NYSED Principal Evaluation
Training Program
February 9, 2012
Session 1: Observing Lessons
Pacing guide
time
activity
slide
8.30
Agenda / Aims and Objectives / Aims of sessions
1-6
8:40
Multiple ways of observing lessons
7 -8
8:50
Activity 1: Self- review continuum
9-10
9:00
Lesson Observation and Evaluation
11
9:05
Activity 2: Why shadow Principal lesson observations
12-13
9:20
What is the lesson observation process
14-16
9:28
Teaching and Learning Pact
17
9.30
End
18
February 8, 2012
Session 1: Highly Effective Leaders
Agenda: Day 2
1. Whole Group Introduction Session 1: Observing Lessons – 8.30 am
• Aims of today’s session
• Learning and Teaching
Break 9.30 am to 9.45 am
2. Breakout session 2: Recording Evidence - 10.00 am
Lunch – 12.00 pm to 1.00 pm
3. Breakout session 3: Effective feedback 1.00 pm
Break 2.45 pm to 3.00 pm
4. Breakout session 4: Dynamic Process – 3.00 pm
5. Breakout session 5: Gathering Feedback for Teaching - 4.00 pm
Review and reflection 4.45 pm to 5.00 pm
Close - 5.00p.m.
February 9 , 2012
Session 1: Observing Lessons
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Session 1:
Observing Lessons
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Session 1: Observing Lessons
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Aims of The Day
To further enhance your understanding as principal evaluators of what a
principal needs to know and do in order to establish and maintain an
effective performance management system. Including the importance of:
•
preparation
•
collecting and recording objective evidence
•
providing clear and concise feedback which leads to actionable
change
•
implementing effective systems to track agreed actionable action
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Leader of Learning
Wallace’s work since 2000 suggests this entails five key responsibilities:
1. Shaping a vision of academic success for all students, based on
high standards
2. Creating a climate hospitable to education in order that safety, a
cooperative spirit and other foundations of fruitful interaction prevail
3. Cultivating leadership in others, so that teachers and other adults
assume their part in realizing the school vision
4. Improving instruction to enable teachers to teach at their best and
students to learn at their utmost
5. Managing people, data and processes to foster school improvement
THE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL AS LEADER: GUIDING SCHOOLS TO BETTER TEACHING AND LEARNING - The Wallace
Foundation, January 2012.
February 9, 2012
Session 1: Observing Lessons
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Aims of The Session
To increase participants’ cognition of:
• Different ways to observe lessons
• Common features of effective lesson observation
• Self confidence to observe lessons and provide reflective feedback
• Role of lesson observation in principal evaluation
• Overview of best practice in observing lessons
• Impact of observing lessons on improving teaching and learning
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Session 1: Observing Lessons
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Multiple Ways of Observing Lessons
There are a number of ways to observe lessons.
These include:
• walkthroughs
• focused observation
• whole lesson observation
• peer observation
• video
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Session 1: Observing Lessons
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Common features of Effective Lesson
Observation
• Preparation by the principal, this may or may not include preconferencing with the teacher
• Collecting evidence - the lesson observation, part or whole of
lesson
• Post observation feedback, which focuses on actionable
change - ideally this should be done face to face
• Summative year evaluation to align evidence against the
agreed upon rubric
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Activity 1
• Consider your experience and confidence in observing
lessons and providing feedback to principals on their
work as instructional leaders
• Now, complete the ‘Continuum for self-review’ chart
individually, as a personal self-reflection
• Place crosses to indicate your current position
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Continuum for Self-Review
NO EXPERIENCE
EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE
Lesson observation:
Using data to inform feedback
Looking at students’ work
Gathering evidence from
talking with students
LOW CONFIDENCE
VERY CONFIDENT
Lesson observation:
Using data to inform feedback
Looking at students’ work
Gathering evidence from talking
with students
Complete this individually as a personal self-reflection.
Place crosses to indicate your current position.
‘No experience’ may indicate lack of opportunity.
It will be useful to review this at the end of each stage of the training.
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Lesson Observation and Teacher Effectiveness
The main reasons for principals to
observe lessons and provide evidence
based feedback are to:
• drive changes in teacher practice
• drive changes in teacher
effectiveness
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Activity 2: Why should evaluators shadow the principal
observing lessons and giving feedback?
In pairs or threes identify the:
• positives and benefits
• issues and concerns
about evaluators shadowing the principal
classroom observations
through the lens of the principal and
separately through the lens of the
evaluator
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In summary
Principal evaluators shadow principals observing
lessons and providing feedback so that the evaluator can:
obtain objective first hand evidence of the principal’s
ability to lead learning in the school
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What is the lesson observation process?
Observing in the context of evaluation includes:
• documenting objective evidence
• matching the recorded evidence against agreed upon
criteria
• using the outcomes from the lesson observation notes in
a positive way to provide feedback which promotes
student learning by driving actionable changes in teacher
and principal practices
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Improving Teaching and Learning
Recorded observations
provide the basis for
informative feedback to teachers
leading to
improvement in teaching and learning
leading to
HIGH LEVELS OF ACHIEVEMENT FOR ALL STUDENTS
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Student Achievement and Student Progress
Over Time
• Note from the previous slide that our target is high achievement for all
students.
• The rate of individual student learning varies over time.
• Imagine a class of students learning long division….
Example: students have 20 questions to complete during the first 30
minutes of the lesson. You observe that: one student only completes five
questions and gets two wrong, another completes 12 and gets them all
right.
• How can this evidence be used as part of a post observation discussion
with the principal about differentiation of learning?
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The Teaching and Learning Pact
The LEARNER brings
• their background
• their capacity for,
and experience of,
learning
• their prior and
current knowledge,
interests, skills and
understanding
• their preferred
learning style
• their current profile
of intelligence
To the PACT they bring
• Self esteem and
motivation
• Mutual respect and high
expectations
• Shared commitment to
learning goals
• Active participation in the
learning and teaching
process
• Learning from each other
• Reflection and
performance feedback
• Willingness to take risks
The TEACHER brings
• Knowledge, enthusiasm
and understanding about
the matter to be taught
• Understanding of the
learning process
• A design of teaching and
learning that is fit for
purpose
• And emphasis on
instruction
• An ability to create a
learning environment with
appropriate learning
conditions
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Break
15 minutes
Transition to breakout room
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