The WHY, WHAT, and
HOW of CFIP
CFIP was developed and is copyrighted by
Dr. Michael Hickey and Dr. Ronald Thomas.
Center for Leadership in Education at Towson University
OBJECTIVES FOR
THIS SESSION
In this session, you will:
1. Describe the underlying assumptions of
the CFIP data analysis protocol.
2. Identify the characteristics of the CFIP
protocol.
3. Describe the steps of the CFIP protocol.
The WHY of CFIP
WE DON’T HAVE TO CONVINCE YOU OF
THE NEED TO USE DATA.
You know the importance of
being data driven.
Data are observations, facts,
narratives, or numbers which,
when collected, organized and
analyzed, become information
and, when used productively in
context, become knowledge.
4
Knowledge-driven schools use
data for two major
but different purposes:
• Accountability (to prove)
• Instructional decision making
(to improve)
5
Data answer different questions.
For accountability (data to prove)
FOCUS ON GRADES - NUMBERS
- “How many students passed?”
- “Who passed and who didn’t?”
For improvement (data to improve)
FOCUS ON CONTENT - INSTRUCTION
- “What do the students know?”
- “What do the students not know and what
are we going to do about it?”
We are not responsible for the data.
We are responsible for our response to the data.
A CLOSE READING:
Underlying Assumptions of the CFIP
Data Analysis Protocol
WORK IN PAIRS.
READ EACH PART AND
THEN, SAY SOMETHING
 A statement of support, OR
 A statement of doubt, OR
 A question, OR
 A connection
7
Underlying Assumptions of the
CFIP Data Analysis Protocol
SAY SOMETHING
Debriefing
8
The WHAT of CFIP
What is the best way to answer these
questions: What do the students not know
and what are we going to do about it?”
“School improvement is most surely and
thoroughly achieved when teachers engage
in frequent, continuous, and increasingly
concrete and precise talk about teaching
practice . . . adequate to the complexities of
teaching, [and] capable of distinguishing one
practice and its virtue from another.”
--Judith Warren Little
“Teachers as Colleagues,” in V. Richardson-Koehler (Ed.). (1998).
Educators Handbook. White Plains, NY: Longman.
10
Our CFIP
Goal
Frequent, continuous,
and increasingly concrete
and precise dialogue by
collaborative school
teams, informed by data
Data Analysis
Goal
Frequent, continuous, and increasingly concrete and
precise dialogue by collaborative school teams,
informed by data
As often as needed when there are
common assessment data to analyze
We suggest that teams formally touch
base concerning student progress about
every two weeks.
Data Analysis
Goal
Frequent, continuous, and increasingly concrete and
precise dialogue by collaborative school teams,
informed by data
Meetings pick up where the last one left off.
Decisions are recorded on an action
oriented template that provides evidence
that progress is being made and steps are
being taken to address instructional
problems.
Data Analysis
Goal
Frequent, continuous, and increasingly concrete and
precise dialogue by collaborative school teams,
informed by data
Focus on the specific pieces of content
(the knowledge and skills that are the most
important to the subject).
Result in specific actions to re-teach,
enrich, and remediate when needed (the
more specific, the better).
Data Analysis
Goal
Frequent, continuous, and increasingly concrete and
precise dialogue by collaborative school teams,
informed by data
Is “win-win”
Is designed to seek the most effective
instructional practices (what will work), as
demonstrated by the evidence, not
“averaging opinions”* (what is best for
the adults)
*Robert Eaker’s term
Data Analysis
Goal
Frequent, continuous, and increasingly concrete and
precise dialogue by collaborative school teams,
informed by data
Teams share content and assessments.
Team members “share the work, the
thinking, and the responsibility” (David Perkins’
definition).
Team members capitalize on each other’s
expertise.
Data Analysis
Goal
Frequent, continuous, and increasingly concrete and
precise dialogue by collaborative school teams,
informed by data
County exam and unit test data
Common gradewide assessment data
All types of student work (such as
projects, labs, speeches, essays,
simulations, etc., etc.)
Our Vision for Data Analysis
 Use “real time” (current) data
 Enable participants to build on work in previous
sessions
 Capture team decisions in an easy-to-use template
 Uncover whole-class strengths and needs
 Address individual students’ needs for differentiation
(both enrichments and interventions)
 Result in instructional improvements that will
actually occur at a high level of quality
 Have meaning for teachers and be seen by teachers
as a worthwhile use of their time
18
It was a BFO:
A blinding flash of the obvious!
Teachers needed:
 A pathway
 A set of specific steps
To get them from the assessment to the
differentiation
Teachers needed a data
analysis protocol!
19
The Classroom
Focused
Improvement
Process
The Six Easy CFIP Steps
1. Orientation Step: Be sure
everyone understands the data.
2. Question Step: Pose a question
that the data can answer.
3. Patterns Step: Look for class-wide
patterns in the data.
4. Action Step: Act on the class
patterns, including re-teaching, if
needed.
21
The Six Easy CFIP Steps
1.Be sure everyone understands the data.
2. Pose a question that the data can answer.
3. Look for class-wide patterns in the data.
4. Act on the class patterns, including re-teaching, if needed.
5. Differentiation Step: Address individual
students’ needs for enrichment and
intervention that remain after re-teaching.
6. Plan Ahead Step: Decide on and
implement at least one way that
instruction will be improved in the next
unit.
22
The HOW of CFIP
The Classroom-Focused
Improvement Process
A Jigsaw
Reading
The Classroom-Focused
Improvement Process
Jigsaw Reading
Part 1: You become the expert.
Part 2: You talk with other experts.
Part 3: You share your expertise.
The Classroom-Focused
Improvement Process
Part 1: You become the expert.
