Leadership Innovations Team

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Student Learning Protocol in Action: A Case Study

Posted July 14th, 2009 in Strategies, Success Stories

Earlier this month I had the opportunity to catch up with Mitch Richards, a 4th Grade teacher at John Campbell Elementary in Selah School District about a program that they have been developing called the John Campbell Instructional Learning Cohort (JCILC).

The cohort is a grassroots movement by a group of teachers, led by Richards, who decided to take professional development into their own hands by coming up with a structure to benefit from observing one another. The tool of choice? Our recently developed Student Learning Protocol.

Richards was inspired after doing an observation a few years back: “It was an overwhelming learning experience for myself to be able to watch another classroom and then reflect back on my own teaching practices – and that really started the interest in observing and learning from each other.”

What Richards realized, was that in order for observations to be successful, there were a number of essential things that had to come together. They needed a simple and straightforward tool to guide the focus, as well as a good group of teachers who were willing to risk, trust, and share what they were doing.

The group decided that each time they met they would go over one of the six indicators (positive behavior, aligned instruction, student engagement, student-centered instruction, student assessment for learning, and assessment of learning). Cohort meetings followed a similar process each time:

1. Introduce the indicator
2. Reflect with partner
3. Talk with whole group about it

The structure allowed teachers a “safe” structure for posing questions (with a partner) and then leveraged the knowledge of the group as a whole through sharing at the end of the session. It encouraged deep reflection and collaboration.

That was the start, but the JCILC took things one step further. The group then agreed to periodically give up their planning time in order to be able to go observe each other. They’re initiative impressed administration, who believed so strongly in what the teachers were doing that they went so far as to watch teacher classrooms in order to free up even more of their time for observation.

Indeed, Richards noted that support from leadership was absolutely key in their success as they moved the program forward. Administration’s willingness to sit down with them at meetings and to discuss how things were going to look and how the implementation would take shape was a critical driver as the program moved forward: “Without leadership support the school is most likely going to fail.”

The group worked in carefully selected pairs (chemistry and trust between the two individuals was paramount) and rotated three times, so each person got a chance to work with and observe three different people.

Measuring Results

They were keen to measure the effectiveness of their efforts so that they could use outcome-based decision making to determine next steps, make changes where necessary, and evaluate the impact of their program. As part of a Master’s Study, Richard’s has been analyzing the survey data of pre and post groups to compare results between teachers who had participated and those who had not.

He’ll apply a multivariate formula to analyze the data to see if the work was effective. This phase of evaluation isn’t yet complete, but we’re excited to see what the results have to say.

What the Teachers’ are Saying

The response to the JCILC has been overwhelming.  Teachers find that being able to work with teachers in different grade levels greatly enhances their instruction. There typically aren’t many chances for them to cross those lines, and the affect in the past has been isolating. Getting out, getting together, and getting into other classrooms has been energizing, eye-opening, and inspiring.

What’s Next?

Richards and team have discussed implementing a kind of “Tier Two” level in which teachers from last year’s program do more peer coaching and more looking at planning lessons together and helping out other teachers. By building internal capacity this way, the group can spread the impact and reach even more educators within their school.

They also have plans to arrange to get teachers out of their own buildings and into new spaces.  The act of entering others’ classrooms was so powerful that the group believes going into an entirely new building will only amplify the effect. “As classroom teachers we’re very isolated… Just having teachers get used to the ideas of opening up their classrooms and sharing ideas is pretty huge”

They’re lobbying to get funds to increase and expand on the groundwork that’s been laid down so far.

“There’s really a lot you can do with it.” Richards explains, “It will be about looking at what’s working and what we should do next.”

In the end, Richards reminded me, it’s really about what you bring to the table. “You get out of it what you put in. You have to really reflect on what you’re seeing and apply it to your own practice.”

We’ll be following the progress of the JCILC with continued interest and will report back periodically with updates about this innovative, inspiring program at Thelah School District.