INCREASING ACHIEVEMENT LEVELS
FOR AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDENT
THROUGH INSTRUCTIONAL
ROUNDS
Dr. Mark E. Marshall
Superintendent of Schools
Eastside Union School District
Lancaster, California
Dr. Matthew W. Ross
Asst. Supt., Educational Services
Eastside Union School District
Lancaster, California
FACTS ABOUT EASTSIDE UNION
SCHOOL DISTRICT
 We are located in East Lancaster.
 We are an urban/suburban Community.
 We are very diverse (60% Hispanic, 23% African
American, 17% White and Other).
 We have a free and reduced lunch rate of nearly
90%
 We have increased student enrollment.
 We have declining revenue from the State.
RESPECTIVE ROLES
The Board of Trustees develops policies.
The Superintendent ensures that the policies are
being followed.
The District Office provides the technical
expertise and supports the work of the schools.
School Sites have some autonomy yet the share
in the accountability with regard to local
decisions.
CELEBRATIONS IN EASTSIDE!
 We have had 3 consecutive years of positive district API growth
 We have Science partnerships with NASA
 We are expanding the AVID program to our Elementary Sites,
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while Cole Middle is poised to be AVID Demonstration Site
Our Middle School Boys recently won the League
Championships: for both Basketball and Soccer
We have major Capital Improvements in the works: Construction
of Eastside Academy (Final Stages), and a 5th Elementary School
(Ground Breaking)
We are working with High Desert Alliance of Black School
Educators (HDABSE) to establish a Parent Academy
We have a partnerships with the City of and other entities to
augment the services to our students.
THE GOAL
My goal is to facilitate a 5 year Strategic Plan that
addresses the following: Academics, Capital
Improvement/Technology Enhancements, Fiscal
Responsibility, Professional Development, Human
Resources, Stakeholder Engagement, and
Safety/Climate Needs of the Eastside Union School
District. This action will serve as a pillar in our
quest to become a “World Class System of School”.
THE OUTCOMES
 The Eastside Union School District will become a top
academic achiever in the Antelope Valley.
 The Eastside Union School District will be positively
recognized by the State of California.
 The Eastside Union School District will become a premier
school district on the West Coast.
 The Eastside Union School District will become a nationally
recognized model school district.
 The Eastside Union School District will be transformed into a
World Class System of School that has attained excellence!
ELEMENTS OF THE PLAN
What does a “World Class System of
Schools” Look Like?”
ATTENDANCE, STUDENT DISCIPLINE,
SCHOOL SAFETY, AND SCHOOL CLIMATE
 Following state policies on enrollment and attendance, we
ensure that our students attend school regularly and continue
to develop incentives to foster positive attendance and student
achievement.
 All of our schools consistently follow the established student
code of conduct.
 School wide discipline plans and positive reinforcement plans
are established at all of our sites.
 All schools develop and maintain annual Safety Plans.
 We work cooperatively with law enforcement and the judicial
system to stay current in community trends.
CAPITAL
IMPROVEMENTS/TECHNOLOGY
 We ensure that our school facilities are up to date and
safe for all students.
 Our students and staff members have access to up to
date technology.
 We stay abreast in funding opportunities that will
enhance our capacity in this area.
 We work closely with the individuals charged with
carrying out the actual work in our school system
(project managers, architects etc.).
 We are transparent with the public as it pertains to any
renovation, building projects, or technology upgrades.
FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY
 Budgets are developed to serve Students in the best
manner possible.
 The Board of Trustees are always provided with the data
necessary to make budgetary decisions.
 In the event of a financial crisis, a transparent and
inclusive stakeholder process is used to make the hard
decisions.
 Financial reports are developed and provided to
stakeholders on a monthly basis (or as requested)
 We develop and maintain a healthy reserve fund
balance.
HUMAN CAPITAL
 We recruit, hire, sustain, and retain the best employees
for our students.
 Employees are knowledgeable of and follow the
established policies of the Eastside Union School District
.
 All employees are evaluated at least annually and held to
the highest standards.
 Employees are encouraged to give feedback on our
performance in this area.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
 An Aligned Professional Development Framework is
developed (or enhanced) in our district and is a priority
in our district to enhance student achievement.
 Staff members are invited to give input relative to their
Professional Development needs and the quality of our
program.
 We increase the number of staff members with advanced
degrees and/or attaining National Board Certification.
 School administrators engage in professional growth to
stay current in the field; including leadership
development and succession planning.
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
 We meet regularly with our stakeholders to keep them
abreast of district initiatives and issues that impact
student learning.
 While we regularly promote the School District
accomplishments, we will also be transparent in
articulating the challenges.
 Stakeholders have regular opportunities to give us
feedback about our work.
 We continue to network with colleges and universities.
