By focusing tightly on instructional strategies and PD, educators at Cochrane Collegiate Academy saved their school from closure. In just three years, they have doubled student performance, and they continue to reach higher. The educators have developed an instructional model called Interactive Learning (IL). It is a collection of their ten best practices, which they call their non-negotiables, and teachers must implement them in every lesson, every day. Shana Oliver, the school's academic facilitator, runs the training sessions for these best practices, and she helps the teachers see and experience how they can incorporate all ten into one lesson. What is the intended goal of the lesson? Remember, there is one essential question per lesson, and students must be able to answer this question by the end of the lesson. With essential questions, teachers really have to be intentional about what they want the students to be able to do, and it has to be at the highest-level of learning. The students have to be able to analyze and apply; they cannot just answer the question with a yes or no. It has to be an extended response. An essential question must be "multi-skill" in order for it to be a good one. An activating strategy is something that gets students actively thinking or making a connection with the material being presented that day. Make a connection to the content or to the outside world to see how much the students already know or remember. One of the main things used at Cochrane is to show video clips. Students love it when they see their favorite show or cartoon. Initially, they don't know what they're about to learn so they focus on that video clip. Then the teacher uses that engagement to link to the lesson, and the students realize that their likes or interests can channel a learning experience. Relevant vocabulary must be present in your lesson. Keep your vocabulary limited to what your students are able to handle and make sure that it is actively used in context throughout the lesson. Also have your students interactively use the words during the lesson. Use vocabulary that's relevant. Teachers must pick and choose what is going to be most important and most effective. They must teach vocabulary through a graphic organizer, through an experience, or whatever they need to help the students get it. There should be limited lecture time. After 12-15 minutes of lecturing, you should engage your students in some type of activity, even if it's for only a few minutes. The teacher can then go back to lecturing for another chunk of time. Examples: Have students talk to their neighbor, draw a picture, write a few sentences that summarize or describe the lecture, finish an example problem, or get in a discussion with their group. Use of a graphic organizer allows students to visually categorize new information or review old information. Students need to be able to conceptualize whatever information we're giving them. The graphic organizer is student friendly. When they look at information that's organized, it's easier for them to retain and remember that information. And when they go home, it is less intimidating to look at that information as opposed to pulling out a notebook that has pages and pages of notes. Examples: Have students record information in colorful charts in their notebooks, use computers to create graphic organizers, or create a "foldable." Student movement is a must. Students need to be mobile at some point during instruction to ensure they're actively engaged. This one is probably the most challenging for Cochrane teachers because it can be intimidating to have students moving. But student movement can look a number of different ways, and it doesn't always mean students have to get up. They just must be physically engaged in whatever the teacher is doing. It's important because students don't like to sit still, especially male students. They ahve found that when the male students are up and moving around the room, they are totally engaged in what the teacher is doing. Examples: Students do a gallery walk in which they move in groups from corner to corner, answering questions or analyzing things posted on the walls; they work in teams or at rotation stations; they raise their hands or give the thumbs-up or thumbs-down; they answer questions with their body, putting their left foot out if they think the answer is A and their right foot out if they think it's B. Present your students with at least three higher-order-thinking (“HOT”) questions during the lesson. This is proof that you are presenting all your students with challenging work. The HOT questions are Cochrane's signature element. The rationale behind them is we want to give the kids an opportunity to be challenged in the classroom. The way the teacher presents these questions varies, and students' responses can be indicative of their learning pace. The same question should be used for all students, but advanced learners may be required to respond in a different way. Students can respond on paper, as part of a classroom discussion, in paired discussion, or through homework. Summarize to bring the lesson to a close. This is when you can assess your students' abilities to effectively answer the essential question, and you can find out whether you need to extend or refine the skill. Teachers must find creative ways to have the students answer the essential question at the end of the lesson. A student's ability to answer the essential question at this point is a way for the teacher to assess the student's learning. In most instances, this is the point when a teacher can determine whether she needs to go back and reteach or needs to accelerate student learning. Examples: Have students use a writing prompt, short activity, discussion, or illustration to summarize, or have them summarize on an exit ticket. Lessons must be rigorous. The activities should be challenging and move at a brisk pace. There should not be opportunities for students to get bored or periods when they have nothing to do. The entire lesson should be an active lesson. Teachers should strive to take students to the highest level of knowledge. There are only 180 days in the school year, and a lot of the students do not come in at grade level, so we've got to move them with the 90 minutes that we have each day in the classroom. Your entire lesson should be student centered. The ways that we instruct our students must demonstrate that they are our focus and that what we do is centered on their success. The use of technology as a tool is a critical component of this. It provides students with 21st-century skills that are both engaging and relevant to real-world applications. It is a partnership: If you effectively and successfully plan, your students will effectively and successfully work and learn. Take a step away from the learning process to become facilitators rather than "givers of all knowledge" in the classroom. 620 | Public, Urban$6133 School • $5346 District • $8451 State87% 2% Asian/Pacific Islander 20% English-language learners Demographic data is from the 2011-12 school year. Fiscal data is from the 2009-10 school year.
