lesson study catherine lewis mills college, oakland, ca this material is based upon work supported...

Lesson Study

Catherine Lewis

Mills College, Oakland, CAwww.Lessonresearch.net

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0207259. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Choosing a Lesson Study Theme

Think about the students you serve.

Your Ideals:

What qualities would you like these students to have 5-10 years from now?

Choosing a Lesson Study Theme

Think about the students you serve.

The Actual:

List their qualities now.

Choosing a Lesson Study Theme

What is a gap between the ideal and the actual that you would really like to work on as an educator?

Choosing a Lesson Study ThemeThink about the students you serve.

Your Ideals: What qualities would you like these students to have 5-10 years from now?

The Actual: List their qualities now.

The Gap: Compare the ideal and the actual. What are the gaps that you would most like to work on?

The Research Theme: (long-term goal) State positively the ideal student qualities you choose to work on. For example:

Fundamental academic skills that will ensure students’ progress and a rich sense of human rights.

Your research theme:

Lesson Study

1. STUDY

Consider long term goals for student learning and

development

Study curriculum and standards 2. PLAN

Select or revise research lesson

Do student task

Anticipate student responses

Plan data collection and lesson

3. RESEARCH LESSON

Conduct research lesson

Collect data

4. REFLECT

Share data

What was learned about student learning, the lesson

design, instruction?

What are implications for improvement of this lesson and

instruction more broadly?

What is a Research Lesson?

1. Actual classroom lesson with students, watched by other teachers

2. Planned for a long time, collaboratively

3. Brings to life a goal or vision of education

4. Recorded: video, audio, student work

5. Discussed by faculty and sometimes outside commentators

Types of Research Lessons

1. In - School

2. Public

3. Embedded in conferences, study groups, district-wide professional development, etc.

Can patterns help us find an easy way to answer the question: How many seats fit around a row of triangle tables?

INPUTNumber ofTriangleTables

OUTPUTNumber ofSeats

1 32 43456

?InstructionalImprovement

VisibleFeatures of Lesson Study

•Planning•Curriculum Study•Research Lesson•Data Collection•Discussion•Revision•Etc.

How Does Lesson Study Improve Instruction?

Video Background• Summer workshop

•“Dive-in” lessons in borrowed classrooms

• Help students develop curiosity about mathematical patterns, capacity to represent patterns mathematically

Figure 1A Common (Mis)Conception of Lesson Study

Visible Features of

Lesson Study

Plan Teach Observe Discuss Etc.

Key Pathway

Lesson Plans Improve

Instructional Improvement

InstructionalImprovement

VisibleFeatures of Lesson Study

•Planning•Curriculum Study•Research Lesson•Data Collection•Discussion•Revision•Etc.

How Does Lesson Study Improve Instruction?

PathwaysIncreased knowledge of subject matter

Increased knowledge of instruction

Increased ability to observe students

Stronger collegial networks

Stronger connection of daily practice to long-term goals

Stronger motivation and sense of efficacy

Improved materials

Pathway: Increased Ability to Observe Students

Visible Features of Lesson Study:• Teachers try student task themselves• Pre-interview students to see how they think• Multiple observers on same students• Full narrative observations• Multiple cycles, make task more “thought-revealing” each

time

Data Collected During Lesson StudyAcademic Learning• Did students shift from counting by 1’s to more flexible method?• Did students try new solution strategies?• Did students draw on prior knowledge of ____• In their journals, what did students write as their learnings?Motivation• Percent of children who volunteered ideas • Body language, “aha” comments, shining eyes• PersistenceSocial Behavior• How many times do students refer to and build on classmates’

comments?• How often do the five quietist students speak up?Student Attitudes Toward Lesson• What did you like and dislike about the lesson?

