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Developing A Problem of Practice - Protocol

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22 views2 pages

Developing A Problem of Practice - Protocol

Uploaded by

boninevalerie
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Developing a “Problem of Practice”

The Problem of Practice is intended to focus the attention of the school on an instructional
challenge that you care about and believe that addressing would lead to meaningful
improvements in the instructional core. Focus questions are designed to guide the Instructional
Rounds visit. They should address specific aspects of the instructional core on which you would
want observational data to help you understand your Problem of Practice.

School identifies a problem of practice that:

 focuses on the instructional core,


 is directly observable,
 is actionable,
 connects to a broader strategy of improvement, and
 is high-leverage

Examples adapted from Lee Teitel’s book (2013), School-based Instructional Rounds:
Improving Teaching and Learning Across Classrooms

Example 1:

Problem of Practice:
On the state assessment, most students are passing, but only half the students are in the proficient
category, with few in advanced. Data analysis shows that across content areas students are
scoring lower on open-ended questions than short-answer or multiple-choice questions, which is
consistent with what teachers notice on class work. Students struggle with independently
articulating their thinking and applying their learning in new contexts.

Focus questions:
What is the task?
In what ways do you see students articulating their thinking orally or in writing?

Example 2:

Problem of Practice:
Students’ weak writing skills prompted us to take a close look at writing instruction. Visiting
classrooms, we found that writing is being taught “in stealth.” Students write, the teacher reads
their work and may or may not give feedback, and students may or may not respond to this
feedback. We agreed as a staff to engage students in more writing and have students share their
work with their peers more. We have also engaged in PD about teaching writing.
Focus questions:
What are the writing strategies that students use across content areas?
What is the evidence that students are thinking critically about their own writing and their peers’
writing?

Example 3:

Problem of Practice:
Students are having trouble comprehending academic information and successfully using the
information they have learned, through reading and other activities, to complete assigned work
that requires them to apply their learning in more demanding ways than remembering. We think
that students’ weak understanding of academic vocabulary is making it more difficult for them to
apply their learning. We have conducted several trainings to encourage students to use academic
vocabulary in class.

Focus questions:
What strategies are teachers using to help students learn and use academic vocabulary in class?
How are students using academic vocabulary during literacy (reading/writing/speaking)?

Example 4:

Problem of Practice:
Seventy percent of our students in special education did not pass the state test last year. In
particular, they did not do well in the open-ended questions in both math and English language
arts. In many cases, they left those problems blank. We may not be providing these students with
enough practice on open-ended questions. We may be providing too much assistance so that
when they have to tackle these prompts on their own, they do not know where to start.

Focus questions:
What kinds of tasks are students being asked to do?
What are the different ways you see students being assigned work in class?

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