinator develop a six-week plan for a struggling new hire, prioritizing the teacher's areas of need, laying out a plan of action for addressing these areas of need, and setting measurable goals for improvement at two-week intervals.

Middle school principal observes and coaches second-year eighth-grade history teacher on instructional rigor. Coaching focuses on analyzing the level of rigor in the questions the teacher posed during the observed lesson and generating a list of question stems that could be incorporated into daily instruction to scaffold students' critical thinking.

Dean of curriculum observes and coaches new seventh-grade math teacher on his use of small groups in charter school classroom. Coaching feedback moves beyond managing small-group instructional routines to a focus on how to make the small-group learning activity appropriately challenging and mathematically rigorous.

Principal-completed observation form includes notes on instructional rigor, transcript of questions posed by teacher, and Yes/No checklist of 12 aspects of teaching. Transcript of questions used in follow-up coaching session to generate taxonomy of critical-thinking questions to use with nonfiction texts.

A high school screens and places incoming ninth-graders at risk of getting off track for graduation in supplemental classes that support and accelerate learning in core subjects. Teachers integrate affective development into instruction and in one-on-one student conferences. Staff uses academic and affective data to monitor and adjust interventions.

In weekly meeting, RTI team monitors high-need students at risk of becoming off track and reviews individual student data on achievement, credit accumulation, current grades, attendance, behavior, intervention and support service history, and input from current teachers to make immediate adjustments to interventions and assign responsibility for follow-up.

Descriptors of four levels of math competency stressing mathematical reasoning. Focus is on understanding concepts, use of math strategies, and communication. Used by teachers to assess students responses to assessments of essential math skills in each grade.

Assessments of essential math skills in kindergarten and grades 4 and 5. Shows specific benchmark skills by asking students to solve a problem, provide answers, and explain their reasoning. Used to determine student mastery of essential math skills for each grade.

Forms for tracking individual student's mastery of key skills in elementary grades, covering six strands: number sense and operations; problem-solving; patterns and algebra; geometry; measurement; and data analysis and probability. Updated by teachers throughout school year and used to determine which essential math skills need to be retaught.

Calendar of key skills, teaching methods, and assessments for elementary grades, organized by unit of instruction. Focus is on 10–15 essential, or "benchmark," math skills to be mastered by the end of grade. Examples are for kindergarten and grade 7.

Elementary teachers set literacy targets for the grade level below their own. By implementing a process for identifying skills teachers want students to arrive with in their own classes, school leaders are able to raise teacher expectations for students.

Chart listing appropriate accommodations and modifications (out of list of 43) for students with IEPs in sixth-grade English language arts class. Includes in-class work and assessment accommodations.

Includes plans for spiral-reviewing standards and sub-standards into homework assignments, Do Nows, mini-lessons, quizzes, and tests. Identifies whole-class vs. small-group teaching needed to address students' needs, and lists students of significant concern and instructional strategies designed to attend to their needs.

Instructional leaders at a charter school use an Instructional Excellence Rubric to observe, coach, and evaluate teachers. Coaches work with teachers to increase rigor by setting ambitious lesson objectives and creating higher-level small-group and independent activities. Midyear teacher-evaluation meetings link instructional goal-setting to student data.

Dean of curriculum observes and coaches new seventh-grade writing teacher on pacing and differentiation. Feedback focuses on the teacher's need to adjust the time allotted to whole-group instruction and allow more independent writing time for students who are ready to advance while providing differentiated support for struggling students.

Dean of instruction coaches veteran seventh-grade teacher on increasing and aligning rigor of lesson objectives with independent learning tasks that require students to explain their analysis of a text's mood and justify their answers for how the author created that mood.

A 6th-grade math team analyzes benchmark assessment data to identify common student misconceptions. They use a series of itemized data reports and templates to discover that students struggle with Lowest Common Multiple (LCM). They hypothesize that second language issues are contributing to this struggle for some English Language Learners.

Includes plans for spiral-reviewing standards and sub-standards into homework assignments, Do Nows, mini-lessons, quizzes, and tests. Identifies whole-class vs. small-group teaching needed to address students' needs, and lists students of significant concern and instructional strategies designed to attend to their needs.

Notes and feedback on a highly skilled third-grade teacher's math lesson. Principal's completed observation form recounts specific teacher and student actions to provide feedback on instructional and classroom-management strategies. Suggests specific strategies for teacher to try and asks guiding questions for the teacher to respond to in 24 hours.

This clip highlights the prebrief part of a coaching cycle, during which an instructional coach plans with the teacher. During this prebrief, the coach works with a seventh-grade language arts teacher to define student outcomes for weekly book clubs, such as students engaging in "authentic" conversations.

An instructional coach coteaches with a seventh-grade language arts teacher as part of a three-part coaching cycle that includes coplanning, coteaching, and debriefing a lesson. The lesson focuses on supporting students to build a rubric that outlines expectations for engaging in "good, accountable talk" during weekly book club meetings.

Chart listing appropriate accommodations and modifications (out of list of 43) for students with IEPs in sixth-grade English language arts class. Includes in-class work and assessment accommodations.

Lead teacher conducting 3rd-grade Data Talk provides glimpse into protocols and pre- and post-meeting expectations. Teachers participate in an in-depth analysis and discussion about students' performance on diagnostic assessment on fractions.