 We continue foster partnerships with local businesses.
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
 The School District and each individual School makes annual
gains on its Academic Performance Indexes.
 The School District and each individual School makes
Adequate Yearly Progress.
 At least 80% of our students meet or exceed Standards on
State Assessments.
 All students are exposed to a rigorous course of study,
innovative instructional practices, and highly qualified
teachers.
 Our Schools become State (California Distinguished), AVID
Demonstration and National Schools of Distinction
HOW DO WE GET THERE???
A special Thank You to everybody who ever
put anything on the internet for us to use as
we developed our Instructional Rounds
protocols.
INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP
Instructional leaders are obligated to:
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Establish goals and expectations
Ensure orderly and supportive environment
Promote and participate in teacher learning
Plan, coordinate and evaluate curriculum
Plan, coordinate, and evaluate teaching
Align resource selection and allocate to
priority teaching goals
(Hattie, 2009)
MOVING FROM A “COMPLIANCE CULTURE” TO
AN “INQUIRY AND ACCOUNTABILITY CULTURE”
“Classrooms, schools, and districts are nested learning
communities whose cultures are closely linked.Teachers
who operate in a compliance mode with their principals
are unlikely to create anything other than a compliance
environment for their students. And as a former principal ...
put it, ‘Principals cannot lead collaborative learning if they
have not experienced it.’ Students are not likely to take
risks, collaborate, learn together, and experience higher
order tasks unless their teachers are. Recognizing these
nested relationships helps leaders in a variety of roles take
responsibility for leading learning.”
-Dr. Richard Elmore-
Leadership
Practice
Organizational
Processes
Model public learning
Structures in place
Create environment
supportive of risk-taking
(psychological safety)
Instructional mandate
(vertical accountability)
Focus on structures,
processes and content
of team work
Explicit focus on group
commitments
Examine available
instructional supports /
PD
Attention to processes
Individual and
Collective Efficacy
Beliefs
Increased exposure to
instructional strategies and
practices (individual)
Increased expectation of
group success leads to
“normative press” (lateral
accountability)
Press leads to greater risktaking, perseverance,
resilience in face of failure
Student
Achievement
Individual efficacy linked
to classroom behaviors
Collective efficacy a
strong predictor of wholeschool achievement
INTRODUCTORY ACTIVITY
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Write down what you know about the Common Core State
Standards and how you believe they will affect classroom
instruction in the year 2014.
What challenges do you believe African-American students
will encounter with the Common Core State Standards.
What challenges do you believe you or your staff will
encounter teaching the Common Core State Standards.
How will you help African American students overcome those
challenges with the Common Core State Standards.
How will you help your teachers help African American
students overcome those challenges with the Common Core
State Standards.
COMMON CORE PERFORMANCE
STANDARDS
Student must demonstrate Depth of
Knowledge and application
Increased collaboration/interaction between
the teacher and the student
Ability of the student to self-report learning
and progress
PURPOSE
Demonstrate how to use Instructional Rounds as one
element of the instructional observation protocol in
the rollout of the Common Core State Standard to
build a culture of high quality instruction at scale and
for identifying the various levels of academic
engagement among African-American students in the
classroom, ensuring that all students have access to
high-quality instruction no matter which classroom
they are in.
TOPICS TO BE COVERED
Origin of Instructional Rounds
What Instructional Rounds are and are not
Rationale for Instructional Rounds
The relationship between Instructional
Rounds and the more general processes of
school improvement
Instructional Rounds process
What Do Rounds Look Like
In The Medical Profession?
• Identify a medical problem
• Discuss the next steps to
solve the problem
• Follow through on the
implementation of various
strategies.
How is the learning done?
• Observing
• Applying and utilizing shared
strengths of team members
What Do Rounds Look Like
In Education?
• Identify an instructional
problem
• Discuss the next steps to
solve the problem
• Follow through on the
implementation of various
strategies.
How is the learning done?
• Observing
• Applying and utilizing shared
strengths of team members
The basic premise of Instructional
Rounds is that people best learn about
the meaning of high quality instruction
by observing teachers, students, and the
work students are asked to do, followed
by meaningful conversation and analysis.
FOCUS OF INTRUCTIONAL ROUNDS
Instructional Rounds help in building individual and
collective capacity to:
 Ensure that all students have access to high-quality
instruction no matter which classroom they are in.
 Understand what kind of teaching and learning is
happening in each classroom, at each school across the
district.
 Build a shared language and understanding of highquality teaching and learning in order to move
exceptional practices from a single classroom to the
school, and from a single school to the district, from a
individual to the collective.
