Quality Review Study Group

Quality Review Study Group Binder Master
Table of Contents

Logistical information (1)-

(documents not included, to be inserted when complete)

Schedule of Study Group Meetings

Staff Contact Sheet

Participant Contact Sheet

Quality Documents (2)

4 Aspects of Quality Diagram………………………………………………………….. 2

Summary of Approach…………………………………………………………………… 3

*Events & Tools for Quality Visits…………………………………………………… 4

*Dimensions of Quality Teaching & Learning………………………………….. 5

Tools for Site Visits (3)

*Site Visit Template……………………………………………………………………….. 7

Pre Observation (Possibility of Practice/SMART Goal) Discussion…... 10

*Observation Tool (Running record template)……………………………….. 11

*Principal Interview……………………………………………………………………….. 13

Student Interview…………………………………………………………………………. 17

Student Waiver……………………………………………………………………………… 18

Post Observation Teacher Debrief…………………………………………………. 19

*Profile of Arts Learning……………………………………………………………….. 20

*Summary Sheet…………………………………………………………………………….. 22

Examples (4)

(documents not included in electronic copy of binder)

SMART Goals Study Guide – will be distributed at orientation

*How to Document – available on creatingquality.org

*Sample of Running Record – available on creatingquality.org

A Broad Approach to Developing a System-Wide View of Quality
Snapshots of Practice across the System
Broad Goal / Develop a plan to collect information to support the quality of arts teaching and learning throughout Boston public schools that is:

Voluntary
Constructive
Focused on teaching and learning in the arts (supports, community of learners in the classroom, not teacher evaluation)

Specific Goal / To visit a representative sample of Boston arts education programs in order to provide a system-wide view of the current levels of quality in three major areas:

System and School Supports
Teaching and Learning in Classrooms
Student Work

Based on / Process: Instructional Rounds in BPS
Dimensions: Quality frameworks: Studio Habits, Thriving Minds, BYAEP
Discussions of the Quality Working Group
Process
Sites / Volunteer schools (pre-K – 5, K – 8, 6 – 8, 9-12), including schools with opportunities to observe some combination of:

Classroom instruction by arts specialist (e.g. a music teacher)
Cultural partner with an in-school program
Arts integration

Visiting Team /

2 individuals (arts specialist, classroom teacher, teaching/community artist, researcher)
Focused on a specific arts area (e.g. music, visual arts, etc.)
Trained using Boston’s Dimensions of Quality

Training / Training in teams to:

Interview principals, students and relevant others
Practice observation skills and data collection
Give constructive feedback both pre and post observation

Using video clips of classroom practice

School Visit / Arranged with school personnel, letter and materials in advance
Pre-observation Meeting with host teacher/teaching artist

Collect background information on students and circumstances to be informed observers
Learn about the curriculum, lesson and strategies that will be on view during the site visit
Identify a problem of practice to focus on when conducting the observation

Meeting with Principal and relevant others

Learn about the school and its arts programs
Collect data on the system and school-level supports for arts learning
Using a standardized set of questions

2 rounds of observation/day/team

30 -45 minutes low-inference running record of arts classrooms
Short Interviews with two students from the class
Followed by time for discussion among visitors
Post-observation Meeting with host teacher/teaching artist
Opportunity to give constructive feedback and ask questions.
Study Group Discussion

Process observations and interviews in teacher – observer groupings, using a tuning protocol (What did we notice, what did we wonder, followed by response from the teacher)
Discuss what this suggests about supports needed for quality teaching and learning

Data generation /

Data on the School and System Supports across the representative sample of schools
Aggregate profiles of Quality of Teaching and Learning across the representative sample of schools
Recommendations for the supports needed to build practice.

