WHATMAKESAGOODPROBLEMOFPRACTICE?

AresourcebooklettocomplementInstructionalRounds

CreatedbyBarbaraReynoldswith

Extractsfrom:InstructionalRoundsinEducation,City,E.A., Elmore,R.F. ,Fiarman,S.E. &Teitel, L

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WhatthePurposeofInstructionalRounds?

Roundshastwoprimarygoalsthatinformeachother:

1. Buildskillsofnetworkmembersbycomingtoacommonunderstandingofeffectivepracticeandhowtosupportit.

2. Supportinstructionalimprovementatthehostschoolbysharingwhatthenetworklearnsandbybuildingskillsatthelocallevel(p100)

WhatisaProblemofPractice?

Aproblemofpracticeisanaspectofteachingandlearningthathasbeenidentifiedasthefocusoftheupcominground.Itneedstobeonethat:•focusesontheinstructionalcore,• isdirectlyobservable,• isactionable,and•connectstoabroaderstrategyofimprovement–thatis,linkstooneofthecurrentstrategicdirectionsoftheschool.

Identifyingaproblemofpracticeisthefirststepandelementofinstructionalrounds.Itisacriticalcomponentofroundsasitfocusestheattentionofthenetwork–“Ofallthethingswecouldpayattentiontoinclassrooms,we’regoingtofocuson….”.Italsomakesitmorelikelythatthevisitwillbefruitfullearningforboththehostandthenetworkparticipants(p102).

ProblemofpracticeisidentiNied

Professionallearningtodescribeoptimalteachingandlearningrelatedtothepop

Clasasroomobservationofpractice

Observationdebrief

Networksuggeststhenextlevelofwork

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HowistheProblemofPracticeIdentified?

Theproblemofpractice is grounded inevidenceand refined throughdialogue.

Inshort,theproblemofpracticeissomethingyoucareaboutandthatwouldmakeadifferenceforstudentlearningifyouimprovedit.

Student learning data is a good place to start identifying the focus.Thedatacouldcomefromsummativeassessmentorexternalresultsor it could come from teachers’ collected evidence about students’engagement, curriculumunderstandingor skills,or facilitywith thegeneralcapabilities.

Theproblemofpracticeemergesthroughdialoguebetweenthehostsandthefacilitator:

§ Thehostsbrainstormsomepossibleproblemsofpractice,§ Thefacilitatorhelpsthehostshonethesepossibilitiesintoadraftproblemthatwillbefruitfulforboththehostsandthenetwork,

§ Thehostsrefinethedraft, sometimeswithmoreassistance fromthefacilitator(p104).

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WHATMAKESAGOODPROBLEMOFPRACTICE?

1.It ’s theStartof theJourney–NottheEndThe problemof practice (pop) is the start of a school’s journey inimplementing change. It should be a focus that the school iscommittedtoinvestinginasapriorityforthe12monthsfollowingthe round. By linking directly to the school plan, the pop shouldensure that InstructionalRounds is not an “addon”, but rather anintegralpartoftheschool’simprovementprogram.

Instructional Rounds in not a process for checking how a changeimplementationhasgone.Thereisafinelinebetweenusingroundsasan audit of whether people are doing what they’re supposed to bedoing (not okay) and using rounds to find evidence that the

instructional core looks as it should if theproblemofpracticeweremet(okay).(p107)

FocusontheLearningnottheTeachingOnesimplestrategy forshiftingtheconversationistofocusonthekindoflearningyouwanttosee,asopposedtowhatkindofteachingyouexpecttosee–inshort, focusonstudents,notonteachers.Sometimes, going back to the problem beingaddressedorthekindoflearningyouwanttoseecan be helpful (eg we want students to beindependentreadersandwriters)(p107).

There is aplace forauditata school level, andeach school should embed ongoing data

gatheringprocessestoensurethechangeprocessissuccessful.

ExtendthePreviousFocusOne school that we visited had invested heavily in professionallearning around literacy strategies. They thought that neither theteachers nor the students had internalised the strategies, so afterconversation it reframedwhathad initially been an implementationchecktothefollowingquestions:

ü Whatliteracystrategiesarestudentsusing?ü Inwhatwaysdoteachersteachliteracystrategies?

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2.It ’sAnswerinUnknown“Problem”-latemiddleEnglishoriginallydenotingariddleoraquestionforacademicdiscussion

Aproblemofpracticeisafocusareaoflearningandteachingwheretheway forward is unknown. Leaders and teachers are aware thatimprovement is needed, but are unclear about what is limitingprogress. It’s an important aspect that leaders and teachers areponderingoverandhavenotcomeupwithclearsolutions.

Examplesofschoolsdevelopingthepoparegivenonpage8.Askingyourselfsomequestionsmightbeagoodwaytostartyourthinking.

•Whyisthisareaoffocusimportantforyourstudents?•Whyareyouinterestedincheckingonit?•Whatdatadoyoualreadyhave?

A good problem of practice is a leap into the unknown. . It issomethingstudentsandstaffarestrugglingwith.Teacherswillneedtrainingandcontinuedsupporttoaddressitinameaningfulway

3.It ’sHighLeverageand/orDeepLearningIf acted on would this problem of practice make a significantdifferenceforstudentlearning?