WHAT INSTRUCTIONAL ROUNDS
ARE AND ARE NOT…
 Focused on the
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instructional core
A Learning
Community
Collaborative to
Create Coherence
Around Instructional
Improvements at Scale
Tailored to A
Common Instructional
Problem
A Method to Examine
Quality Teaching.
Instruction
al Rounds
Are
Instruction
al Rounds
Are Not
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•
•
•
•
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•
Evaluative
Punitive
Simplistic
Random
Isolated
Disconnected
Reductive
WHAT INSTRUCTIONAL ROUNDS
ARE AND ARE NOT…
 Culture-Building
Practice
 Instructional
Problem-Solving
 A Process
 Descriptive,
Predictive,
Diagnostic
 Professionalizing
Instruction
al Rounds
Are
Instruction
al Rounds
Are Not
• Supervision and
Evaluation
• Implementation
Check
• An Event
• Normative,
Judgmental
• Bureaucratic,
Hierarchical
THE BIG IDEA!
The idea behind Instructional Rounds is that
everyone involved is working on their practice,
everyone is obliged to be knowledgeable about the
common task of instructional improvement, and
everyone’s practice should be subject to scrutiny,
critique, and improvement.
• Instructional Rounds inform and are informed by improvement
strategies.
• Instructional Rounds start with a problem of practice, one that
often emerges from some improvement strategy, and end
with ideas for making our improvement strategies more
effective.
• Instructional Rounds are, then, a vehicle for improving our
strategies and making us much more reflective about our
work.
THEORIES OF PRACTICE
(SINGLE-LOOP LEARNING)
THEORIES OF PRACTICE
(DOUBLE-LOOP LEARNING)
THE LADDER OF INFERENCE
In school leadership, we are conditioned to
jump from observation immediately to
evaluation.
The rounds process asks us to break this
perpetual habit by using the ladder of
inference:
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Description before Analysis
Analysis before Prediction
Prediction before Evaluation
LADDER OF INFERENCE
Interpretive and Abstract
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What teachers are saying and doing
What students are saying and doing
What the task is
Assumptions
Beliefs
Values
Attitudes
Descriptive and Concrete
Placement of Instructional Rounds in the Instructional Improvement
POP
Process
Various Outputs or
Strategies
Cycle repeats as necessary
Consistent
High Quality
Instruction At Scale
Next
level
of
work
IR
site visit
Next
level
IR
of
site visit
work
POP evolving
SIT
School
Improvement
Team
Continuous instructional improvement
Various Outputs or
Strategies
Various inputs: CST, CAHSEE, API, AP,
Surveys, IQT, Observations
FOCUS OF INSTRUCTIONAL
ROUNDS
Collective learning rather than individual
supervisory practice
Patterns of practice and predicted results
rather than compliance with directives
Supportive of existing improvement
strategies rather than a new strategy
TRADITIONAL BALANCE OF
OBSERVATIONAL ATTENTION
CONTENT
STUDENT
TEACHER
ACTIVITY
What percent of your classroom
instructional observations are focused on
• The Teacher
• The Student
• The Content
INSTRUCTIONAL OBSERVATION
TRIANGLE
Instructional
Rounds
INSTRUCTIONAL
CORE
Instructional
Quality Teams
Classroom
Instructional
Observations
COMPARISON OF INSTRUCTIONAL
OBSERVATION PROTOCOLS
Instructional Rounds
• Theory of Practice/Problem of Practice/Instructional
Initiatives
• Focus Questions
• Descriptive
Instructional Quality
Teams
• Observing and Monitoring the implementation of one
concrete, actionable classroom management or
instructional technique school-wide
• Descriptive and Evaluative in Nature
Classroom
Instructional
Observations
• All Areas of Instruction
• “Checklist”
• Descriptive and Evaluative in Nature
Teacher Compass
Instructional Rounds
Narrow &
deeper look
Broad and
comprehensive
look
More teacher directed
Defined set of “look fors”
Identification of growth
area & action plan to
impact
Constantly revisiting
components of effective
instruction
Focus and structure for
observing classroom
instruction
Analysis of data
collected
Component of
improvement
strategy
Leading toward
consistent quality
instruction
Capturing multiple
data points
Evidence-based
classroom
observation
Next level of work
Impartial network
of observers
Problem of practice
(POP) generated
from campus
Periodic planned
classroom visits
focused on POP
Isolating
singular
element deeply
Network
suggestions for
next steps
HIGH-QUALITY INSTRUCTION AT
SCALE
High-quality instruction at scale involves the systemic
improvement efforts to the instructional core within individual
classrooms and across all schools, which can be applied to all
levels of practice that are needed to systematically improve
instruction and increase learning for all students.
In short, high quality instruction at scale moves the teaching and
learning from a single classroom to the school, and from a single
school to the district; and from the individual to the collective.
