by Alicia Moore
In this season of MAP, EOCs, and other end-of-year assessments, we’re keenly aware of one way our success can be measured: test scores. However, you might agree that these tests offer only a partial picture of what makes an excellent teacher. While our students’ outcomes matter deeply, educators also crave feedback about the daily interactions that truly shape the impact they have on students’ lives. Ideally, this feedback would be offered in the context of trust, respect, and a spirit of approval.
Enter Learning Specialists.
While we are strictly non-evaluative, our role exists in part to provide teachers and leaders with ongoing, confidential feedback. How, you ask? Through nonjudgmental data.
Teachers constantly reflect on their own practice through student responses, their perceptions in the moment, and student work. However, sometimes another set of eyes--a research assistant, so to speak--can uncover information that would otherwise go unexamined. Whether you’re wondering what might be causing a certain student’s outbursts or how clear your spoken instructions are, nonjudgmental data can allow you to discover possible answers to your questions. A planning conversation with your learning specialist allows you to determine specific data to be collected. Once that data is captured, a reflecting conversation allows you to construct new learning and commit it to application.
Here are a few examples of the type of data that might help you to assess your own practice:
Time-on-task charts that track individual students’ behavior
Scripting the instructions you give to launch an activity
Recording student responses to teacher questions
A classroom map that tracks your movement around the space
A video that captures student activity while you meet with a small group
The possibilities are endless! The philosophy behind this approach is simply this: knowledge is power. The more you know, the better you can be for the students you serve each day.
Ideas based on Costa, A. L. & Garmston, R. J. (2016). Cognitive Coaching: Developing self-directed leaders and learners. Lenham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.