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Teachers Observing Peers
in Classroom Walkthrough Frameworks
Learning Forward 2014 Annual Conference
December 6-10, 2014
Nashville, Tennessee
December 8, 2014
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Presenters
Donald S. Kachur is Professor Emeritus of Education from the Department of Curriculum and
Instruction in the College of Education at Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois. He holds a
doctorate in education from Indiana University in Bloomington. He served from 2001 to 2008 as
the full-time Executive Director of the Illinois affiliate of ASCD. Don is a workshop trainer for the
Illinois Administrators Academy, the Illinois Principals Association, and the Illinois Association of
School Administrators. In the business realm, he served as an executive consultant at State
Farm Corporate and participated in the delivery of State Farm Advanced Management
Seminars. In addition, Don served as a certified trainer with Motorola, Inc. for their Leadership
Development Institutes for school superintendents and Executive Leadership Institutes for
school principals. He coauthored the books Classroom Walkthroughs to Improve Teaching and
Learning (2010) published by Routledge/Eye on Education and Engaging Teachers in Classroom
Walkthroughs (2013) published by ASCD. He has also published in the NASSP Bulletin, Phi Delta
Kappan, Kappa Delta Pi Record, Journal of Teacher Education, Journal of Staff Development,
Florida Educational Leadership, and The Clearing House. He is an active member of ASCD and
served on its board of directors from 2007 to 2010. He can be reached at dskachu@ilstu.edu.
Claudia L. Edwards is the graduate coordinator for the School of Education and Behavioral
Sciences at Cameron University in Lawton, Oklahoma. She earned her B.S. and M.Ed. at
Cameron University. She is a retired classroom teacher with 29 years of teaching experience in
the Oklahoma public school system. Her teaching experience ranges from kindergarten through
college. As a secondary teacher, Claudia developed a transition program for middle school
entry-level students. She also helped create a Saturday program for at-risk students and was
the district co-trainer for cooperative learning. During her teaching career, she served as a
supervising teacher to interns, was a staff developer, and was an assessor for the National
Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). She coauthored the books Classroom
Walkthroughs to Improve Teaching and Learning (2010) published by Routledge/Eye on
Education and Engaging Teachers in Classroom Walkthroughs (2013) published by ASCD. She
also coauthored articles for Educational Leadership, Florida Educational Leadership, and the
Oklahoma Middle Level Education Association Journal and has presented at numerous
professional conferences. She can be reached at cedwards@cameron.edu.
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Session Objectives
1. Overcoming Resistance to Peer Observations
2. Models of Classroom Walkthroughs
3. Issues to Consider in Designing Classroom Walkthroughs
____________________________________
Kachur, Donald, S., Stout, Judith A., & Edwards, Claudia L. (2010) Classroom
Walkthroughs to Improve Teaching and Learning. Routledge/Eye on Education
(Examines eighteen walkthrough models from across the country for the purpose
of designing a model that fits one’s own school setting.)
____________________________________
Kachur, Donald, S., Stout, Judith A., & Edwards, Claudia L. (2013) Engaging
Teachers in Classroom Walkthroughs. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. (Reports findings
and recommendations in the authors’ study of 40 schools from 30 school districts
in seventeen states and Canada that have actively involved teachers in the design
and participation as observers in walkthroughs.)
____________________________________
Features of Peer Observations
1. Breaks down ISOLATIONISM. According to Richard Elmore (2007), “Privacy
of Practice produces isolation, and isolation very well serves as the enemy
of improvement.”
2. Teachers need to be the EXPERTS in their own school.
3. The farther from the source of classroom data people are (for example,
district-level staff observing in the classroom, or even the principal, versus
teachers observing one another through walkthroughs), the less impact
they will have on changing classroom teaching behavior.
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4. Peer Observations represent “job-embedded professional development.”
Morrison, N. (02/05/2014) What we can learn from the success of Shanghai’s
schools. Go to http://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmorrison/2014/02/05/what-wecan-learn-from-the-success-of-shanghais-schools/.
Tatter, G. (10/6/2014) Tennessee Principals Embrace Teaching Collaboration
Model from Shanghai. (October 6, 2014). Chalkbeat Tennessee
http://tn.chalkbeat.org/2014/10/06/tennessee-principals-embrace-teachingcollaboration-model-from-shanghai/
5. Walkthroughs help with the creation of a “community of learning.”
SESSION OBJECTIVE 1
OVERCOMING RESISTANCE TO PEER OBSERVATIONS
Grounding Teachers in an Understanding of Walkthroughs
(e.g., Book Study).
Concerns with Peer Observations
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Concerns about the Walkthrough Process
Concerns about Observations by Peers
Concerns about the Actual Classroom Observations
Concerns about Follow-up
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Trust and Safety
Trust in a walkthrough initiative will be helped by
(1) assuring staff that the process is non-evaluative;
(2) sharing leadership with teachers so they have a voice in the design or
selection, implementation, and evaluation of the walkthrough process;
(3) supporting teachers with training, resources, and time to work and learn
together; and
(4) ensuring that communication with and among teachers about the
purposes, intentions, and protocols of the walkthroughs is transparent.
Develop Walkthrough Norms
Norms for Teachers Observing During
Norms for Teachers in Follow-up
Walkthroughs
Conversations and Thereafter
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Begin with Volunteers
Build Advocacy (Teacher Leaders/School Leadership Team)
Organization Dynamics
%
10
20
40
20
10
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Accompany Teachers Doing Walkthroughs
Focus Observations on Student Learning Rather than Instruction
Provide Forums for Observing Teachers to Share Their Experiences
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Walkthroughs Without Students (Ghost Walks)
Start Slowly and Keep Process Simple
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SESSION OBJECTIVE 2
MODELS OF CLASSROOM WALKTHROUGHS
Instructional Rounds is a label used for a model that represents a practice for small groups of
classroom teachers to make brief observations in other classrooms. This model allows
observing teachers to compare their own instructional practices with those of the teachers they
watch. Upon completion of the rounds, the observing teachers engage in a facilitated
discussion reflecting on what they noticed. Instructional rounds end when participants identify
instructional practices for their own use because they saw other teachers using them
effectively. They will reexamine their own instructional strategies and evaluate their
effectiveness.

