“The educational field is lacking a common language/model of instruction to describe effective teaching. Having a model in which everybody talks about teaching in the same way communicates a message that ‘we are serious about good teaching’”

Robert Marzano

DOMAIN / DESCRIPTION of SUCCESS CRITERIA
1a-f / Teacher develops powerful core curriculum that ensures a guaranteed and viable curriculum: examine, discuss, and prioritize standards, create and plan learning targets, create success criteria/scales, common formative assessments, and learning tasks aligned to the level of rigor of the standard. The unit is defined as an instructional period of time or every 4 weeks. Teacher uses pre-assessments at the beginning of the month to help plan for instruction and recognize gaps in student learning.
1a, 1b, 1f / Teacher uses data to inform instruction and answers the 4 PLC questions: 1) What did we want students to learn? 2) How do we know if they learned it? 3) What will we do for the students who did not learn it? 4) What will we do to enrich and extend the learning for students who learned it? Teams use the data to plan for re-teaching, reengagement during a flex block, or more time during college prep. Pre-assessments are administered and analyzed at the beginning of every month.
1a-f / Teacher lesson plans are created daily and aligned to the monthly unit maps. Lesson plans have time frames, are aligned to high-leverage teaching strategies, and have clear structure. Double plans are created- if needed. Teacher plans to maximize every minute for bell-to-bell learning. Every minute matters!
1a / Teacher displays extensive content knowledge of the important concepts and pedagogy in the discipline, connections to other disciplines, and prerequisite relationships among learning targets.
1a, 1e, 1f / Teacher plans reflects a wide range of effective pedagogical practices: teacher clarity, success criteria, prior and background knowledge, checking for understanding, deliberate practice, targeted questions, assessment for learning, feedback, T-Q-E, and evidence of learning. Evidence the teacher plans every lesson to reinforce and discuss effort and provide recognition. Teacher must constantly measure learning or impact on teaching.
1b, 1c / Teacher plans for individual students are created to support, challenge, engage, and differentiate. Teacher has knowledge of students’ levels and plans strategies based on student’s readiness level (2.0, 3.0, and 4.0). Instructional groups are varied based on student needs, interests, and backgrounds.
1c, 1f / The learning target represents high-expectations, important learning in the discipline, frames the lesson, and is multi-tiered. The learning target is specific, clear, written in the form of student learning, created from the standards, and permits viable methods of formative assessment with clear success criteria.
1b, 1d / Teacher plans to use a variety of resources and text sets: technology, leveled texts, internet resources, and outside resources at academically challenging levels for all students including ESL, Special Education, and EIP. Teacher is constantly researching and reading professional texts in order to improve practice.
1e / Clear Lesson Structure: carefully selected activities, challenging learning assignment, selected groupings, appropriate pacing (timer), and engagement practices. GRR model or workshop model evident.
1f / Do-Nows use as a pre-assessment before lesson or unit (entrance slip), re-teaching tool based on CFAs and daily data; spiral targets, skills and questions previously learned to keep student learning sharp; thinking question; or revisit yesterday’s targets.
1e, 1f / The learning target, learning task, and assessment are aligned. The learningtarget drives the task- not vice versa. All activities are progressive and support the target and assessment. The daily assessment is formative, well-designed, and used to plan future instruction. Teacher plans to have the students self-grade.
DOMAIN / DESCRIPTION of SUCCESS CRITERIA
2e / Arrangement of the classroom for success: neat, safe, and well-organized. Classroom is inviting and welcoming.
2e, 3a / Standard Wall: Learning targets (I Can…) with success criteria,agenda, and essential questions
2e, 1f, 3d / Do - Now posted either on standard wall or power point
2e, 3a, 2d / Behavior standards posted- RAFT, STAR, and Arts Script. Entry and exit plans posted and reviewed.
1f / Rubrics and clear success criteria are posted in the room in “kid-friendly” language
2e, 3a / Word Walls are posted in the room with evidence the walls are constantly in progress or “under construction”: high frequency words, words commonly misspelled in students’ work, and academic vocabulary words
2e, 3d / Exemplary student work is posted- “Walls that Teach”- and some aligned to success criteria
2e, 4b / Student Portfolios and/or interactive notebooks created for all students that contain student work samples, key vocabulary standards and rubrics and used to chart student’s effort, goals, and progress.
2e, 1b / Classroom Library: attractive, well-designed, organized, a variety of interesting books and short texts at different levels, and new books are displayed throughout the room. Books are easily accessible to students.
2e, 3d / Student work posted in room and evidence of published writing work.Students are celebrated in the room.
2e, 2d / Student Reflection area, thinking area, or “Alaska” or “Hawaii” in the room
2e, 3c / Hint walls and reminders in the room to guide students during independent practice

