Prepared by Marsha Volini – CFN 204
Inquiry Work Creates Powerful Opportunities for
Teacher Leadership
(School Perspectives on Collaborative Inquiry, 2010)
“Leadership is about being committed
to being a better teacher”
(School Perspectives on Collaborative Inquiry, 2010)
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Teacher Leaders Guide
Inquiry Teams Through
Instructional Inquiry Cycles…
Select a content area,
usually ELA or Math
although middle schools
may select Science or SS
Revise and repeat
inquiry cycle
Monitor student
progress with
common
assessments
Examine student
work/data
Examine teacher
work including
classroom visits
Instructional
Inquiry Cycle
Engage external
research-based
resources
Take action:
Implement
instructional
strategy
Define instructional
strategy
and set goals
Steps to Guide Inquiry Work
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8.
Use the Progress Report to identify content focus areas – this will
show how students are doing generally in the different content
areas.
Use data from Progress Report, ITT, CEP, etc. to identify a Problem
of Practice
Use the Inquiry Target Tool (ITT) to see individual student
information and to sort the data in different ways (see the ITT
Tutorial @http://sharepointsite.net)
Use the CEP to see school-wide identified priorities
Check the NCLB to see if the school is required to improve the
performance of a particular sub-group of students
Use Assessment Data (NY Start, Performance Series, Acuity,
teacher created assessments, student work, etc.) to identify subskills that students are struggling with
Break down the identified sub-skills into learning targets
Analyze the conditions of learning under which students were
taught the sub-skills and learning targets
Steps to Guide Inquiry Work
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16.
Analyze Curriculum Artifacts (CCSS, NY State Standards
curriculum maps, lesson plans, etc.) and determine what
was actually taught, not what was intended to be taught
Establish a baseline from which to measure growth
Set an ambitious and realistic long-term goal (by June…)
Set frequent, measurable, interim benchmarks (short-term
goals)
Implement systemic change strategies (to the curriculum,
pacing calendars, materials, lesson plans etc.)
Evaluate and monitor student progress
Revise change strategies and action plans accordingly
Create new cycles of inquiry (document them in Inquiry
Spaces)
Questions to Guide Inquiry Work
 What is “it” that students cannot do,
but MUST do?
 What are we, as a collaborative,
coherent team going to do to ensure
that our students learn “it”?
 Is there misalignment between what
students need to know and what
they are taught?
 Do we need to revise our curriculum
based on student needs?
 How are we going to prove that our
practices worked?
Using Data to Improve Instructional
Decision-making…
Teachers say …(School Perspectives on Collaborative Inquiry, 2010)
 “It has helped me as a teacher because I can reflect on my teaching and instead
of saying, ‘Oh, that did not work.” I can say, ‘Oh, that is why it did not work.’”
 “If I spend just those 15 minutes of prep time during the morning to enter
student data, it really makes a big difference in the end because I have
something that I can bring to the inquiry team and show them what works or
does not work for the students.”
 “I did not know anything about formative assessment and the value of
diagnostics until inquiry.”
 “Even if you have two kids and they both are a level D in reading, their issues
are not the same. The data helps you identify specifically where each was
weak.”
Basic Elements of Effective Inquiry
SUB-SKILL FOCUS
• Identify something small and
essential that students do not
know.
• This is called a “learning target”.
It makes gaps between specific
students’ learning needs and
what students need to know
manageable.
• It’s foundational. (Without it
students cannot move forward.)
• It’s a lever. (If students master it,
they can apply it in many
contexts.)
• It’s heavily valued on the highstakes test.