High-leverage practices are actions central to teaching. Carried outskilfully,thesepracticesincreasethelikelihoodthatteachingwillbeeffectiveforstudents’learning.Theyareusefulacrossabroadrangeofsubjectareas,gradelevels,andteachingcontexts.

Somehighleveragestrategieshavebeenidentifiedthroughresearch.These include: effective feedback; using formative assessment;eliciting deep thinking; student and teacher questioning; planningrichtasks;engagingstudents“in-task”,andestablishinggoals.

Deep learning is promoted through activities such as creative andcritical thinking, substantive communication, applyingunderstanding,reflectionandmetacognitionItisalsoevidentintheprocess skills of learning areas such asWorkingMathematically &WorkingScientifically.

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4.ItDoesn’tContainTooMuch

It’s common for host schools to want the network to look at manythings,inpartbecausewehaveseveralproblemswecareaboutatanygivenmomentanditshardtopickone.Atthebeginning,networkswillstruggle to handle multi-dimensional problems. After gaining someexperience,networksmightbeabletokeepthreequestionsinmind.

Tohelprefinethepop,askyourself:“Whatistheoneproblemthatisatthe root of all others?”Whatare themain issues that you caremostabout?or“Whatdoyouthinkwillhavethehighestleverageinhelpingyour teachers change their practice tomeet student learning needs?(p107)

5.It’sBothSpecificandTransferrableThe more specific the pop is, the more specific and helpful theobservational data & recommendations for the next level of workwill be. Vague problems of practice lead to vague observations &recommendations. For instance, a problem of practice that asks,“Whatareourteachersdoingandsaying?”istoobroad.

On the other hand, if the pop is too narrow, it limits thegeneralizabilityofthedata.Justasweneedtoensurestudentsmakeconnectionsintheirlearning,soweneedtoensurethatourteachershavetheabilitytomakeconnectionsintheirlearning.Forinstance,aproblemofpracticethatasks,“Howeffectiveisourteacherfeedbackin the teachingof spelling?”Wouldprovidedata that is toospecificforaprioritychangeprogram.

JustasforGoldilocks,thegrain-sizeneedstobe“justright”.

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6.ItmeetstheneedsofallthenetworkparticipantsaswellasthehostschoolSometimes networksfall into the trap ofdevelopingaproblemofpractice solely aroundthe needs of a hostschool. And they framea problem of practicesolelyaroundthat.

Cityetalsay:

This is a laudable butimportant goal, but it isnottheonlygoal.Roundsvisits help the network develop as a group that, over time, builds arich sense ofwhat they hope to see in classrooms, agreement aboutwhattheyareactuallyseeing,andstrategiesforhowtheymakethathopeareality.

Roundsalsohelpsalltheindividualsinthenetwork,whethertheyarethe host of a visit or a colleague participating in the visit, sharpentheir understanding of the instructional core and their personaltheoryofactionabouttheirroleinimprovingit.

Ifroundsdoesnotmeetallthesegoals,thenetworkwon’tlastlong.Ittakesalotoftimeandenergytoparticipateinrounds,andiftheonlybenefitweretothehost,thatwouldprobablynotbeenoughtosustainparticipants.

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WhatareSomeExamplesofaGoodProblemofPractice?A document from Columbia City Schools gives examples of howproblemofpracticeshavebeenselected.Herearetwoexamples:

High Expectations. Achievement data indicates our students aregenerally not performing at the level needed to meet state standards.DatafromourCRTsandwalkthroughsindicatethatstudentsareheldtodifferentexpectationsindifferentsettingsand,attimes,theexpectationsare too low. Teachers are unsure of what students are capable of.Teachersfearthatiftheysettheirexpectationstoohigh,studentswillbefrustratedbythechallenge.Thestaffhasdecidedtolearnwaystobuildscaffoldingactivities intotheirlessonssostudentsgetthesupporttheyneedtomeethigherexpectations.Problem of Practice: What evidence of high expectations for allstudentsdoyousee in thekindsof tasksstudentsareasked todoand in the work they produce? Do you see evidence of highexpectations in student participation in the lesson? What is theteacherdoing that sends amessage of both high expectations andstudentsupportpromotingacademicachievementforallstudents?Building a community of learners by focusing on productivestudentgroupwork.Lowstudentachievementacross contentareasand lack of student interest in learning suggest that we need toinvestigate different instructional approaches. The staff is aware ofresearch on the effectiveness of students working in groups, both onachievement and attitude toward learning. The staff has found that itsefforts to design and implement projects involving students workingtogetherhaveresultedinchaosandlittleproductivelearning.ThestaffisstrugglingwithhowtodesignandimplementproductivelessonswhicharefocusedonstudentsworkingcollaborativelyProblemofPractice:Howaregroupsworking?Arestudentshelpingeachother learn? Is learningamutualendeavour ingroups?Whatlevel of significant learning do you see for both groups andindividuals? How do the assignments support effective grouplearning? What teacher behaviours support productive grouplearning?ExamplesofproblemsofpracticeconductedinsomeSydney-basednetworks can be found at: https://www.creatingrounds.com andhttps://www.ccgedu.net