IDR Assessment of Schoolwide Achievement Best Teaching Practices 
 

Essential Element 4:
Learn and Use
Best Teaching Practices

The fourth essential element for Whole School Improvement is to learn the best teaching practices of other educators and use them in daily classroom instruction.

 

 

The school's level of accomplishment in learning and using best teaching practices will be assessed in the following indicators (areas):

 

1. Prevalence The degree to which teachers effectively use the agreed upon standards-driven, research-based practices across all grade levels, subjects and programmatic areas.

2. Impact on Achievement The degree to which the school has made substantial progress on the Stanford, MCAS and Formative Assessment Goals.

3. Sustainability The degree to which Peer Coaching is institutionalized as a routine practice throughout the school.

 

 Accomplishment in each indicator will be scored as follows:

Level 1 = Little or No Accomplishment

Level 2 = Some Accomplishment

Level 3 = Substantial Accomplishment

Level 4 = Outstanding Accomplishment

 

 (cllick on each indicator below for more information)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Expectations for Planning: Best Teaching Practices
  • School collaboratively chooses a model that is research based and aligned with the standards for implementing best practices across all grades and programmatic areas.
  • Planning outlines clear expectations for all staff and parents/community to learn and use best instructional practices.
  • Planning explicitly focuses on eliminating teacher isolation through inter-class/cross-school visits and peer coaching.
  • Identification and selection of a best practices model is explicitly linked to information about students’ learning needs, work, and performance

 

Expectations for Implementation: Best Teachng Practices
  • Principal visits classrooms regularly and provides supervision, support, and feedback to promote effective teaching
  • Instructional staff provide skillful, content rich, and engaging instruction based on continuous assessment and review of student work.
  • Instructional staff engage in inter-class/cross-school visits and peer coaching
  • Protected structured time is provided for implementing best practices and peer coaching
  • Modeling, classroom demonstrations, and pre and post conferencing are on-going in the school.

 

 

 

The following evidence must be included in each school's portfolio addressing their accomplishment in Using and Learning Best Teaching Practices

  1. Whole School Improvement Plan (WISP)
  2. Summative Data (Stanford Nine and MCAS)
  3. Formative Assessment Data (multiple years)
  4. Coach's Schedule

 

 

 

 

 

Prevalence The degree to which teachers effectively use the agreed upon standards-driven, research-based practices across all grade levels, subjects and programmatic areas.

Questions to Answer for the Visiting Team

The following are questions each school should be prepared to answer for the Visiting Teams addressing accomplishment of this area of Essential 4:

1. What is the evidence that the instructional practice is implemented in most classrooms?

2. What is the evidence that the staff have been adequately and appropriately trained to employ the instructional practice in their classrooms?

3. Have all or the majority of teachers fully mastered the strategies embedded in the instructional theory?

4. To what degree can teachers across all programs explain the rationale for the instructional practices or model that they use?

5. How are teachers employing the instructional theory to suit the needs of their students?

6. What is the evidence that the instrustional theory is being successfully implemented throughout the school?

 

 Outcome Rubrics for Ranking School Accomplishment

Visiting Teams will use the following rubric to assess the accomplishment in this area of Essential #4:

 

Prevalence

 

Little or No
Accomplishment

(Level 1)

 

Some Accomplishment

(Level 2)

 

Substantial
Accomplishment

(Level 3)

 

Outstanding
Accomplishment

(Level 4)

• Teachers are aware that there is an agreed upon standards-driven, research-based instructional strategy, but have yet to put it into practice.

• Few teachers effectively use the agreed upon standards-driven, research-based practices across all grade levels

• Majority of teachers effectively use the agreed upon standards-driven, research-based practices across all grade levels, subjects, and programmatic areas

• Majority of teachers are using the agreed upon instructional practice effectively and are considering ways to integrate strengths from other research-based instructional models to better suit the needs of their students.

 

Impact on Achievement The degree to which the school has made substantial progress on the Stanford, MCAS and Formative Assessment Goals.

Questions to Answer for the Visiting Team

The following are questions each school should be prepared to answer for the Visiting Teams addressing accomplishment of this area of Essential 4:

1. What progress has been made on the Stanford-9?

2. What progress has been made on the MCAS?

3. What progress has been made on the Formative Assessment Goals?

4. What are the patterns of progress made across the different grade levels?

5. What are the patterns of progress made across the different assessment tools?

 

 Outcome Rubrics for Ranking School Accomplishment

Visiting Teams will use the following rubric to assess the accomplishment in this area of Essential #4:

 

 

Impact on Achievement

 

Little or No
Accomplishment

(Level 1)

 

Some Accomplishment

(Level 2)

 

Substantial
Accomplishment

(Level 3)

 

Outstanding
Accomplishment

(Level 4)

School has made some progress toward achieving the Stanford, MCAS, and Formative Assessment Goals.

School has made substantial progress on a limited number of its Stanford, MCAS, or Formative Assessment Goals

School has made substantial progress on most its Stanford, MCAS, or Formative Assessment Goals

School has met all of its Stanford, MCAS, or Formative Assessment Goals, as well as made substantial progress on the remaining goals

 
Sustainability The degree to which Peer Coaching is institutionalized as a routine practice throughout the school.

Questions to Answer for the Visiting Team

The following are questions each school should be prepared to answer for the Visiting Teams addressing accomplishment of this area of Essential 4:

1. How does Peer Coaching operate in the school?

2. Who does the Peer Coaching?

3. Is there time in the schedule that allows teachers to meet and reflect collaboratively on their practice?

 

 

 Outcome Rubrics for Ranking School Accomplishment

Visiting Teams will use the following rubric to assess the accomplishment in this area of Essential #4:

 

 

Sustainability

 

Little or No
Accomplishment

(Level 1)

 

Some Accomplishment

(Level 2)

 

Substantial
Accomplishment

(Level 3)

 

Outstanding
Accomplishment

(Level 4)

Peer Coaching is utilized by a few teachers in the school

Peer Coaching is utilized by most of the teachers in the school.

Peer Coaching is institutionalized as a routine practice throughout the school.

 

 

Peer Coaching is institutionalized as a routine practice and used very effectively throughout the school to improve classroom practice.

 

Essential 5