ACTIVITY
Check In…Now that you know a little about
Instructional Rounds, how do you see it in the
context of your current observational
protocols?
INSTRUCTIONAL ROUNDS PROCESS
Problem
of
Practice
Observation
of
Practice
Next Level
of
Work
Observation
Debrief
PROBLEM OF PRACTICE
Definition.The specific problem of instructional
improvement that the school and the school system is
working on and want feedback about .
Using data to identifying a “Problem of Practice”:
 Assessment Data
 Formal/Informal Classroom Observations
 Teacher Surveys
 Student Surveys
 Etc.
PROBLEM OF PRACTICE
A Problem of Practice:
• Focuses on the instructional core.
• Is directly observable.
• Is actionable (is within the school/district's control
and can be improved in real time).
• Connects to a broader strategy of improvement
(school, system).
• Is high-leverage (if you acted on it, it would make a
significant difference for student learning).
PROBLEM OF PRACTICE
Determining a Problem of Practice
 What are the strength of your school's instructional program?
 What areas of your schools' instructional program need to be
strengthened?
 How did you determine the strengths and weaknesses of your
instructional program?
 What are your sources of data?
 How do you know if you are making progress in these
instructional areas?
 What else have you been learning from these sources of data?
 What is puzzling to you about the data?
 What has felt challenging?
 What does your faculty continue to grapple with?
SAMPLE PROBLEM OF PRACTICE
Problem of Practice. It seems to be a challenge to
make the classroom task address material that is
immediate to the student's time and place.The
engagement of student skills to real-world problems
that have some consequence. Not only on a singular
basis, but as a regular practice for course design.
Focus Question. How do we design our courses to
integrate seamlessly with current and pressing issues
and challenges that are in evidence to our students?
SAMPLE PROBLEM OF PRACTICE
Problem of Practice.The students at our school
infrequently collaborate or communicate on group projects
or engage in project based learning. In the few instances
where teachers are engaging students in this work, the
school is seeing more higher order thinking skills being
addressed as part of the core curriculum. These teachers
are also having success engaging students outside of the
classroom, extending learning beyond the school day.
Focus Question. How do we integrate group projects that
involve complex communication and collaboration into
instruction?
ACTIVITY
Using the Problem of Practice Development
Worksheet, take a moment to write your own
Problem of Practice and share it with your
neighbor.
THEORY OF PRACTICE
Definition. A theory of practice is a set of causal connections, usually in
the if-then form that serves as a story line that connects broad vision
with the more specific strategies used to improve the instructional core.
Three Criteria for Using Theories of Practice within the Instructional
Rounds Framework
 Statement of a Causal Relationship: What we are doing and what
constitutes a good result in the classroom.
 Empirically Falsifiable: Must be able to disqualify all or parts of the
theory as a useful guide to action that is based on evidence of what
occurs as a consequence of our actions.
 Open Ended: Must prompt us to further revise and specify the causal
relationships we initially identified as we learn more about the
consequences of our actions.
THEORY OF PRACTICE
The theory of action emerges from the outcome and
the specific problem of practice
Instructional Goal
+
Problem of Practice
______________________
Theory of Action
(If …Then)
SAMPLE THEORY OF PRACTICE
“If lessons are guided by clear learning targets aligned to
established content standards, and if students and teachers use
effective formative and summative assessments of learning
aligned to those targets, then students and teachers will have
richer information to guide the teaching and learning process and
to differentiate learning for individual student needs, and higher
student achievement will be the result.”
Note.Your Theory of Practice will guide your selection of
particular instructional strategies and professional development
activities.
QUALITY TEACHING DEFINED
“Task Predicts Performance”
What predicts performance is what students are actually
doing...the instructional task is the actual work that students are
asked to do during the process of instruction-not what teachers
think they are asking students to do or what the official
curriculum says that that student are asked to do...”
-Dr. Richard Elmore-
Discussion Question: How do you and your staff define high quality
teaching?
INSTRUCTIONAL CORE
The instructional core is composed of the teacher and the student
in the presence of content.
TEACHER
CONTENT/TASK
STUDENT
OBSERVATION OF PRACTICE IN
INSTRUCTIONAL ROUNDS
What is the teachers saying and/or doing?
What are students saying and/or doing?
What is the task?
DEBRIEF PROTOCOL (EXCERPT)
Analysis (Next Level of Work)
As you reflect on the school’s school-wide reform initiatives,
professional development, theory(ies) of practice, and/or problem of
practice, consider the advice you would give to the administration
and teachers about the next steps.
Analysis (Transfer to Practice)
As you reflect on the Observation of Practice related to school-wide
reform initiatives, professional development, theory(ies) of practice,
and/or problem of practice consider how you will transfer what you
have learned to your practice.
www.eastside.k12.ca.us