Lesson Study
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Education Transformation Office
Laura Tennant, Assistant Principal
North County Elementary School
Dr. Alicia Jones, Reading Coach
North County Elementary School
Nikolai Vitti, Assistant Superintendent
Miami-Dade County Public Schools
Objectives
 Participants will understand how Lesson
Study strengthens teaching and learning.
 Participants will learn how to implement the
Lesson Study process.
Essential Question
 How can Lesson Study enhance the teaching and
learning process?
Lesson Study
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What do I
Know?
What am I
Wondering?
Observations
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Questions
DA Lesson Study Requirements
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 Prevent II, Correct II, and Intervene schools are
required to create common planning in the
master schedule and to implement lesson study.
 Districts are required to provide training to all
schools in DA.
 DA Strategies and Support
Document:http://www.flbsi.org/pdf/Final%2020102011%20Strategies%20and%20Support%20Document%20for%20Regular%20Schools_June_18.pdf
What is Lesson Study?
 A professional development process in which a small group of
teachers collaboratively plans, teaches, observes, revises, and
reports results on a single class lesson.
 Lesson Study is a Japanese approach to instructional improvement
that has recently sparked much interest in the United States. It is
an ongoing professional development process utilized within
Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) to allow teachers the
opportunity to create a model for high-quality instructional
practices. It is also a method for improving a lesson through
teacher collaboration.
 A method of improving a lesson through a process of teacher
collaboration.
 “We” versus “Me”
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Lesson Study is not about the
teacher, it’s about instruction
and student learning.
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Why is Lesson Study different than other
professional development workshops?
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 Lesson Study is a job-embedded, ongoing,
comprehensive professional development process.
 It allows teachers to explore real challenges that are
faced in their classrooms with their students.
 This professional development is “teacher-directed” and
“student-centered”.
 Lesson Study assists in defining shared best practices
and strategies and builds capacity as it encourages the
creation of relationships and collaboration with peers.
What are the benefits of Lesson Study?
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 Explore problems that impede student learning.
 Understand how students think and learn.
 Plan lessons that bring to life both short-term and long-term goals.
 Deepen subject matter knowledge.
 Share and design best practices.
 Learn successful teaching techniques and behaviors from other
teachers.
Implementing Lesson Study
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 What are the steps needed for schools to
implement Lesson Study?
 How can you support Lesson Study at your school?
In a Lesson Study:
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The team will meet on a regular basis to plan a Research
Lesson.
One teacher from each team will present the lesson in his/her
classroom.
The other teachers will observe the lesson and will take notes
on what the students are doing and saying.
After the lesson is presented, the team will meet to discuss the
lesson and their observations of the lesson. This is an engaging
interaction of ideas and suggestions, with the focus always on
the students.
Lesson Study
14 Cycle, 2011
What is an Lesson Study Group (LSG)?
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 A group of 3-8 members typically from the same
discipline specifically focused on improving a
lesson and applying their learning to future
lessons.
Building an Effective LSG
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Infrastructure and consensus must be built
before the LSG performs the lesson study.
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Develop processes for effective teaming.
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Establish group norms.
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Develop a communication plan.
Build consensus through:
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Data Analysis
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Goal Setting
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Problem Analysis
Expand common professional knowledge.
Ground Rules . . .
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Suggested Ground-Rules
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 Listen carefully to each other and communicate clearly.
 Respect differences of opinion and the individuals who
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express them.
Allow one person to speak at a time.
Listen with an open mind.
Share what you think.
Avoid interrupting. Write comments or questions down
and wait your turn.
Stay on task.
Establish roles for members.
Express views succinctly.
Share “air time” so that the discussion is not
dominated by one person.
Suggested Roles of Lesson Study Team
Members
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Facilitator: Keeps the group on task by guiding
the process through questions. The facilitator
makes sure that the group reaches the goal and ensures
that all voices in the group are heard by guiding the
colloquium on effective teaming, goal setting, data
analysis, and problem analysis.
Recorder: Keeps a written record of what has
been accomplished. The recorder fills out necessary
checklists and keeps the group apprised of what still
needs to be done.
Choosing the Facilitator
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 Active Listener
 Reflective
 Focused
 Organized
 Task-oriented
 Articulate
 Prompts and elicits responses
 Possesses leadership skills
Choosing the “Presenter”
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 Lesson Study is not about the idiosyncrasies of a
teacher; it is a joint effort to improve our lesson
and student learning.
 The focus is on seeing how student learning
occurs once our lesson is taught.
 In our next Lesson Study cycle, the teacher role
would rotate to another member.
Focus the Lesson Study
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 Before the Lesson Study team begins conducting
research and planning the research lesson,
participants identify a problem based on student
learning data.
 Establishing a theme helps participants keep their
eyes on the big picture and helps to tie long term
goals with short term objectives.
Developing Student Learning Goals
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 The subject area and benchmark of focus should be
chosen based on data.
 Gather assessment data and disaggregate/analyze
the data for patterns that emerge in areas of
student weaknesses.