Marzano, Robert J., Frontier, Tony, & Livingston, David. (2011). Effective Supervision:
Supporting the Art and Science of Teaching. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. (This reference
includes information on Instructional Rounds.)

Marzano, Robert J. Making the Most of Instructional Rounds. Educational Leadership.
Vol. 68, No. 5. February 2011, pages 80-81. (This journal article is all about Instructional
Rounds.)
Teacher Driven Observations (TDO) allows each classroom teacher to be fully in charge of his
or her professional learning. In other words, the primary learning value is for the observed
teacher who takes charge by moving PD into his or her classroom. Other teachers are invited to
come into the classroom to observe and collect classroom data that the requesting teacher
jointly analyzes with observers to inform and improve his or her instruction and students’
learning. In this model, the observation is flanked by a pre-observation meeting and postobservation debriefing. In the pre-observation meeting, the observed teacher shares the
purpose and focus of the observation and describes the context for the lesson and the logistics
(when the observation will occur and what data will be collected) with the observers. The
observation occurs, and though it can last the entire class period, TDO recommends 15-20
minutes are usually sufficient to acquire enough data about the area of focus. The final stage is
the post-observation debriefing which, like the pre-observation meeting, is guided by the use of
a protocol. In this stage, the observed teacher and observers will analyze the data together.
They share the data of what they observed and collectively discuss implications for instruction
and commit to the next steps

Kaufman, T. E., & Grimm, E. D. (2013). The Transparent Teacher: Taking Charge of Your
Instruction with Peer-Collected Classroom Data. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons.
(The authors introduce a model that involves classroom teachers inviting others into
their classrooms to observe and provide feedback on a pre-identified area of focus for
teaching improvement.)
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Teacher Rounds is a model similar in many ways to the Teacher-Driven Observation. A teacher
round is led by a teacher in her or his classroom; it is conducted mainly by, for, and with
teachers as a reflective, inquiring, and collaborative learning process. A teacher round is always
framed by the round teacher—the teacher who prepares and hosts the round in her or his
classroom. A teacher round involves a minimum of three and up to seven teachers (including
the round teacher). Like the TDO, there is a pre-round discussion, the round observation, and
post-round discussion guided by some protocol for conversation.