Students

Teachers Curriculum

Based on NRC, 2001 & Cohen & Ball, 2000

Learning From and In Practice

Ideas From Planning

• Unit rate (value of a ratio) relates equivalent fractions;

• Relates to measurement; • Uses division; • Units (e.g., of 1) can be

grouped to form larger units (e.g., of 5)

• We typically think in “simplest form” rather than have kids think about units

(Lo, Watanabe, & Cai, 2004)

Ideas From Planning• These methods differ from the standard

cross-multiply and divide algorithm

(McDougall Littell, 2004)

Percent Statements Focused on Student Thinking

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

1 2

Year 1 Year 3

Planning

Debrief

Schoolwide Lesson Study School

Percent Statements on Evaluation/Ability

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

1 2

Year 1 Year 3

Planning

Debrief

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

2002 2003 2004 2005

School

DistrictState

California Standards Test in Mathematics: Mean Scale Scores, Grades 2-5

3-year net increase for school more than triple that for district (F=.309, 845df p<.001)

Percent Statements Referring to Established Sources (Standards, research, curricular, named

programs or expert)

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

18%

year 1 year 3

Series1

“The problem, then, lies not in the supply of new ideas, but in the demand for them. That is, the primary problem of scale is understanding the conditions under which people working in schools seek new knowledge and actively use it to change the fundamental processes of schooling.”

Richard Elmore

• Begins with answer

• Driven by expert

• Communicationtrainer -> teachers

• Relationships hierarchical

• Research informs practice

• Begins with question

• Driven by participants

• Communication among teachers

• Relationship reciprocal

• Practice is research

TRADITIONAL RESEARCH LESSONS

By Lynn Liptak, Paterson School #2, New Jersey.

Professional Development

Teachers’ Activities to Improve Instruction

Choose curriculum,write curriculum, align curriculum, write local standards

U.S. JAPAN

Plan lessons individually

Plan lessons collaboratively

Watch and discuss each other’s classroom lessons

We feel there is a great value in a public lesson. It is an opportunity to put our work out for public scrutiny.

Lesson Study Communities, Massachusetts

If we had to use one word to describe our work for the past two years, it would be

COURAGE

.... to maintain this philosophy and pedagogical thinking as we

struggled with our deficient MCAS scores … overcrowded

classrooms…

Lesson Study Communities Team Reflection, Massachusetts

There are many ways to solve problems correctly.

And even more ways to solve them incorrectly.

Teacher from San Mateo, California

I really see this as an opportunity - taking teaching out of the closet…

giving it a professional dignity it hasn’t had

Teacher reflecting at Foxboro Open House,Massachusetts

Until lesson study we never discussed the value of the content being taught. We discussed the different ways students learn (multiple intelligences), how the brain works, how to differentiate an inclusion class.

Never had those discussions involved a discussion of how to develop problem-solving techniques, how to develop a particular concept …what to expect for outcomes, and how to adjust the lesson to meet student needs.

Lesson Study Communities Teacher, Massachusetts

The opportunity to focus on two to four students’ learning was incredible…You

feel like you are in a true research mode.

Teacher from San Mateo, California

This experience has affected the way some of us structure our lessons,

and has given us the courage to try challenging lessons

Lesson Study Communities Teacher, Massachusetts.

Even if you think you have thought of all the student responses ….

there will always be more.

Teacher, San Mateo, California

Great trust has developed over time that allows us to be both teachers and

learners with each other. Isn’t that what it’s all about?

Lesson Study Communities Team Reflection, Massachusetts

I feel the biggest mistake we can make when pitching lesson study to US teachers is to tell them it is easy and painless. It is hard and possibly painful and they should prepare for it. The rewards, however, are fantastic. Real, concrete, observable improvement occurs in teaching.

Middle School Math Teacher, Paterson School #2, New Jersey

•

Further Information• Lesson Study: A Handbook..(Lewis) (

www.rbs.org)

• www.lessonresearch.net (Mills College Lesson Study Group)

• www.tc.columbia.edu/lessonstudy/ (Lesson Study Research Group, Teachers’ College)

• www.globaledresources.com (Global Education Resources)

clewis@mills.edu

lessonresearch.net

Email address:

Website address:

What did the teachers gain from their lesson study work?

For example, how might their work have affected their •Knowledge•Habits of mind•Tools and culture of teaching