School Visits for Quality Study Group in Arts Learning
Designed for Boston Elementary and Middle Schools
Event / Tools / Yield
Before School Meetings
Training session / Binder of materials / Establish common goals and language
Meeting with teachers and cultural partners to be observed / Context for the observations
SMART goals/possibility of practice (the area where the host teacher/partner is interested in having some in-depth observation) / Inform the observations that will take place during the course of the school day
Nominate the issues of practices that teachers/partners want to focus on
Observations
Classroom/Session Observation # 1
(45 min – 1 hr.) / Low-inference running records / Create evidence base for later discussions
Interviews with 2 – 3 students from Obs. #1
(15 min.) / Interviews of 2 - 3 students seen in earlier class (or a chance to examine current student work) / Collect and record youth voice on the structure, content, and significance of their arts education
Classroom/Session
Observation #2
(45 min – 1 hr.) / Low-inference running records / Create evidence-base for later discussions
Interviews with 2 – 3 students from Obs.#2
(15 min.) / Interviews of 2 - 3 students seen in earlier class (or a chance to examine current student work) / Collect and record youth voice on the structure, content, and significance of their arts education
Time for Observers to Work on Observations and Implications
Debrief/Reflection Meeting with Hosting Teacher/Partner
Discussion between observers and host teacher/partner
(45 min.) / Structured protocol for sharing:

What was observed about the focus of practice issue?
What are the strengths of the practice?
What are the “frontiers” for the practice?
In this classroom?
In this field of arts education (e.g., dance)
In district policy?
In partnerships with cultural partners?

Themes/issues by disciplines (e.g. music)
Themes/issues by grade levels (e.g., primary grades)
Needs at the school and the district level

Dimensions for the Classroom Observations: Boston Quality Process / Example of a Strong or Exemplary Practice
Authentic and engaging work in the art form (e.g., visual arts, music, dance, theater, and media arts).
EXAMPLES

Goals
Materials
Assignments and longer-term projects
Processes and ways of working

/ Students in a high school jazz class get a score they have not played before (as might happen in a gig). They have 15 minutes to read it and prepare their individual parts. Then they work as ensemble to perform the piece once through. Their teacher and the students give notes on the run-through. They perform the piece a second time, adding improvised solos and addressing the challenges that they identified in the first performance.
Classroom climate and routines that create a safe and productive working environment.
EXAMPLES

Physical and psychological safety
Strategies that help learners manage their behavior and interactions
Set-up of space and materials that facilitates learning

/ In a primary grades dance class, the cultural partner has worked out a series of routines that make it possible for an entire classroom of students to enter, remove their shoes, line up, warm-up, and then reverse the process, smoothly and quietly, leaving maximum time for dancing.
Opportunities to express personal ideas and experiences creatively.
EXAMPLES

Creative choices in creating or executing works or performances
Ownership and leadership (e.g., students choose repertoire, lead sectional rehearsals)

/ In an elementary strings class, the cultural partner invites even beginning students to improvise short melodies and to experiment with the different sounds that their instruments can make.
Clear and high expectations and levels of challenge.
EXAMPLES

Examples of student work at high levels
Discussions/critiques/performance notes
Connections to standards or expectations that will permit young people to continue in the arts (e.g., portfolios, auditions, etc.)

/ In a rehearsal for a gospel choir, a group of students works on a song for an upcoming performance. For 30 minutes, their teacher insists that they work over and over again on sharp articulation and delivery of the lyrics, especially in very fast-moving sections.
Peer-to-peer collaboration with mutual respect.
EXAMPLES

Informal exchanges
More structured sharing (e.g., discussions and critiques)
Ensemble practice, rehearsal, or collaboration

/ In a theater class at high school, students rehearsed their original works for a performance. They worked in small groups on their own, giving each other ideas for blocking and tableaus. Based on the suggestions they received, students tried various approaches to the blocking for their work, selecting the best.
Guidance and assessment practices that help students develop artistic skills, as well as original visions and voices.
EXAMPLES

Individual conversations and “notes” following rehearsals or performances
Peer critiques
Shared rubrics or criteria written in language learners can understand and use
Connections to what will be expected at the next level or in outside-of-school

