The Change We Cannot See: Instructional Quality and Classroom Observation in the Era of Common Core

Abstract

The adoption of “College and Career Ready” standards—including Common Core State Standards—aims to raise academic expectations for students nationwide. Meeting these outcomes requires shifts in teaching, which, in turn, requires developing measures for the observation, assessment, and support of new kinds of instruction. This essay focuses on our efforts to develop such measures in a research project conducted in the District of Columbia Public Schools, which raised fundamental questions about whether existing measures can meet this challenge. By emphasizing observable elements of individual lessons, current measures produce a restricted view of instructional quality, omitting crucial elements of instruction called forth by new standards. Having identified this disconnect, we offer suggestions for developing multi-measure systems to capture a fuller picture of standards aligned teaching.

Measuring Teaching Practices at Scale: A Novel Application of Text-as-Data Methods

“…For school leaders, there is also enormous potential upside to having such automated metrics about instruction. Allocating time to observing and scoring can also limit the time for providing teachers feedback on their instruction, which might be most instrumental in driving improvement (Cohen et al, 2020; E. S. Taylor & Tyler, 2012).…”

“…Despite these conceptual differences, all observation rubrics are predicated on the notion that “good teaching” is something one can see in a classroom. This focus on visible features of classroom interactions, readily observable by trained viewers, inherently limits the scope of understanding (Cohen et al, 2020). Classrooms are busy, social places, rich with discourse between students, as well as between a teacher and students.…”

“…Even if the data are representative, the feedback afforded by a summary of multiple classroom observations is often neither nuanced nor specific enough for teachers to improve their instruction in individual lessons, particularly as instructional needs may also fluctuate over time (Muijs et al, 2018). Moreover, traditional observational methods rely on the fundamental assumption that “good teaching” is characterized by visible features of instruction (Cohen et al, 2020; Kane & Staiger, 2012). There may well be less readily observable aspects of teaching that could provide valuable formative information for teachers, coaches, and school leaders about patterns of interaction or dialogue in classrooms.…”

The Convergence of Emotionally Supportive Learning Environments and College and Career Ready Mathematical Engagement in Upper Elementary Classrooms

“…The first, the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS), is a widely used content-generic tool that captures different dimensions of classroom interactions (Hamre & Pianta, 2005). The second, the Instructional Practice Research Tool for Mathematics (IPRT-M), is a Common Core aligned mathematics-specific observation tool developed for the project (Cohen et al, 2020).…”

“…These data are drawn from a larger study of content-focused professional development in DCPS (Cohen et al, 2020). The study included a volunteer sample of 49 third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade mathematics teachers from 23 schools (see Table 1 for information on sample).…”