lesson study comes to California
Mathematics instruction is improved using a
process of collaboration,
observation, analysis and reflection, also known as the lesson study method.
T
he teachers barely look up from their table discussions as visiting administrators pause to listen in, or pull up chairs nearby to
hear more. Deeply engrossed in their dis- cussions, which are regularly punctuated by laughter, the teachers in Project DELTA delve into deep analysis of recent, shared les- sons, studying the impact of the content and strategies used by the teachers and the effect on students’ understanding. The Riverside County Office of Educa-
tion is the LEA for the project, now in its second year, in partnership with California State University, San Bernardino. Develop- ing Educators Learning to Teach Algebra- ically (DELTA) serves approximately 90 mathematics teachers from the Perris Union High School District in Riverside County and its four feeder districts: Menifee Union, Nuview Union, Perris Elementary and Ro- moland School Districts. The cohort also includes special educa-
tion and alternative education teachers from RCOE, and teachers from the charter school, Oak Grove at the Ranch. The project cov-
18 Leadership
ers the grade/course span from third grade through Algebra I, and includes mathemat- ics intervention teachers at the secondary level. All of the participating districts, as well
as the Riverside County Office of Education, strongly support their schools in the journey to becoming effective Professional Learning Communities. Thus, teacher collaboration was not a new concept for any of the teacher teams.
Teaching the public “research lesson” Japanese lesson study – Jugyou ken-
kyuu – which is a cornerstone of Project DELTA, adds a new twist: the teachers take turns publicly teaching the collaboratively planned lessons with their own students for the rest of the team to observe and then ana- lyze, based on the students’ learning. In the Japanese model, the team begins
by studying frameworks and other docu- ments to build their shared knowledge of the
By Madeleine Jetter and Gwen Hancock
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