Guide for Conducting a Ghost Walk

During The Walk Through

The group should spend about 5 to 7 minutes in each classroom. They should look for concrete evidence of the implementation of the instructional practice by following the list of what to look for. Teachers should discuss what they observed in front of the host teacher from the room, but must remember that the discussions are to promote their own understanding – not to critique the host teacher. The host teacher’s role is to listen, but not try to defend or explain. He/She will have the opportunity to share something that is going well and may help others.

The role of the facilitator for each group - is to keep everyone focused on providing specific feedback based on observable evidence. Group members must refrain from making excuses for the lack of positive evidence, and/or from making judgmental statements or statements that are not based on observable evidence. It is very important that the facilitator remind group members to stick to the list of what they are looking for and not veer off on their own interests. Responses such as the following may help keep your group on track and provide the most useful data after the Walk:

“What is the specific evidence you saw that supports that statement, or were you just speculating? Please remember we’re only listing what we actually saw, not trying to make excuses for what we didn’t see. This is just about a snapshot in time – that’s why we go to different rooms to find a pattern. It’s not about evaluating this individual teacher at all.”

“Let’s all try to avoid using ‘I liked...’, or ‘I didn’t like…’ to preface our evidence statements; what’s important is describing what we saw, not how we feel about it.”

“Please try to help me see how that (evidence statement or question) connects with of what we are looking for. It may be an important issue for you, but remember that we are trying to focus only on the one target today.”

After The Walk Through

After visiting the classrooms, members would gather together for a short debrief of the process, sharing their overall impressions from the walk, any specific ideas they will be taking away and any patterns that emerged.

Identify any follow-up or next steps the group may be taking based on the information processed during the Ghost Walk.

At the next ILT meeting members can share overall impressions of the individual Ghost Walks and any next steps the teams chose.