Learning Environment…

DOMAIN / DESCRIPTION of SUCCESS CRITERIA
2a / A positive learning climate or learning environment of excellence- incredibly supportive, warm, and friendly with positive peer interactions. All students are STAR listeners and teacher listens to students. Teacher’s daily interactions with students reflect genuine caring and respect. Teacher purposely reaches out to all students- even the quiet ones- on a daily basis. Teacher uses behaviors that indicate affection for students (voice tone, proximity, non-verbal and verbal acknowledgment). Teacher maintains and establishes strong relationships, reinforces effort and provides recognition, and uses least invasive forms of intervention: nonverbal corrections, positive group correction, and private conferences. Teacher makes positive connections outside of room and as students enter room. Evident teacher uses the “power of thank you”.
2b / Teacher has great enthusiasm and passion for subject, teaching, and children. Positive energy evident in room.Clear evidence of teaching like a PIRATE, teacher credibility (trust, caring), and precise praise.
2b / Culture of Learning with high expectations: teacher relentlessly committed to all students, expectation that all students can learn at high levels (success criteria), shared belief in the importance of learning, time is maximized, growth mindset, rigorous questions answered with top quality responses, NO Opt-Out policy, all students are asked to participate, work hard, and all students are challenged to think critically.
2c, 2d / Well-established rules, routines, and procedures and system to recognize adherence (verbal and nonverbal acknowledgement, RAFT tickets, calls home) and lack of adherence to rules. Instructional time is maximized because of efficient classroom routines and procedures that are clearly understood and initiated by students.
2d / Clear evidence the teacher uses key classroom management strategies: (1) Clarity: teacher is very clear about the learning targets, rules, consequences, expectations, and all directions (2) Level of Dominance (assertiveness, firm, unrelenting, intensity, control of class) and Relentless Relationships (knows the students, caring, use of humor, and physical behaviors that communicate interest) (3) Engagement Practices: giving students multiple Opportunities to Respond or OTRs, specific instructional practices aligned to time of lesson, teacher intensity, teacher recognizing when students are not engaged in learning (4) Manages Misbehavior: the teacheris alert to behavior at all times, uses increased reinforcement, active supervision, and practice. (5) Recognition for adherence to rules and reinforcing expectations
DOMAIN / DESCRIPTION of SUCCESS CRITERIA
3a, 2b, 3d / Teacher Clarity: Teacher clearly states the target at the beginning of the lesson, states purpose, discusses success criteria and student evidence. Teacher links the purpose of the lesson to the monthlylearning targets, real-world, student interests, or college and career. Teacher and students discusssuccess criteriawith exemplars and relevant vocabulary.Pre-Assessments are used to determine needs and gaps. Students discuss and explain the learning target, effort, and success criteria. Students must be able to answer 3 questions:
1)What am I learning today? (learning target)
2)Why am I learning this? (how is task aligned to target)
3)How will I know if I learned it? (success criteria)
3a, 3d / Knowledge: activates or checks prior knowledge (cues, questions, advance organizers, K-W-L, post a problem, or quick writes), builds background knowledge with Text Sets (songs, short text, anticipation guide, pictures, videos), reviews/reteaches, and/or introduces and reviews vocabulary relevant to lesson.
3a, 3c, 3d / Teaching Points: Teacher thoroughly explains, demonstrates, and models the skill with a Strong Voice anticipating possible student misunderstanding. Teacher brings content to life, using analogies and metaphors. Teacher connects new learning to previous learning targets, reviews information, previews and interacts with new knowledge, and chunks content into small segments. Students explain the skill, review, and process new information with each other. Teacher does not lecture for a significant length of time.
3a, 3c / Teacher creates anchor charts on chart paper or whiteboard (to capture key points of the mini-lesson) with students that they can use in their independent learning or refers students to previously created anchor charts
3b, 3c, 3d / Active Engagement:guided practice with Checking for ALL students’ understanding (problems, high-quality prompts,and purposeful questions with adequate wait time): whiteboards, choral responses, hand signals, numbered heads, Read/Think/Solve/Write-Pair-Share, questions, accountable talk, turn and talk, cold call, partner responses, and everybody writes (teacher gives students multiple opportunities to respond or OTRs).
3e / Teacher makes an immediate adjustment to the lesson based on the CFU data (responses and ideas): students generate questions, questions with appropriate wait time, using a different approach, explaining difficult terms, use a slower pace, giving more “At-Bats”, and creating small groups for practice time.
2b, 3c / Engagement Practices:Teacher engages 100% of the students 100% of the time with evidence of teacher planning: engaging hook, pacing, teacher intensity and enthusiasm for the content, passion for teaching, verbal and nonverbal signals, energy, product focus, positive climate, humor, movement, technology, materials, and/or student note-taking (Board = Paper), summarizing with pair shares, comparing and contrasting notes, and discussion. Teacher teaching like a PIRATE!
All / Student Evidence (students can): showevidence from do-now, explain the learning goal and why it is important, explain assignments to classmates, discuss in pairs, be STAR listeners, take notes and write journals, formulate questions, initiate other students in the discussion, challenge each other’s thinking, make contributions to the discussion, engage in accountable talk, and justify and explain their answers.
2b, 2c, 2d, 2e, 3a / “What to Do”: Teacher reviews various supports for students in the room and clearly communicates expectations for independent practice (3-30-30 technique). Teacher reviews transition procedures, objective, key teaching points, the importance of the lesson, and success criteria with a Strong Voice.

