Assessing Student Learning

As a principal I always enjoyed the opportunity to visit classrooms for informal as well as formal observations. They allowed me to gain a better understanding of our students and their learning. Part of every classroom visit was a brief conversation with students about their learning.

A friend of mine, Clifford Weber, Superintendent in Bloomfield, New Mexico does something similar. He has three questions he asks of students and says that "The answers tell you a lot about students' experiences in schools."

• "What are you doing?"
• "How are you doing with it?"
• "Why are you doing it?"

While in Bloomfield he worked with the staff to turn these questions into opportunity for student reflection and self-assessment during lessons. Teachers also asked "What do you already know about a [a topic]?" and "When are you going to use it?" The questions became a routine part of class and helped students connect their current lesson with past learning and future application.

I'd be interested in hearing from you about what you look for when observing in classrooms and how your teachers provide opportunities for students to reflect on their learning.

A New Look at Classroom Observations

As a principal I always struggled to balance the legal requirement to observe teachers and write evaluations with the desire to engage teachers in thoughtful conversation about their teaching. I'm always looking for new ways to accomplish that task.

In The Principalship from A to Z I describe a three-step process that you can use to promote teacher growth. It includes a planning or pre-observation conference, the observation itself, and a post-observation conference. A suggested process and prompts are included in Chapter "Q."

A recent article in Educational Leadership (Dec 2010/Jan 2011) provided another way to engage in really thoughtful feedback and support. Jenne Calasacco, a principal in Hyde Park, MA schedules a week of observations. It provides an extended observation over the course of a week and a set of conferences with the teacher. While my initial reaction was the challenge of allotting so much time to a single teacher, I'm persuaded that such a structure provides a more complete look at the teaching process and how the teacher monitors and adjusts their work.

I'd enjoy hearing from you about how you provide teachers with meaningful feedback about their work and how you engage them in thoughtful conversation about ways to refine and strengthen their teaching.