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What are Instructional Rounds?
According to the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Instructional rounds–a practice adapted to education from the field of medicine–offers a structure for educators to work together to identify and solve common problems related to learning and teaching. The model has been used within schools, across schools, and across districts to raise the quality of instruction for all students. The instructional rounds process provides a disciplined, collaborative way for schools and districts to:
diagnose learning needs for students and educators
focus on and improve learning tasks
develop a shared vision of high-quality teaching and learning
Instructional Rounds Process:
MBLC schools that would like to utilize Instructional Rounds for shared learning and goal setting should follow this process to prepare for the rounds:
School leaders/MBLC team & MBLC coach discuss the Instructional Rounds process and decide who should be involved/invited. In general, it is best to issue a general invitation to all staff in the building and involve as many people as possible. This is a really powerful process for non-classroom staff to be included in.
Identify how the rounds will be completed. It is important that everyone who participates have a chance to be a part of the debrief and discussion process. Here are two options for how a series of rounds could be scheduled:
Option 1: This option is best for schools with teaching blocks that are at least 70 minutes long. Identify a day when rounds will take place. Invite interested staff to sign up for a block. Allow people to either choose a block when they have a prep, or provide a substitute if they choose a block when they teach. Within each block of the day, convene the group that has signed up for that block in a classroom. Review the look-fors and the guiding questions, then visit 4-5 classrooms for about 10 minutes. each. Then return to the classroom where you started and follow the debrief instructions below. At the end of this process, notes from all debriefs can be shared with the MBLC team/ leadership team.
Option 2: Identify a period of a week or two when rounds will take place. Convene all volunteers for about 15-20 minutes prior to that time to review the look-fors and the guiding questions. Then ask everyone to visit at least three classrooms for at least 10 minutes each at some time over the designated time period, taking good notes. At the end of the two week period, convene all the teachers who participated to engage in the debrief described below. At the end of this process, notes from all debriefs can be shared with the MBLC team/ leadership team.
In advance of the instructional rounds, the MBLC team should choose a focus area and print the associated note-catcher for each participant.
On the day of the rounds, remind people of the central guiding questions and have them review the specific look-fors. A good set of guiding questions is:
What assets and strengths do we have in these areas?
What areas of focus should we work on?
Conduct rounds with a focus on these questions. As you visit classrooms, stay long enough to get a good sense of what is happening in the room. Look for focus areas, but also try to make many non-evaluative observations about what the teachers and students are doing - how time is being spent. Use the note catcher to record observations. This part of the process could be completed within one instructional block, with the participants all splitting up to observe three or four classrooms for approximately 5-10 minutes each. The observations should read like non-judgmental descriptions of what is happening: “students are engaged in reading a source,” “the teacher is circulating among students.” “three students have their heads down on the desk.” “There are posters of scientists from many backgrounds on the walls.”
Once the rounds have been completed, come back together to discuss and share notes and observations.
Use this debrief protocol (below) to guide the discussion:What did we observe? (10-12 minutes)
A notetaker at the whiteboard should make a simple T-chart, with “Students” on one side and “teachers” on the other. Then go around and have people share observations until all observations are noted on the board, with check marks indicating where one thing was observed in multiple places.Discuss: What patterns do we see in the observations? What can we infer? (10 minutes)
The notetaker should make another T chart, this one labelled “Assets” & Opportunities (or labelled in a way that connects with the group’s guiding questions.). The notetaker should note people’s interpretations of the observations in this chart. What patterns do they see in terms of strengths in the school? What patterns indicate areas where attention is needed?Discuss: (15 minutes)
What reflections did today bring up for you about your own practice?
What moves are you thinking about making based on what you saw?
What reflections did today bring up for you about our school as a whole?
What priorities should we be focusing on?
In the days or weeks after the rounds, participants should create a short (3-5 minute) presentation or draft an email to share with colleagues about the experience and their central takeaways or action steps. Include reflections about the process - to what extent was it a worthwhile use of time and what could we tweak to make it better?
Instructional Rounds Focus Areas for CRS MBL:
Click the links below to find notecatchers with look-fors in each area
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