Del Prete, T. (2013). Teacher Rounds: A Guide to Collaborative Learning in and From
Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. (This book provides the theory and
background of teacher rounds as one of the best ways to get teachers out of their
classrooms and into each other’s classrooms for their own learning and for school
improvement.)

Troen, V., Boles, K.C., Pinnolis, J, & Scheur, A. (2014). The Power of Teacher Rounds: A
Guide for Facilitators, Principals, and Department Chairs. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin
Press. (With teacher rounds, educators benefit from the observant peer learning
that’s common in other demanding fields. From practical strategies to ready-to-use
templates, this book offers a complete toolkit for leading a thriving teacher rounds
program.)
Teaching Squares is a model that offers the teachers the opportunity to improve their own
teaching by observing their square partners in an actual classroom situation. A teaching square
consists of a group of four teachers from the same or different disciplines visiting one another,
either reciprocally or in rotation. In teaching squares, participants in the square learn about the
best practices of their peers in teaching to the CCSS in order to improve their own teaching.
Here teachers will commit approximately 6-8 hours over a 6- to 8-week period. Observing an
entire class session is best, but shorter informal visits, or walkthroughs, are also helpful. In this
model, each participant will observe each partner for at least one period of classroom teaching
and share course materials with observers. The square partners reflect on their observation
experiences and share those reflections with each other.

Do a search on any internet browser entering the key words “Teaching Squares.”
UCLA Center X Classroom Walk-Throughs is a protocol used for teachers to observe students at
work and then debrief their observations in order to identify patterns of successful learning.
This non-evaluative protocol generates useful data about student learning and ties it to
effective instructional practices through professional inquiry based on educators’ questions
about student learning. Training is necessary for observers to learn and practice a protocol for
observing students as they work. They learn to design effective focus questions for classroom
observations and how to be objective in recording observations. During post-observation
conversations, participants identify patterns of practice that result in high levels of student
learning, and they identify trends in student data that suggest areas for professional inquiry.
The art of questioning is practiced to build trust, provide new perspectives, and establish
priorities for focused, collaborative action across multiple school initiatives.
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
Martinez-Miller, Patricia, & Cervone, Laureen. (2008). Breaking Through to Effective
Teaching: A Walk-Through Protocol Linking Student Practice and Professional Practice.
Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education. (This book serves as a good reference on
the UCLA Center X Classroom Walkthrough model that heavily involves teachers as the
walkthrough observers.)
Instructional Talk-Throughs (ITT) is a model designed to help teachers move toward effective
teacher practice, curricular content, student engagement, and assessment practices that
enhance student success. This model occurs in the K-9 Edmonton Public Schools (Alberta,
Canada) where teachers from six different schools participate in this on-going classroomembedded professional development known as Instructional Talk-Throughs. ITT involves each
school hosting teacher teams from other schools. The teacher teams visit a selected number of
classrooms for 15-20 minutes each. Unique to this process is that observed teachers invite and
share in advance what visiting teachers will see. They also request feedback from the visiting
teachers on those observations. Teachers are trained to facilitate the ITT process in order to
help with the post-observation discussions between hosting teachers and visiting teacher
teams.

