THE LEARNING WALK
A Signature Tool of
The Institute for Learning
What are Learning Walks?
• Learning Walks are organized visits to a
school’s learning areas using the Principles
of Learning to focus on:
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How teachers teach;
How students learn;
What gets taught to whom; and
How the school is organized to enable students
to meet standards.
What are the purposes of
Learning Walks?
• Learning Walks serve to:
– Develop a learning
community
– Develop a deep
understanding of teaching
and learning; and
– Develop a shared vision of
every child in every
classroom enabled to meet
or exceed high standards
Why do we advocate
Learning Walks?
• Learning Walks enable us
– To see in the quality of the
students’ work the quality of the
teacher’s work;
– To see in the the quality of the
teacher’s work the quality of the
principal’s work; and
– To see in the quality of the
principal’s work the quality of
the superintendent’s work.
What role groups may
participate in Learning Walks?
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Teachers
Principals
Parents
Students
Support Personnel
Key District Leaders
Superintendent
How do we involve our staffs in
the Learning Walk Process?
• Principals orient school staffs to the
Learning Walk and its purposes and involve
them in Learning Walks as their knowledge
and expertise deepens.
• Principals present the features and
indicators of the Principles of Learning to
their school staffs and involve them in
determining appropriate evidence for each.
During Learning Walks, what do
we look for in student work?
• Evidence that students are learning rigorous
content focused on achieving the standards.
• Evidence that students are engaged in high level
thinking and conversations about the concepts
they are learning.
• Evidence that students know what good work
looks like, and how to make their work better.
• Evidence that students are aware of how they learn
and have developed the habits and skills to assess
their own learning.
During Learning Walks, why
do we talk to students?
• We want to discover if
students:
– Know what they are
learning and why they
need to know that.
– Know if their work is
good and how to make it
better.
– Are expected to solve
problems, to construct
explanations, and to
construct solutions.
When we leave a classroom,
what do we talk about?
• We talk about:
– Evidence of Clear Expectations
(or the POL under study) in:
• The lesson
• The student assignment
• Student work products
– What the students said in
response to questions about their
work and learning displays
When we leave a classroom, what
we do NOT talk about!!
• We do NOT:
– Make judgmental
statements about what the
teacher was or was not
doing.
– Make disparaging
statements about the
teacher, the students or the
classroom; and make
comments which could be
interpreted as being critical
of the school.
WE ARE THERE
TO SUPPORT
TEACHING AND LEARNING
THERE IS SO MUCH
WE DO NOT KNOW
At the conclusion of a Learning
Walk, what occurs?
• The principal provides
objective feedback to the
staff as a whole about the
evidence that was seen
during the Learning Walk,
and puts forward inquiries
to advance the work of the
school.
• Professional development
and the next Learning
Walk are planned.
Charting Observations from a
Learning Walk
• We saw the following evidence of Clear Expectations
in classroom learning displays:
• We saw the following evidence of Clear Expectations
in hallway learning displays:
• We saw the following evidence of Clear Expectations
in student work assignments and products:
• We heard the following evidence of Clear
Expectations from students:
• Questions for discussion with staff that may advance
the work
Debriefing A Learning Walk
• How did you feel about the Learning Walk?
• Are you ready to go back and lead one?
• What questions do you have?
Supervision of Instruction
• During the 2001-2002
school year, each
Principal will be
expected to preside
over an instructional
program that
demonstrates
consistent growth in
the implementation of
Clear Expectations in
each classroom.