I was having a discussion with a principal who was talking about the classroom walkthroughs that her district leadership was emphasizing. She asked my help with a concept and I in turn am asking Leadertalk bloggers and readers. Here’s the question (I’ll outline the context below the question)
What do you look for when you are making your classroom walkthroughs?
Here’s the context. Her district has a prescribed methodology for conducting walkthroughs. I know there are multiple different rubrics and methodologies for conducting walkthroughs. I am certain that there are disciples and evangelists for each and I am not asking the question to start a debate on the advantages and disadvantages of each model. I am curious about what you look for in a classroom? What do you see that you believe has the greatest impact on student learning for all students that you can observe, see, and measure?
By the same token, what are some indicators that you pay attention to inside your school that give you a sense of what is happening in your school? These indicators give you a sense of what is working and not working (kind of like the old story of the canary in the coal mine...)
So I’m curious as to what you consider your leading indicators for your school? What are those data that you pay attention to to see if your school is on track or needs a swift and gentle course correction?
Chris Hitch
[cross-posted at the old LeaderTalk blog (including comments)]