Selecting or Designing a “Research Lesson”
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 The LSG may select a “research lesson” (a lesson
from a textbook, a lesson someone prepared, or a
lesson created together).
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Teachers share and discuss their existing lessons related to
the topic, explaining what they believe has been successful
and where they believe the lessons could be improved.
 The LSG may develop the lesson as a group
signaling that the lesson is owned by all
participants.
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Questions To Consider When
Planning the Research Lesson
Prepare for the Observation
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 The team ensures that each person at the
observation knows the expectations of the lesson
study and the ground rules for observing the
lesson.
 The lesson study team prepares the classroom so
observers can circulate freely among students or
stand comfortably around the periphery during
whole class instruction.
 Observation protocols are shared among group
members.
Who might you invite?
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All team members (required)
Knowledgeable Others
Your Principal
Your Superintendent
Other Teachers
School Board Members
Hints for the observers:
Observe the students, not the teacher!
This is not YOUR lesson, it is the TEAM’S lesson.
Observers should take notes, but should not interfere in
the lesson or provide assistance.
 Link your observations to lesson goals.
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Data Collection
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 Consider what evidence from the lesson will help
us reflect on our goals for learning and student
development.
 Identify the data points to measure the impact
of instructional strategies on anticipated
barriers and student learning and
development.
 The purpose is to observe student learning in the
lesson not to evaluate the teacher and his or her
style.
Possible Data Points: “Look Fors”
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 Types of questions the students asked
 Types of questions the teacher asked
 Evidence of higher‐level thinking
 Evidence of confusion
 Percent of students who raised hands
 Body language, “aha” moments, shining eyes
 Shifts in thinking that are evident
 Number of times students refer to and build on classmates’
comments
 Evidence of engagement
 Following the lesson and deviations from the lesson
Planning for Data Collection
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 Prior to the lesson delivery, determine the format
of data collection.
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Checklist
Frequency chart
Observation notes
Anecdotal notes
 Usually each observer collects data on only
one data point.
Teaching and Observing the Lesson
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 One planning team member teaches the classroom
lesson while other team members collect data on
student thinking, learning, engagement, behavior,
etc.
 Facilitator ensures that student work is collected.
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Lesson Study
Observation
Form
Colloquium
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 The facilitator begins the colloquium with the
teacher who taught the lesson, followed by team
members and then observers.
 The teacher should describe the goals for the lesson,
then comment on what went well, and the
difficulties and learning's from planning and
teaching the lesson.
 Team members should also address goals and speak
to instructional decisions.
 Team members followed by other observers should
present and discuss the student data collected.
Debriefing the Lesson: Colloquium
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 The entire lesson study team plus any additional
observers gather following the lesson to begin the
debriefing.
Reflect and Re-teach, or Plan the Next Step
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 Would you like to refine and re‐teach the lesson in
another classroom? What should be changed?
 What went well in your lesson study effort, and
what would you like to change next time around?
 What new issues or problems came up that you
would like to address in your next research lesson
cycle?
Improving the Research Lesson
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 The shared process of improving the research lesson
creates ownership of the lesson for the whole group.
 As part of the improvement process, anticipate
barriers to goals, e.g., student misconceptions,
learning styles, and engagement.
 Improve the research lesson with instructional
strategies chosen to address the barriers.
 The improved research lesson becomes “our” lesson,
NOT “your” lesson or even “the” lesson.
Teaching the Improved “Research Lesson”
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 Conduct the research lesson with another LSG
member teaching.
 Other LSG members collect evidence (data) on
student learning and development.
Reconvening for the “Colloquium”
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 Participants meet to discuss and analyze the
lesson as soon as possible after instruction.
 Begins with the teacher sharing what worked and
what did not from their perspective.
 Data collectors then report on data points.
 The LSG begins reflection based on data analysis.
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Possible Questions for Reflection
Revisiting What We Learned Concept
Map
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In the outer
circles, write
what you
learned.
Quote
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“I have planned units with other teachers, but never
in such detail or with such extreme
collaboration….Every voice was heard, every idea
dissected for its viability within the lesson. And
through it all I was left with the knowledge that not
only was I improving one lesson (a lesson I would
never teach in fact), but every lesson I will teach in
the future.”
—Teacher Cristina McFadden,
Natomas High School, Sacramento
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Exit Slip:
REFLECTIONS
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IDEAS YOU DISCOVERED . FEELINGS YOU
..
EXPERIENCED . . .
QUESTIONS TO PURSUE . . NEXT STEPS . . .
.
REFERENCES
FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF
EDUCATION. (2010). IMPLEMENTING
L E S S O N S T U D Y : D I F46
FERENTIATED
ACCOUNTABILITY TECHNICAL
A S S I S T A NC E D O C U M E NT 1 S T E D I T I O N .
FLORIDA AND THE ISLANDS REGIONAL
COMPREHENSIVE CENTER. (2009). AN
I N T R O D U C T I ON T O L E S S O N S T U D Y .