Read about your step of the CFIP process
Identify the “big idea” from your
section that you will share with others.
Write the big idea in the flow chart.
The Classroom-Focused
Improvement Process
Part 1: You become the expert.
Read about your step of the CFIP
process.
Identify the “big idea” from your section
that you will share with others.
Write the big idea in the appropriate
circle on the flow chart.
The Classroom-Focused
Improvement Process
Part 2: You talk with other experts.
Talk with a colleague who read the same
section you did.
Agree on the “big idea” you will share with
others.
The Classroom-Focused
Improvement Process
Part 3: You share your
expertise.
1. Share the big idea from your section
with your colleagues who read
different sections.
2. Take notes on the flow chart
for each of the six steps.
The Six Easy CFIP Steps
1. Be sure everyone understands the data
being analyzed.
2. Pose a question or two that the data
can answer.
3. Look for class-wide patterns in the data.
4. Act on the class patterns, including reteaching, if needed.
5. Address individual students’
needs for enrichment and intervention
remaining after re-teaching.
6. Decide on and implement at least one way
that instruction will be improved in the
next unit.
The Classroom-Focused
Improvement Process
Resources in the Packet:
•CFIP Protocol with Questions
•CFIP Template A
•CFIP Template B
•CFIP Template C
•CFIP-SLO Template
•CFIP Reflection Guide
Please take a few minutes to review these
pages with a few colleagues around you.
CFIP-on-Line
www.mdk12.org/process/cfip
Key Understandings for CFIP
Toolkit for a Data-Driven Culture
Conducting CFIP Step-by-Step with
Video Examples
CFIP Blank Templates to Download
CFIP Sample Completed Templates
32
CFIP-on-Bb
Blackboard Course In
Development
More team videos at early childhood,
middle, and high school levels with
commentary
Guided process through the web site
Ideal for individuals and teams
33
The Classroom
Focused
Improvement
Process
Step-by-Step
CFIP Step 1: Understand the
data source.
Build ASSESSMENT LITERACY with questions
like these:
What assessment is being described in this data
report? What were the characteristics (the “quarks”)
of the assessment?
Who participated in the assessment? Who did not?
Why?
Why was the assessment given? When?
What do the terms in the data report mean?
Be sure you have clear and complete answers to these
questions before you proceed any further.
35
CFIP Step 2: Identify the questions
that can be answered by the data.
All data analyses should be
designed to answer a question.
Unless there is an important
question to answer, there is no need
for a data analysis.
36
CFIP Step 3: Look for class-wide
patterns in multiple sources if possible.
 What do you see over and over again in the
data?
 What are the strengths of the class? What
knowledge and skills do the students have?
 What are their weaknesses of the class?
What knowledge and skills do the students
lack?
37
CFIP Step 4: Act on the
class-wide patterns.
• What instructional factors might have
contributed to the class-wide patterns?
• What will we do to address patterns of
class needs?
• How and when will we reassess to
determine student progress and the
effectiveness of our instruction?
38
Six Easy CFIP Steps
CFIP is an ongoing circular,
not a linear, process.
The first CFIP dialogue might only get this far:
1. Make sure everyone understands the data
being considered.
2. Identify a question or two that the data can
answer.
3. Look for class-wide patterns in the data.
4. Decide what to do about the class patterns.
In many situations, the CFIP dialogue will then be
put on hold until any needed re-teaching occurs. 39
CFIP Step 5: Drill down to individual
students. Identify needed differentiations.
 Which students need enrichments and
interventions?
 On what should enrichments and interventions
focus?
 How will we deliver interventions so that
students do not lose future direct instruction?
 How will we assess the effectiveness of the
interventions and enrichments?
CFIP Step 6: Reflect on the reasons for student
performance -- What in our teaching might be
preventing all students from being successful?
To what extent did we implement researchbased instructional practices as we:
 Planned instruction?
 Introduced instruction?
 Taught the unit?
 Brought closure to instruction?
 Assessed formatively?
41
CFIP Step 6: Reflect on the reasons for
student performance. Identify and
implement instructional changes
in the next unit.
How will we change instruction in our
next unit?
Content focus
Pacing
Teaching methods
Assignments
42
CFIP Step 6: Determine how we will
measure the effects of our new
instructional strategy.
How will we measure the success of our new
instructional strategy?
When will we review the data again to determine
the success of the enrichments and interventions?
What do the data not tell us? What questions about
student achievement do we still need to answer?
How will we attempt to answer these questions?
How well did the CFIP session go? How could we
make our next meeting more effective?
43
Six Easy CFIP Steps
Many CFIP dialogues begin with Step 5, after whole
class re-teaching has occurred. Team members then:
5. Address any remaining individual students’ enrichment
and intervention needs that still exist after re-teaching.
6. Decide on one way to improve instruction in the next
unit.
If new data are available, the dialogue will then loop
around to steps 1-4:
1. Check on understanding of the new data source.
2. Identify the questions the new data will answer.
3. Look for class-wide patterns in the new data.
4. Decide how to act on the class patterns.
This will more likely be the flow of most CFIP dialogues.
44
The CFIP Protocol
Q
and
A
45
For Further Information and
Professional Coaching, Contact:
Dr. Michael Hickey
mehickey@towson.edu
410-704-5038
Dr. Ronald Thomas
rathomas@towson.edu
410-704-5770
Center for Leadership in Education at Towson University
Your Exit Ticket for Today:
The WHY, WHAT and HOW of CFIP
THINGS WE
KNEW
WAYS WE
GREW
THINGS WE
WILL DO
QUESTIONS WE
STILL HAVE
Leave your e-mail address and we will respond
to your questions!