Glenna Heinlein
State School Improvement Specialist
gplymale@access.k12.wv.us
 A rigorous and relevant curriculum
 Teachers with skill and knowledge to deliver the
curriculum
 Students engaged with the curriculum and with their own
learning
(Bloom, Marzano. John Hattie, Wayne K. Hoy,
Good and Brophy, Elmore, etc.)
Types…….
 Social
 Emotional
 Physical
 Cognitive
 Just because a student is involved (attending
to task) does not mean they are cognitively
processing, because engagement can be
physical, emotional, social, or cognitive.
 DOK focused on the cognitive process.
 IPI – Focuses on the students’
involvement in the cognitive process.
IPI is a process…
.. for gathering data on student engagement
(HO/D or not HO/D)
.. for using the data as a basis for faculty
collaboration and problem solving
.. resulting in instructional practice
changes
..Developed by Dr. Jerry Valentine
 to provide an OPTIMUM school wide
profile of student engagement that faculty
will view as fair and accurate
 to create a level of comfort to study the
data objectively and use the data as the
basis for continuous collaborative
conversation and problem–solving.
 It is NOT about teacher evaluation
 It IS about students engaged with their learning
 It is NOT a program
 It IS a process
 It is NOT about the “activity” in which the
students are engaged
 It IS about “how” the students are engaging in the
activity
 For overall school improvement in teaching and
learning
 To increase student engagement with the curriculum
and their own learning
 To connect IPI categories to DOK levels
 For school growth…
1. Collect data?
2. Depict data in simple format?
3. Study and reflect about the data?
4. Use the data?
A feasible,
systematic process
for collecting
observation data
that is fair and
accurate.
 “typical” school day
 substitutes
 give notification
 focus on students
 who codes
 majority
 develop a plan
 collect large volume of
 all learning settings
 snapshot
 regular learning time
data points
 protect anonymity
2 Mental Images
1. Collect
Data
2. Collaborative
Conversations
with Staff






Develop a plan
Step into classroom
Look at kids
Look at work
Talk to kids/teacher
Step out into hall and code
Total Time: Average 1-3 minutes

100-150 Observations per day
1. Collect
Data
Place teachers randomly
in small groups
2. Distribute data profiles
3. Engage in collaborative
conversations about data
4. Trigger Questions:
a. Typical day? Classroom?
b. Celebrations?
c. Issues/Concerns?
d. What is our plan?
1.
2. Collaborative
Conversations
with
Staff
“Descriptions of student engagement”
NOT
Higher Order
OR
Not Higher Order
LEVELS
OR
HIERARCHY
Analysis is the beginning of Higher Order
Recall, Memorization, Simple
Process, Simple Understanding,
Fact finding, Skill Development,
Practice
RUBRIC – 6 IPI Categories
Student-Engaged Instruction
6 – Student active engaged learning - HO
5 – Student learning conversations – may be teacher
stimulated but not teacher dominated – HO
________________________________________
Teacher-Directed Instruction
4 – Teacher-led instruction – Not HO
3 – Students doing seatwork, etc. but teacher
assistance/support is evident – Not HO
Disengagement
2 – Students doing seatwork, etc. but teacher
assistance/support not evident – Not HO
1 – Complete disengagement – students not engaged in
learning related to curriculum
H
6
ACTIVE LEARNING
O
N
O
T
HO
5
4 It is about the amount of time spent above and below category 4.
3
PASSIVE LEARNING
2
1
 Students can be doing independent work or
working together...but no verbal discourse.
 Common Examples (if HO/D):
 Inquiry-based approaches such as project and
problem-based learning, research and discovery
learning
 Authentic demonstrations
 Independent metacognition, reflective
journaling, and self-assessment
 Higher-order responses to higher-order
questions.
Pre 2004: 18-20%
Post 2004 13-15%
 Student(s) to student(s) verbal learning.
