Key Elements of Observing Practice

Based on the bestselling book Data Wise: A Step-by-Step Guide to Using Assessment Results to Improve Teaching and Learning, and its companion volume, Data Wise in Action, this DVD and Facilitator's Guide offer insight into one of the most challenging steps in capturing data about school performance: observing and analyzing instructional practice. A central premise of the Data Wise approach is that teams of educators must have a good understanding of what instruction looks like in order to improve it. The most direct approach to developing this collective knowledge is to have teachers observe one another's practice. However, many schools do not have a collegial culture in which examining instruction feels supportive rather than threatening, and most teachers do not have the skills to describe teaching in a fine-grained, evidence-based way.