With his confirmation as President Obama’s Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan has pledged to improve the quality of teaching — not only in the initial preparation of teachers but in the on-going professional development they are provided.  This renewed emphasis connecting what teachers do to how students perform will bring a new transparency to what goes on in the nation’s classrooms after the doors are closed.

Collaborative Observation  — also called “Lesson Study” in some areas — is a process for teachers and administrators to collaboratively reflect on classroom teaching and thus strengthen the Professional Learning Community throughout the building.  Together, the participants work to fully and effectively implement their enacted reforms in curriculum, instruction, and student citizenship.  By (a) focusing on the new course tools and processes being used in classrooms, and (b) distinguishing effective from ineffective instruction and making connections between what teachers do and how students react, participants work together to improve the quality of instruction and increase students’ academic an behavioral success.   Unlike other teacher appraisal systems, Collaborative Observation is NOT a deficiency model, working only with teachers who are struggling.  It is a process that involves all staff to strengthen the overall quality of the instructional program in each school and throughout the district.

Participants are trained to use a research-based four-part process that includes (1) a Pre-Observation Conference, (2) In-Class Data Collection and Analysis, and (3) a Post-Observation Conference that culminates in (4) a collaboratively-developed Action Plan.  As part of their training, participants actually use the four-part process and submit written protocols for feedback by EdFOCUS consultants.  The process is consistent with Charlotte Danielson’s “Four Domains,” and directly aligned with Ohio’s new rating system of Distinguished, Accomplished, Proficient, and Needs Improvement.  The program is designed to work in tandem with the regular teacher-appraisal system on a voluntary basis, and participants determine how to make the process an integral part of their building’s professional growth plan. The training also includes the examination of adult learning theory and the analysis of the teaching culture in each building.

The Pre-Observation Conference shows participants how to effectively conference with teachers to draw from them the details of their planning process — not only for the lesson to be observed but the larger unit of study from which the lesson is taken.

The In-Class Observation is an objective, real-time data collection process that records a key-point script [not verbatim] of what the teacher does and how the students react. Also included are time frames and a classroom diagram. This step includes a non-judgmental analysis of the script, designating each relevant teacher behavior and its impact on the student(s), including teacher-student feedback.

The Post-Observation Conference is a lesson plan to organize and deliver the follow-up conference, highlighting the key teacher behaviors and student responses. The observer draws from the teacher those points of the lesson that went as he or she anticipated and those that did not go as planned. The conference culminates in the development of the Collaborative Action Plan.

The Collaborative Action Plan is the document that culminates the Post-Conference. It is collaboratively developed by the observer and the teacher and sets forth the following:

1. Each area for growth or continued development
2. Specific strategies to address each need (or area for continued development)
3. Criteria for success (i.e., How will it be determined that the strategies have been successful in meeting each need, or continuing the development?)
4. Time frames
5. Additional human and/or material resources needed to help meet the need (or continue the development)