Instructional Rounds

What is instructional rounds?

Instructional rounds or a 'round':

  • has been adapted from the medical rounds model that doctors use in hospitals

  • has become increasingly popular in schools - help educators look closely at what is happening in classrooms in a systematic, purposeful and focused way

  • is an organised observational visit through a school’s classrooms and learning areas to collect objective evidence about how well teaching improvement efforts are being implemented school-wide and how the implementation is impacting on student learning

"Instructional Rounds involve a collaborative group of leaders/teachers visiting multiple classrooms at one school to gather data on a ‘problem of practice’. The group works together to identify patterns and build a picture of teaching and learning across the school, leading to recommendations for improvement" (AITSL, 2015)

A typical 'round'

A typical ‘round’ involves small groups of educators/administrators visiting one or a handful of classrooms and making observations for a set duration (usually not the whole lesson) on a specific aspect of teaching. Observers then debrief using descriptive evidence rather than judgements, with the observed (host) teachers’ participation optional.

Themes are identified with the aim of improving individual pedagogical practices among those present and/or identifying broader themes for school-wide improvement. Importantly, IR may be used to support the development of collaborative communities, especially when the same grouping is kept for repeated rounds (Goodwin et al., 2015; Marzano, 2011).

How do you do instructional rounds?

The different steps to undertaking a 'round' are to:

  • assemble a Network

  • define the Problem of Practice

  • observe in Classrooms

  • Debrief:

    • Describe

    • Analyze

    • Predict

  • identify the Next Level of Work

Assemble a network

  • networks typically range from 8 to 30 members

  • can be composed of peers or be cross-functional groups

  • the same group meets over time, giving members the opportunity to build a trusting, respectful community that pushes itself hard and develops a common language and understanding of learning and teaching

Define the 'Problem of Practice'

The 'problem of practice' or focus for the 'round' should be:

  • something the school cares about and wants to understand more deeply

  • observable and actionable - connects to a broader strategy of improvement

Conducting a 'round'

  • groups conducting rounds are best kept small - the network divides into small groups of approx. 3 to 5

  • each group typically visits 4 classrooms, staying 20–25 minutes in each

  • with the focus areas identified, observing teachers record what they see - observers gather descriptive data guided by focus questions related to the ‘problem of practice’

  • the ‘problem of practice’ acts as a filter - observers focus on this rather than all the things that are happening in the classroom - observing teachers take notes on teacher behaviors that relate to the observation focus areas

  • observers don't chat about what they saw or what they thought about what they saw - they save that for the formal debrief

Debrief

The debriefing protocol moves in steps from description to analysis to prediction & leads participants into identifying the next level of work.

Identifying the next level of work

Taking into account all the evidence, network members consider:

  • What do we now understand about this ‘stuck place’?

  • What new knowledge and skills might teachers need, and how might the school support that learning?

  • How can the school focus its energy and resources to make progress on the ‘problem of practice’