Cronk, Dorothy, Inglis, Linda, Michailides, Dean, Michailides, Mary, Morris, David, and
Peterssen, Nancy. (2008). Walking the Talk: Instructional Talk-Throughs. The ATA News
43 (3), 1-3. (This model is a great example of teacher involvement in walkthroughs and
cooperation among schools for the process.)
Go to http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin494.shtml
Data-in-a-Day provides a structure for teams of classroom visitors to observe teaching and
learning throughout a school in a single day. It was first introduced at the Northwest Regional
Educational Laboratory as a way to involve students in school improvement. Data-in-a-Day uses
four focus questions from the Motivation Framework for Culturally Responsive Teaching to help
educators get a practical view of what teaching and learning looks like in their school. Teams of
visitors are sent on a selected day into the school’s classrooms to take “snapshots” of the
teaching and learning occurring. The teams of visitors may consist of teachers, parents,
community members, students, and possibly other participants. Generally, some training is
provided to introduce observers to looking at instructional practices that engage learners. Then
teams work together to summarize and chart the observation data and present the findings to
the school.
Go to http://www.aimcenterseattle.org/motivation/diad.
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SESSION OBJECTIVE 3
ISSUES TO CONSIDER IN DESIGNING CLASSROOM WALKTHROUGHS
The Role of the Principal
First and foremost, it is the paramount role of the school principal that was
strongly reinforced by all of the schools we studied where teacher walkthroughs
thrived.
Arranging Schedule and Time for Teachers to Observe
1. Have rotating substitute teachers to cover classes of observing teachers;
2. Use the principal, assistant principal, instructional coaches, mentors, or
aides to cover classes of those teachers participating in walks;
3. Combine classes (with teacher agreement) so teachers can be released for
walkthroughs;
4. Seek approval to use department, subject, or grade-level common planning
time for debriefings;
5. Use individual teacher planning time when no other options are available
and if teachers agree;
6. Use school staff meetings to share observations and conduct reflective
conversations;
7. Use late start or early release staff development days for post-walkthrough
discussions; and/or
8. Modify the modular schedule to open times.
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Coordinating the Walkthrough Process
The coordination responsibilities include one or more of the following:
 Provide or arrange for training of teachers in walkthroughs (covering such
things as protocols, observation, professional conversations);
 Prepare and communicate the visitation schedule of teachers who will be
observing;
 Communicate with teachers to be observed to ensure clarity of the
protocol;
 Help facilitate the creation of the focus questions and identification of the
look-fors;
 Establish roles and responsibilities of observing team members;
 Provide training on the software program used for observations;
 Arrange for release time when teachers are walking;
 Participate in observations;
 Prepare and oversee the sharing of observation data;
 Arrange for time and location for follow-up and sharing and debriefing of
observation data;
 Develop the agenda for the classroom walkthrough team meeting;
 Assist with the development and monitoring of follow-up actions;
 Acquire funding to support the process;
 Listen to and address staff concerns about the walks;
 Assist with the evaluation of the walkthrough process.
Prepare Teachers for Peer Observations
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Avoid Judgmental/Evaluative Recordings/Conversations
Consider Using Protocols to Conversations
A protocol specifies a structure for the conversation that defines the steps to
follow in the conversation, the roles of participants, and time frame for each step
of the conversation.
Allen, D., & Blythe, T. (2004). The Facilitator’s Book of Questions: Tools for Looking
Together at Student and Teacher Work. Teachers College Press and the National
Staff Development Council.
Easton, L. B. (2009). Protocols for Professional Learning. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Glaude, C. (2011). Protocols for Professional Learning Conversations: Cultivating
the Art and Discipline. Joint publication of Solution Tree and Connections
Publishing.
McDonald, J. P., Mohr, N., Dichter, A., & McDonald, E.C. (2013). The Power of
Protocols: An Educator’s Guide to Better Practice. New York, NY: Teachers College
Press.
NEXT STEPS
Actions Resulting from Observations and Reflective Discussions
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NEXT STEPS (Action Plan Template*)
Beginning (date?) ___________________________, the following teachers/staff
__________________________________________________________________
will (do what?)
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
(how often?)
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
with (Form? Statement? Report?)
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
being submitted to (whom?) _________________ as a measure of commitment.
*David Shepard, lead consultant for The Middle Matters.
Connect Peer Observations to Other School Improvement Efforts
Evaluate the Classroom Walkthrough Process
Reflective Thoughts!
What is one thing you are going to do as a result of attending today’s session?
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Other Thoughts about This Session!!
 What are the possibilities I see for using the information I learned today?
 What did we discuss today that leaves me with some questions and what
are those questions?
 With whom and how will I share this information back in my school district?
(Who besides me can learn from what I learned today?)
 What are three key ideas I learned today that I want to share with my
colleagues?
 What are the resources I want to share with others related to what I
learned today?
December 8, 2014