DOMAIN / DESCRIPTION of SUCCESS CRITERIA
2c / Tight Transition from whole group to small group occurs smoothly with little to no loss of instructional time with the studentsassuming the responsibility. Teacher is clearly “with-it” during the transition.
3c / Engagement Practices: 100% of the students engaged 100% of the time:small group and independent work is well-organized with ALL students involved in meaningful, intellectual learning tasks at all times aligned to learning target (students work in pairs, cooperative groups, teacher/student conferences, and independently). Evidence of clear expectations for seat work (posted and reviewed), extended opportunities for deliberate practice, teacher circulating, and teacher reinforces effort and provides recognition. The teacher notices and reacts when the students are not engaged, increases OTRs, maintains a lively pace, demonstrates intensity.
2c, 2d, 3a, 3c / High-Leverage Instructional Strategies: T-Q-E, compare/contrast, problem solving, collaborative learning, nonlinguistic representations, non-fiction writing, formative assessments, self-grading, and using feedback in their learning. Evidence of top-quality, rigorous student work that reflects higher-level assignments. Instructional groups are productive and appropriate. Strategies are aligned to students’ levels (2.0, 3.0, 4.0).
3b, 3c, 3d / T-Q-E: The task involves thinking, problem-solving, reading, writing, and discussing. Students are required to think at high-levels, be intellectually engaged in the lesson, and “minds-on”. The teacher asks a variety of quality, purposeful, complex, open-ended, and planned questions aligned to the learning targetand the rigor of the standard to challenge students cognitively and advance high-level thinking. Students ask quality questions to classmates and the teacher. The teacher constantly searches for evidence of learning. Students assess their learning and monitor their progress using the success criteria.
3c / Instructional Resources & Materials to Support Engagement: graphic organizers, CCSS sentence/argument frames, interactive notebooks,success criteria, manipulatives, accountable talk sentence starters, rubrics, anchor charts, peer feedback prompts, and hint walls. Students are also instructional resources for each other.
3c, 3d / Activities and resources are provided to “Enrich and Extend” students’ learning to the Advanced Levels. Students generate and defend claims, examine errors in reasoning, and work on extension tasks.
3b, 3c / Collaborative Groups:Students engage in discussions and problem solving with diverse groups, use each other as academic resources, communicate using academic language and vocabulary, examine premises, build logical arguments using evidence, critique arguments of others, ask probing questions, and engage in accountable talk. Students ensure that all voices are heard during discussion. Teacher poses question, problem, or prompt guides the discussion. All students are engaged in discussion.
2b,3b, 3d / Assessment for Learning:teacher aggressively monitors and takes the pulse of the class, tracks student learning, and students explain to the teacher and each other what they are learning. Conferences or interviews with students are planned and driven by the data. Teacher uses higher-level research questions to get student to discuss work. Teacher builds on student responses or prior conferences and uses student evidence to pose follow-up probing questions. Teacher promotes student thinking and motivates the students. Teacher has a conference documentation system. Students have visible learning products that demonstrate evidence of learning. Students’ self/peer-assess and self-grade their work based on success criteria and/or rubric.