 Common examples (if HO/D):
 collaborative or cooperative learning
 Peer tutoring, debate, and questioning
 Partner research and discovery/exploratory
learning
 Socratic learning
 Small group or whole class analysis and
problem solving, metacognition, or
reflective discussions
 3-5%
Teacher leads the learning experience by
disseminating content knowledge and/or
directions for learning
 Common Examples:
 Teacher-directed Q/A, lecture, explanations
 Teacher direction giving
 Teacher demonstrations
 30-40%
 Students doing seatwork, book work,
worksheets, or tests with teacher
assistance/support/attentiveness evident.
 Common Examples: (Teacher Engaged)
 Fact finding
 Building skill or understanding through
practice, seatwork, worksheets, chapter review
questions
 Multi-media
 25-30%
 Students doing seatwork, book work,
worksheets, or tests with teacher
assistance/support/attentiveness NOT
evident.
 Common Examples: (Teacher Not Engaged)
 While students are working, teacher is:
Out of the room
Working at computer
Grading papers
 5-15%
 Students are disengaged or involved in
something that is non-curricular.
 Common Examples:
 Students talking, daydreaming, or otherwise
inattentive
 Students misbehaving
 Students not doing their assigned work
 Playing non-curricular games.
3-5%
High Ach: 0-1%
Low Ach: 8-10+
TYPICAL IPI CATEGORY
PERCENTAGES
6
5
4
3
2
1
-------
13-14%
3-5%
30-40%
25-30%
5-10%
3-5%
The IPI is NOT about the activity in
which the students are engaged…
The IPI is about HOW the students
are engaging in the activity!
NOT A HIERARCHY
6
5
4
3
2
1
Six distinct categories…
ways of classifying how students are engaged
 Learning increases as engagement increases
3 Step Process
1. Collect data using
trained observers
2. Collaborative conversations with staff
3. Repeat the process
COLLABORATIVE
CONVERSATIONS…….
Engaging the Staff
5
4
Brainstorm
On topic
And
Share
Stimulus:
Facilitators
give information
to staff
5
Break into small groups for conversations
4
5
Discuss and
Share – Whole
Group
5
Small groups talking with new
information
New Stimulus:
Facilitators give
new
information and
task
Examples:
Activities for Faculty
Debrief
“Lets change it up”
 Individually write specific instructions
(lesson plan) that would change this
scenario to H.O./deeper thinking
lessons:
(1) category 5
(2) category 6
 Share and discuss at table
 Whole group share out one example
 Each table write a category 3 lesson, sign
with table number
 Post on wall
 Rotate clockwise to next number and
change the instruction to make it a
category 5 (even numbers), or category 6
(odd numbers)
 Share out to whole group
 Create a group “t” chart
 Individually , think about and write(left side)
specific instructions (lesson plan) on chart
that would be a category 3 or 4.
 Discuss as a group and list the thinking skill
used (right side) for each activity/lesson.
 Post on wall.
 Gallery walk clock wise-beginning at your
chart.
 Provides us with data about student engagement
 Generates collaborative faculty reflection and discussion
about the data
 Raises the bar for improving instructional practices
 Leads to more higher order, active and engaged student
learning
 Encourages purposeful, job embedded
professional development
 Improves student learning and achievement
Results of Using the
IPI Process
More
Student
Engagement
Changed
More
Teachers
Engaged
With Data
More
Instructional
Practices
Changed and Improved
Builds capacity of staff to reflect upon their
collective teaching practices
and
moves the bar of expectations toward more higher
order/deeper thinking, active
and engaged student learning.
Activity… Coding Scenarios
As the observer enters the science classroom,
the students are listening attentively to the
teacher give them directions for the litmus
experiment they will begin in a few minutes.
Most of the students are making a few notes in
their notebooks while the teacher explains the
process.
Which of the IPI categories should be coded for
this example?
As the observer enters the science classroom,
the students are listening attentively to the
teacher give them directions for the litmus
experiment they will begin in a few minutes.