I still vividly remember my early years as an assistant principal and principal. Instructional leadership was a routine part of the job along with the budget, master schedule, curriculum development, meetings, emails, phone calls, and many other duties. With the evolution of social media, yet another responsibility was added to my plate in the form of digital leadership. The position of school administrator really requires a jack of all trades, master of none. This is why many leaders fail to live up to the most important aspect of the position, which is instructional leadership.  Even though I tried, the frequency of my teacher observations rarely extended beyond the minimal expectation. Not only was I not in classrooms enough, but also the level of feedback—provided through the lens of a narrative report—did very little to improve teaching and learning both in and out of the classroom. If improvement is the ultimate goal, then we as leaders need to put the most focus on elements of our job that impact student learning. Instructional leaders understand that management is a necessary evil associated with the position but not something that should come at the expense of improving the learning culture in order to increase achievement. It is easy to just say that one should improve instructional leadership—or anything else for that matter. Below, I offer ten specific strategies from my time as high school principal that you can begin to adopt now. Get in Classrooms More This seems so easy, yet it remains a constant struggle. Begin by increasing the number of formal observations conducted each year and commit to a schedule to get them all done. We formally observed each of our teachers three times a year regardless of experience. Another successful strategy is to develop an informal walk-through schedule with your leadership team. I mandated five walks a day for each member of my team, and we used a color-coded Google Doc to keep track of where we visited and the specific improvement comments provided to each teacher. Streamline Expectations and Eliminate Ineffective Practices Begin with establishing a common vision and expectations for all teachers. We did this by using the Rigor Relevance Framework, which provides all teachers with consistent, concrete elements to focus on when developing lessons. Get rid of the dog and pony show ritual of announced observations. If lesson plans are still collected, ask for them to demonstrate what will be done two weeks into the future. Consider less of a focus on lesson plans and more on assessment. Collect and review assessments two weeks into the future. Provide at least one suggestion for improvement no matter how good the observation is. There is no perfect lesson. Suggestions for improvement should always contain clear, practical examples and strategies that a teacher can begin to implement immediately. Timely feedback is also essential. Be a Scholar Being a scholar not only helps you as a leader to improve professional practice, but it also puts you in a position to have better conversations with your teachers about their own improvement. This adds a whole new level of credibility to post-observation conferences. I made a point of aligning every piece of critical feedback to current research. As you come across research that supports the types of effective pedagogical techniques that you wish to see in your classrooms, archive it in a document that you can refer to when writing up observations. I spent each summer as principal reading, researching, curating, and adapting this research for use during the school year. It not only saved me time when it came to writing up observations, but it also greatly improved my relationship with my staff as the instructional leader. Model Don’t ask your teachers to do anything that you are not willing to do yourself. This is extremely important in terms of technology integration in the classroom and professional learning to improve practice. If a teacher is struggling with their assessments, don’t just say you need to work on building better ones. Either provide an example that you have created or co-create an assessment together. Teach a Class This can be accomplished regularly during the year or by co-teaching with both struggling and distinguished teachers. During my first couple of years as an administrator, I taught a section of high school biology. This is leading by example at its best. It also provides a better context for the evolving role of the teacher in the digital age. An instructional leader who walks the walk builds better relationships with staff and in turn will be in a much better position to engage staff in conversations to improve instruction. Grow Professionally Attend at least one conference or workshop a year that is aligned to a major initiative or focus area in your school or district. Try to also read one education book and another related to a different field such as leadership, self-help, or business. So many powerful lessons and ideas can be gleaned once we venture outside the education silo. To compliment traditional means of professional learning, work to create or further develop a Personal Learning Network. Social media provides a 24/7 pathway to ideas, strategies, feedback, resources, and support that every educator should take advantage of in the digital age. Write in Order to Reflect Like many other connected educators, writing has enabled me to process my thinking, resulting in a more critical reflection of my work in relation to teaching, learning, and leadership. Our reflections not only assist us with our growth, but also can be catalysts for our staff and others to reflect on their own practice or grow professionally. Having teachers write a brief reflection prior to the post-observation conference is a great strategy to promote a conversation on improvement that isn’t one-sided. Integrate Portfolios Portfolios were a requirement for my teachers and complimented our observation process nicely. They provided more clarity and detail on instruction over the entire course of the school year. Portfolios can include learning activities, assessments, unit plans, examples of student work, and other forms of evidence to improve instructional effectiveness. They can also be used to validate good practice. Co-Observe During the first quarter of each year, I co-observed lessons with members of my administrative team. This was invaluable for many reasons. For one, we were able to take advantage of two sets of eyes during observations, as some things will always be missed when done solo no matter how much experience you have. This also allowed me to work with my team to help them improve their own instructional leadership. It also helped me improve, as every conversation helped me to further reflect on what I saw. Nothing is more important than ensuring quality learning is taking place in our classrooms. These ten strategies can be implemented immediately to improve your instructional leadership. Like all lists, there are many great strategies that I missed. With that being said, what would you add to the list? Eric Sheninger is a senior fellow and thought leader on digital leadership with the International Center for Leadership in Education (ICLE). Prior to this, he was an award-winning principal at New Milford High School in New Milford, CT. A 2012 Digital Principal of the Year, he has authored six books, including the best-seller Digital Leadership. Follow him on Twitter (@E_Sheninger) or visit his website. |
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