How does instructional rounds work?

Instructional Rounds is based on the book, "Instructional Rounds in Education".

The idea behind it is that everyone is involved in working on their practice, everyone is obliged to be knowledgeable about a common task of instructional improvement, and everyone’s practice should be subject to scrutiny, critique and improvement. 

It is a different kind of professional learning, a more effective way of collecting data to inform practice, and a different kind of networking based on challenge and support.

What is the theory behind Instructional Rounds?

Instructional Rounds is based on a theory explained in the book by City et al.  Fundamental is the construct of "the instructional core" shown in the diagram opposite.  There are 7 principles of the instructional core. They are:
  1. Increases in student learning occur as a consequence of improvements in the level of content, teachers' knowledge and skill, and student engagement.
  2. If you change any single element of the instructional core, you have to change the other two.
  3. If you can't see it in the core, it's not there
  4. Task predicts performance
  5. The real accountability is in the tasks students are asked to do
  6. We learn to do the work by doing the work
  7. Description before analysis, analysis before prediction, prediction before evaluation.
Our network has frequently used a short extract from chapter 1 of IR in E to orient new members to the theory.  A link is found opposite.

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Overview of Instructional Rounds

 This presentation developed by our network highlights the theory behind rounds, the steps in the process, and the benefits we've found. Click here to download ​

What happens during Instructional Rounds? 


Each round follows a set process:
  1. The host school identifies a problem of practice related to student learning.
  2. Our network members engage in professional learning to explore best practice.
  3. There are 20-minute classroom observations without judgement.
  4. In debrief session, we look for patterns and develop findings based on our evidence.
  5. Our network members propose recommendations for the host school for the next level of work.

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Why Instructional Rounds?

Instructional Rounds is about instructional leadership:
​In this short video, one school leader describes the way that using instructional rounds has transformed her leadership.
The following short reading is an edited summary of  "Learning from Instructional Rounds" by Elizabeth City.  It's a great reading to orient teachers and leaders to instructional rounds. Download the document here: learning_from_ir_edited.pdf

For more information, go to the following pages:

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