Most of the students are making a few notes in
their notebooks while the teacher explains the
process.
IPI Code: Category 4—Teacher-Led Instruction
As the observer enters the language arts
classroom, the students are creating (original)
poems. The teacher is moving among the
students encouraging them as they work.
They have a rubric on their desks that
addresses rhyme, meter, imagery, content,
emotion, and length. As you read the first few
stanzas of some of the poems you are
impressed with their depth of thought and
emotion.
Which of the IPI categories should be coded for
this example?
As the observer enters the language arts
classroom, the students are creating (original)
poems. The teacher is moving among the
students encouraging them as they work.
They have a rubric on their desks that
addresses rhyme, meter, imagery, content,
emotion, and length. As you read the first few
stanzas of some of the poems you are
impressed with their depth of thought and
emotion.
IPI Code: Category 6—Student Active Engaged
Learning
As the observer enters the 8th grade math
classroom the students are seated at their
tables completing a textbook assignment.
When you look at their work you see they are
independently computing practice word
problems about the total cost of several
consumer items and the amount of change to
expect. The teacher is working at her
computer creating a test and has her back to
the students.
Which of the IPI categories should be coded for
this example?
As the observer enters the 8th grade math
classroom the students are seated at their
tables completing a textbook assignment.
When you look at their work you see they are
independently computing word problems
about the total cost of several consumer items
and the amount of change to expect. The
teacher is working at her computer creating a
test and has her back to the students.
IPI Code: Category 2—Student Work w/o
Teacher Involved
As the you enter the seventh grade social studies
class, the students are watching selected
segments of the movies Pearl Harbor and
Midway. The teacher is standing by the
DVD/VCR player watching the segments with
the students. You can tell from the books on
the students’ desks that the class is studying
WWII. You are in the room about one minute.
Which of the IPI categories should be coded for
this example?
As the you enter the seventh grade social studies
class, the students are watching selected
segments of the movies Pearl Harbor and
Midway. The teacher is standing by the
DVD/VCR player watching the segments with
the students. You can tell from the books on
the students’ desks that the class is studying
WWII. You are in the room about one minute.
IPI Code: Category 3—Student Work with
Teacher Involved
As the you enter the eighth grade art classroom, the
students are in small groups of four or five students.
Each group has a print of a classic painting and the
students are discussing the paintings. The
discussions are stimulated by two analysis-level
questions written on the board. One student in each
group is taking notes for the group. As you begin to
leave the room two minutes after entering, you hear
the teacher say that it is time to explain their group
analyses and defend them to the whole class.
Which of the IPI categories should be coded for this
example?
As the you enter the eighth grade art classroom, the
students are in small groups of four or five students.
Each group has a print of a classic painting and the
students are discussing the paintings. The
discussions are stimulated by two analysis-level
questions written on the board. One student in each
group is taking notes for the group. As you begin to
leave the room two minutes after entering, you hear
the teacher say that it is time to explain their group
analyses and defend them to the whole class.
IPI Code: Category 5—Student Learning Conversations
 Categories 3-4-5-6 are each important for Learning





throughout a unit and/or lesson
Eliminate Disengagement (1)
Reduce Teacher Disengagement (2)
Reduce Seatwork (2-3)
Increase HO/D Engagement (5-6)
Increase HO/D Verbal Learning Conversations (highly
powerful process for learning) (5)
QUESTIONS
Instructional Method
 Teacher led
 Class discussions
(whole group T-led)
 Laboratory (Hands-on
work)
 Group work
 Individualized (seat)
work
 Creating
Engagement
Rank
Is the Learning
Active/Passive?
6
Passive for all
5
Passive for most
1
Active for all
2
Active for all
4
Passive for all
3
Active for all
Sources: Yair, Educational Administration Quarterly, Vol. 36, #4 (October 2000); Valentine (NSDC Conference
(December, 2010)