in a manner that honors the time and energy that your hard-working, well-intentioned teachers have invested in their teaching, while simultaneously encouraging them to evaluate the results of their practices and then to consider modifying those practices or adopting new practices. It is also impor- tant to distinguish between improving and making changes – schools have a long his- tory of making changes while not necessar- ily getting better results. The Overarching Question will help you


generate results-based ref lection, insight- ful decision-making, increasingly effective instructional practices and improved stu- dent outcomes. This question can be used with all grade levels, subjects and teachers, various forms of data, and at many different points of the school year, such as the begin- ning, mid-point and end of the school year; the end of a grading period; and after the completion of a lesson, unit of study, period of instruction or special project.


Four Essential Questions for Continuous Improvement


The Overarching Question for Continu-


ous Improvement is an indispensable tool for the principal: it helps you create a mind- set, an environment and a standard of prac- tice in which teachers continually evaluate the impact of their instruction. The goal is to identify strategies that increase the like- lihood that students will retain, recall and apply what they have been taught, and, con- versely, identify strategies that decrease the likelihood that students will retain, recall and apply what they have been taught. To create this kind of culture, you must


understand that there are four ways to think about the change process: people decide to continue to do what they’re doing; people decide to continue to do what they’re doing, but make adjustments; people decide to do something new; or people decide to stop doing something they are doing. Combining these four kinds of change


with the Overarching Question provides us with Four Essential Questions for Con- tinuous Improvement. These Four Essential Questions — similar to the Overarching Question — can be applied in many situa- tions, as previously noted.


The Four Essential Questions: n Based on the evidence, what


will I continue to do? n Based on the evidence, what


will I continue to do, but do more consistently and/or more effec- tively? n Based on the evidence, what


will I begin to do (that I haven’t done before)? n Based on the evidence, what will I stop doing?


Scenario: The fourth grade math test Ms. Math, a fourth-grade teacher, be-


lieves that her students’ strong performance on the Unit Two math test – 86 percent of her students scored “proficient” or higher – is partially due to the way she begins her math lessons: she consistently establishes a clear learning goal for the lesson and acti- vates her students’ prior knowledge about the lesson. Ms. Math finds that a clear learning


goal helps her students focus on the criti- cal points of the lesson, monitor their own progress, pose important questions, identify points of misunderstanding and ask for spe- cific assistance when they have difficulties. Activating prior knowledge, she believes,


makes new information and processes less threatening, more familiar and more easily accessible; builds her students’ self-confi- dence; and promotes more effective learn- ing, as it helps students integrate new learn- ing into their existing knowledge bank and skill set. She also finds that a clear learning goal and an appreciation of her students’ prior knowledge helps her plan and deliver more effective lessons. Ms. Math concludes that these strategies


are critical to her students’ ability to retain, recall and apply math concepts and pro- cesses. Consequently, she elects to continue to do what she is currently doing during the opening stage of her lessons.


Applying the Four Essential Questions The Four Essential Questions appear to


be self-explanatory; however, to use them ef- fectively some discussion and examples are required. Sample scenarios will emphasize two research-based strategies for opening a lesson in an effective manner: providing clear learning goals for the lesson (Daniel- son, 2007); and activating the students’ prior knowledge about the lesson (Goodwin and Hubbell, 2013).


1.


Based on the evidence, what will I continue to do?


In some circumstances the teacher de-


cides to continue to do what she is doing. Her decision indicates she is happy with the evidence, determines the results are related to the strategies she is using, and is applying those strategies consistently and effectively.


2.


Based on the evidence, what will I continue to do, but do more consis-


tently and/or more effectively? There are instances when the teacher is


not completely satisfied with the evidence, but the results are good enough that he thinks he is “on the right track” and using sound strategies. The challenge for him is to identify the adjustments that are neces- sary to improve his students’ learning. If he continues to do what he is currently doing, he has no reason to believe he will see better results. To make the correct adjustments, he


needs to ask himself three questions: 1. Do I need to use these strategies more


consistently? 2. Do I need to use these strategies more


effectively? January/February 2014 9


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