3d / Purposeful Feedback: both teacher and peer, is accurate, aligned to objective and success criteria, meaningful, specific, and timely; given to students early and often, identifies strengths and next steps, advances learning, and students immediately use the feedback in their learning. Feedback has growth-mindset focused on effort.
3d, 3e, 2c, 3a / Mid-ClassTeaching Pointbased in response to formative assessment or assessment for learning results.
All / Student Evidence (students can): explain what they are doing, why, and what success looks like; work on challenging assignments aligned to the objective; persevere, use scaffolds, write viable arguments, justify their claims, answer text-dependent questions using evidence from text, display sustained attention to task, self-grade using success criteria, read “just – right texts”, and display sustained attention to task.
During Reading, Social Studies, and Science:
  1. Teacher uses an anchor text to model reading strategies, read aloud, and to motivate students to read.
  2. Time is maximized with students close/active reading at length or “eyes on text” with pen-in-hand, reflecting, discussing the text, answering text-dependent questions, and writing extended responses, editing, and rewriting about text citing evidence.
  3. Effective literacy practices: sustained time for reading, writing, and discussing at the core; excellent demonstrations and models, feedback, access to texts, understand text complexity, write for audience and purpose, teacher is a writing and reading role model, emphasis on comprehension, daily reading/writing conferences, clear success criteria, celebrations, instructional strategies aligned to student levels, student reading goals,and effective text dependent questioning aligned to CCSS and SBAC.
  4. Students spend the bulk of time reading with texts in their hands that are on their instructional level. Students are also organized in partnerships, small groups, or book clubs to discuss their readings daily.
  5. Social Studies and Science must put reading, writing, and discussing at the core.
  6. Teachers plan instructional strategy aligned to student levels (2.0, 3.0, and 4.0).
  7. The goal is 50 minutes of eyes on text daily for all students.

During Writing:
  1. Best practices utilized: exemplars, teachers modeling, conferences, feedback, peers working together, writing journals, portfolios, student choice, extended writing opportunities, and self/peer evaluation/grading.
  2. Students are writing at lengthin all classes on a daily basis, with a large focus on non-fiction writing.

During Math:
  1. Effective Math Teaching Practices: establish math goals (clarity), implement tasks that promote reasoning and problem solving, use and connect mathematical representations, facilitate mathematical discourse, pose purposeful questions, build procedural fluency from conceptual mathematics, support productive struggle in learning, and elicit and use evidence of student thinking.
  2. Evidence of daily non-fiction writing and discussing - describe, justify, explain, persuade.
  3. Evidence of the mathematical standards: making sense of problems and persevering, attending to precision, reasoning abstractly and quantitatively, conducting viable arguments and critiquing the reasoning of others, modeling with mathematics, using appropriately tools strategically, looking for and making use of structure, and looking for and expressing regularity in repeated reasoning.
  4. Teachers plan instructional strategy aligned to student levels (2.0, 3.0, and 4.0).