An elementary school taps into school-based expertise to provide ongoing teacher-led professional development on literacy workstations and guided reading instruction. It also builds leadership capacity by coaching teacher leaders on the design and facilitation of PD and by supporting the development of veteran teachers as peer coaches.

YES Prep full-lesson, evaluative observation form. Includes descriptions of teacher-performance standards from school's Instructional Excellence Rubric with numerical ratings. Rubric scores, key take-aways, and next steps discussed during post-observation conference to prepare for formal evaluation meetings. Used midyear and at end of the year.

Dean of curriculum solicits advice from leadership team on personal challenge concerning how to coach a new teacher who meets many but not all performance expectations. The team brainstorms coaching tactics and language to use to provide supportive coaching while maintaining consistent accountability standards.

Teachers describe their initial resistance to change and eventual buy-in to principal's vision for workstations. Principal provides opportunities for teachers to share and practice strategies to build their comfort level with workstations. Principal reflects on personal leadership lessons and importance of having difficult conversations with resistant staff.

A high school screens and places incoming ninth-graders at risk of getting off track for graduation in supplemental classes that support and accelerate learning in core subjects. Teachers integrate affective development into instruction and in one-on-one student conferences. Staff uses academic and affective data to monitor and adjust interventions.

Outlines the freshman seminar social-emotional learning (SEL) curriculum objectives, activities, and resources. Ninth-grade SEL classes teach students skills like violence prevention, decision-making, conflict resolution, positive peer interactions, and active listening, as well as techniques like code-switching and Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

Academic Success Class teachers attend to students' affective development in daily instruction and in weekly individual conferences to monitor grades, set goals, and build resiliency skills. Teacher prompts students to identify areas for improvement, reflect on obstacles to success, and strategize goals and action steps for the coming week.

In weekly meeting, RTI team monitors high-need students at risk of becoming off track and reviews individual student data on achievement, credit accumulation, current grades, attendance, behavior, intervention and support service history, and input from current teachers to make immediate adjustments to interventions and assign responsibility for follow-up.

Chart listing appropriate accommodations and modifications (out of list of 43) for students with IEPs in sixth-grade English language arts class. Includes in-class work and assessment accommodations.

Dean of curriculum solicits advice from leadership team on personal challenge concerning how to coach a new teacher who meets many but not all performance expectations. The team brainstorms coaching tactics and language to use to provide supportive coaching while maintaining consistent accountability standards.

A general- and special-education teacher meet to prepare for coteaching a sixth-grade English language arts reading workshop in an inclusion classroom. They review coteaching norms, lesson objectives, standards, and learning activities; discuss appropriate accommodations and modifications for a special-needs student; and agree upon a coteaching plan.

Includes overview of benefits of coteaching, coteacher responsibilities, guidelines for coteaching norms and processes, and descriptions of different coteaching configurations. Materials used in summer professional development session to inform whole faculty about Boston Prep's coteaching model and build schoolwide culture of inclusion.

A general- and special-education teacher coteach a sixth-grade reading workshop in an inclusion classroom, making accommodations and modifications for special-needs students. Includes team-teaching during whole-group instruction, parallel teaching during small-group guided reading, and formative data collection with individual students during independent...

Analyzes strategies for facilitating data-driven professional dialogue and engaging adults in collaborative instructional decision-making. Focuses on how staff analyzes student data to identify an area of need, collectively implements a focused instructional response, and collaboratively examines student work to monitor the effectiveness of instruction.

Lesson plans with objectives, agendas, materials, pacing, and teaching methods. Includes examples of three lessons. First two—for lessons on mineral properties and optics—are for one class period each. The third is for a class project meant to engage students by using their knowledge of chemical elements to create new comic book heroes.

Assessments of essential math skills in kindergarten and grades 4 and 5. Shows specific benchmark skills by asking students to solve a problem, provide answers, and explain their reasoning. Used to determine student mastery of essential math skills for each grade.

Forms for tracking individual student's mastery of key skills in elementary grades, covering six strands: number sense and operations; problem-solving; patterns and algebra; geometry; measurement; and data analysis and probability. Updated by teachers throughout school year and used to determine which essential math skills need to be retaught.

Form used by administrators to conduct brief, frequent classroom observations. Contains measures for instructional rigor, narrative observational notes, Yes/No checklist for 12 aspects of teaching, including student engagement, lesson objectives, resources, assessment, and classroom management. Completed examples from 7th-grade writing and math included.

Principal facilitates a faculty meeting to analyze teacher evaluation data and to set a schoolwide focus on the standard for developing higher-level understanding through effective questioning. Teachers share strategies for meeting one of the most challenging indicators—getting students to ask the teacher and each otherhigher-level questions.

An elementary school taps into school-based expertise to provide ongoing teacher-led professional development on literacy workstations and guided reading instruction. It also builds leadership capacity by coaching teacher leaders on the design and facilitation of PD and by supporting the development of veteran teachers as peer coaches.

YES Prep full-lesson, evaluative observation form. Includes descriptions of teacher-performance standards from school's Instructional Excellence Rubric with numerical ratings. Rubric scores, key take-aways, and next steps discussed during post-observation conference to prepare for formal evaluation meetings. Used midyear and at end of the year.

Instructional leaders at a charter school use an Instructional Excellence Rubric to observe, coach, and evaluate teachers. Coaches work with teachers to increase rigor by setting ambitious lesson objectives and creating higher-level small-group and independent activities. Midyear teacher-evaluation meetings link instructional goal-setting to student data.