3. Do I need to use these strategies more


consistently and more effectively? Scenario: The seventh grade district in-


terim test Although 71 percent of Mr. English’s


158 students scored at the “passing” level or higher on the district benchmark test for seventh-grade English-language arts, he is not content with the results. Mr. English believes he can improve his students’ per- formance if he can make the correct adjust- ments to his teaching practices. As Mr. English analyzes his teaching


practices, he comes to an important aware- ness: at the beginning of his lessons he ef- fectively establishes a clear learning goal and skillfully activates his students’ prior knowledge – but he doesn’t use those strate- gies consistently. Some days, he notes, “I just jump into the lesson.” Mr. English accepts that his students are unlikely to show much improvement until he becomes more disci- plined about using these two strategies when he begins his lessons. Mr. English could, of course, come to


many alternate conclusions about the open- ing stage of his lessons; however, if he con- tinues to do what he’s doing, he has no rea- son to anticipate significant improvement in his students’ performance.


3.


Based on the evidence, what will I begin to do (that I haven’t done


before)? There will be times following the reflec-


tion process that the teacher concludes she is using ineffective strategies, and making adjustments to those strategies will not sig- nificantly affect student learning. She realizes that she must use strategies


she has not used before. For example, stat- ing a clear learning objective and activating students’ prior knowledge have not been a priority for her. She typically begins her les- sons by saying, “OK, it’s time to get to work” or “Open your book to page 43” or “We’re going to begin today where we ended yester- day.” There are many possible reasons for this


situation: • She doesn’t appreciate the value of the


opening portion of a lesson. • She doesn’t feel she can allot time to an


10 Leadership


opening because she must teach too much curriculum. • She doesn’t know how to plan and de-


liver the opening part of a lesson. • She isn’t encouraged or expected to pro-


vide an effective opening stage for her les- sons. • She doesn’t believe the benefits (impact


on learning) outweigh the costs (time com- mitment).


To establish a culture of continuous improvement at your school, you – the principal – will have to instill a standard of practice in which your teachers are motivated to regularly question the impact of their instructional practices.


Scenario: The eighth grade colonial diary Ms. History, an eighth-grade American


history teacher, is disappointed with the results of her students’ performance on the “colonial diary,” a month-long project for their study of the American colonies. Stu- dents in all five of her classes generally failed to demonstrate the critical thinking skills she expected to see: the ability to synthesize information, describe problems and propose solutions, make comparisons and sum- marize in a clear and concise manner. The question she asked herself: What can I do the next time I make this assignment to increase the likelihood that my students will exhibit more advanced critical thinking? After reviewing her teaching strategies,


Ms. History concludes that her students’ poor performance is at least partially due to the fact that she does very little to prepare them for the material to be covered in their lessons. She usually begins lessons by saying, “Today we’re going to work on …” and then moves into the lesson. This routine, she ac- cepts, is not helping her students retain, re- call and apply what she has taught them.


Ms. History recognizes that if she in-


tends to improve her students’ performance on the colonial diary, she must begin her lessons in a new and different way – by es- tablishing a clear learning goal and helping her students see the connection between what they already know and the targeted learning. She understands that if she con- tinues to do what she is currently doing, it is unlikely that next year’s students will do any better on the colonial diary than this year’s students. Sometimes, doing things differently isn’t enough; you have to do dif- ferent things.


4.


Based on the evidence, what will I stop doing?


In some circumstances the evidence


leads the teacher to accept that he is using strategies that simply aren’t working – they don’t promote student learning and, in some cases, impede student progress. If he intends to improve his students’ performance, it is necessary to eliminate practices that have proven to be ineffective.


Scenario: The biology report card grades Mr. Science, a high school biology


teacher, is disappointed by his fall semester report card grades: only 64 percent of his 168 students received a grade of C or higher. He realizes that if he continues to do what he is currently doing, he has no reason to think the spring semester grades will be any better than the fall semester grades. He asks him- self, “What can I do to increase the percent- age of students who receive at least a grade of C?” Mr. Science tries to maximize lab time,


which he schedules at least twice per week. To ensure that students have sufficient time to complete their labs during the class pe- riod, the day before the lab he devotes the final few minutes of each class period to a preview of the following day’s lab. During the “lab preview” Mr. Science


explains the learning goal and the lab’s con- nection to previous learning. He also de- scribes the procedures, potential problems, necessary equipment, safety concerns and requirements of the assignment. As a result of the preview, he expects his students to get to work as soon as they enter the classroom the following day.


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