Defining a Problem of Practice
from: Instructional Rounds in Education by Richard Elmore
Instructional Core
 Focused on the instructional core
 Directly observable
 Actionable (within the school’s
control and can be improved in
real time)
 Connects to a broader strategy of
improvement (Inquiry Teams
focus on school-wide goals)
 Is high-leverage (if acted upon, it
would make a significant
difference for student learning)
 It helps focus the attention of all
teachers
Solving a Problem of Practice
“If you want to improve learning, you have to improve teaching”
Richard Elmore
 Problem-solving is based on cooperation and collaboration
 Use standardized data to identify what students cannot do,
but MUST be able to do
 Consider data not as an indicator of student achievement but
as an indicator of teaching success (or lack of)
 Have a strong technical core of knowledge and discourse
about what effective practice is
 Calibrate practice to external benchmarks and peer review
 Real improvement comes when you visit a classroom where
somebody is doing the same thing you are -- only much
better
Richard Elmore
Pitfalls to Creating a Collaborative,
Coherent Definition of Effective Practice
 All teachers do not use a common
language to define effective teaching
 Benchmarks for effective instruction
are inconsistent across the grade
 Distribution of knowledge is uneven
 Teachers teach behind closed doors
and do not welcome visitations by
peers
 Teachers practice as individuals with
individual styles
 Teachers are not receptive to changing
their practice: “This is the way I learned
it when I went to college”.
Richard Elmore
Defining Conditions of Learning
 What “is” taught (curriculum)
 How is “it” taught (lesson design)
 How well is “it” taught (teacher
practice)
 Who teaches “it” (classroom teacher,
SETTS, ESL, AIS, para, etc.)
 How much time was spent teaching
“it”
 What materials were used to teach
“it”
 What format was used (i.e. whole
class, small group, partner work, etc.)
Defining SMART Goals
Sample SMART Goals…
 By June, students’ writing organization skills will improve at least two
proficiency levels from October to June on the writing portion of the
practice ELA exam we administer, as measured by the NY State 8th grade
writing rubric
 Students’ reading comprehension skills will improve as evidenced by a
move from Fountas and Pinnell levels G/H in September to at least level N
by June
 By June, 80% of students will move at least 200 scale score points in
reading comprehension from September, as measured by Performance
Series.
 By June, students will increase their independent communication skills by
moving from the October baseline score of Phase I of the PECS system,
with assistance, to the Phase III of the PECS system, without assistance
Low-inference Observations …
“Hey, you have the same problem I do, so let’s take a
look at this together.”
(School Perspectives on Collaborative Inquiry, 2010)
Deprivatize Classroom Practice
Defining Classroom Intervisitations
Use Low-inference Transcripts
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Look for patterns in school-wide instruction
Focus on the skills and sub-skills of the Inquiry Work
Create a plan for visiting classes
Do not put identifying information about a teacher on a transcript
Look for “how” the lesson is taught (lesson design)
Focus on the level of questioning; use of academic vocabulary; length of
student responses
Ask
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What is the lesson plan in use in each classroom?
Do you see patterns (i.e. 3 out of 5 classrooms use a “Do Now”)
To what extent are lessons consistent?
What does the teacher write on the board?
What does the teacher say?
What does the teacher asks students to do? (tasks)
Suggested Format for
Inquiry Team Meetings
 Each Collaborative Inquiry Team has a facilitator who guides the team and attends Core
Inquiry Team meetings
 The facilitator keeps the meeting flowing – no single person dominates the discussion
 A team member is designated to keep minutes and enter updates into
Inquiry Spaces in ARIS
 At the beginning of each meeting, the team reviews and discusses the outcomes of the
previous week’s actions
 During the sessions, members may create common assessments and lesson plans; analyze
research-based resources, data, student work, lesson plans and best practices; and plan for
intervisitations
 Team members agree upon next steps (i.e. learning targets and instructional techniques) for
the upcoming week
 At the close of each session, the facilitator, with consensus from team members, sets the
agenda for the next meeting
Filling Out the
Inquiry Space Profile Worksheet
 Tutorials are found on
our Network website.
 Go to:
www.cfn204.com
 Under resources:
Click on Marsha Volini
Final Thoughts…
 Inquiry is teachers working together
to identify common challenges,
analyze data, and test researchbased instructional approaches
 Data , including reviews of student
work, drives the decision making
 Collaborative inquiry focuses on one
common practice at a time
 Inquiry “action plans and strategies”
are instituted in all team members’
classrooms
 Results are judged by one common
assessment
 “Results” are shared with Core
Inquiry Team to ensure they
become school-wide practices
 Interventions are informed by
research-based best practices