/ In middle school visual arts program teachers have developed a set of practices for modeling excellent work. In the classroom, students’ watercolors of birds are displayed to show a range of approaches and styles to that assignment. Students also keep portfolios of their work and then review it, selecting their strongest pieces for inclusion in new gallery spaces that have been created in the hallway outside the art classrooms.
Inclusion and support for all learners to produce excellent work.
EXAMPLES

Physical set-up that facilitates access
Differentiated instruction that allows full participation
Support and respect

/ In an elementary music program, provided by a cultural partner, the children who have been selected are not just the most able. One student struggled socially and was painfully quiet. The lesson gave her a chance to have individualized attention and to participate in ways that did not require speaking.
Culturally proficient arts learning reflective of Boston’s ethnic and linguistic demographics.
EXAMPLES

Repertoire and artists chosen from multiple cultures and traditions
Opportunities to understand works and performances from range of cultures
Opportunities for students to draw on their knowledge and experience

/ Middle school students are working on a collage in which each one makes a quilt square to be assembled into a larger design. As part of the lesson, the teacher talks about the tradition of quilting and particularly its role among African-American women who made remarkable designs from scraps. She connects the improvised designs to jazz traditions, with different women “soloing” by making their versions of traditional patterns.

BPS Arts Expansion Quality Review
Site Visit Template

(To be completed by host and emailed to visitors and EdVestors)

Visit Date & Time:
School Address:
Parking & T Directions:
Entrance Instructions:
Where to meet host upon arrival:
Host Info
Name

Phone Number (on day of visit)

Email Address
Visitor #1 Info
Name

Phone Number (on day of visit)

Email Address
Visitor #2 Info
Name

Phone Number (on day of visit)

Email Address

At least three days before each site visit the site visit team (the host and both visitors) should have their Pre-Observation meeting . This is when the observers and the observed establish the problem, or opportunity, of practice. These should be significant challenges or new initiatives where the insights of skilled colleagues can add insight and perspective

Pre-Observation Meeting
Participants
Date/Time
Location

Host (Observed Teacher’s) Planning Tool

During each site visit the visitor should do the following:

Principal/School Leader Interview (20-30 minutes) This may need to be tailored to individual sites depending on whether the person has been interviewed previously.
Two Class Observations (full periods if possible, representing a range of classes and ages)
Student Interviews (20 minutes) These can be individuals or small groups of students from the observed classes.
Observation Debrief with observed teacher (30 minutes)

Scheduling Tips:

- If possible, scheduling mini-breaks so observers can work on paperwork in between activities works well

- If scheduling visit around lunch time, let visitors know to bring lunch and schedule in time for them to eat

- When possible, it is best for the principal interview to occur after visitors get to know the school.

- Student interviews should take place after you have observed those students in the class.

- Debrief should be at the end of the day or within two days after the visit. The Debrief should be conducted in person.

Please fill in the slots below with these activities and pertinent details.

Activity 1:
Participants
Time
Location
Activity 2
Participants
Time
Location
Activity 3
Participants
Time
Location
Activity 4 / Observation Debrief
(The site visit team should use the Post Observation Teacher Debrief form as a guide for their reflective conversation on how the day/class went.)
Participants
Time
Location

After the Visit

(Paperwork to be completed by the Visitors)

After the visit the Visitors will then fill out the Summary Sheet as well as the Profile of Arts Learning. Each visitor must fill out their own Profile of Arts Learning.

The paperwork collected at the final meeting will be the following:

Running Record
Principal Interview
Profile of Arts Learning
Summary Sheet (one per visitor pair)

Problem of Practice/SMART Goal Conversation with Arts Teacher/ Cultural Partner

As a part of an effort to build arts education in the School District, EdVestors, and teams of teachers and cultural partners are working to collect information about the strengths and needs of schools, educators, and students in the arts.

We will be observing in your class or session as part of that work. As a part of helping us to focus, we would like to talk with you about your school and the one of the SMART goals/problem of practice that you are working on this year. (See the SMART Goal insert in the resources section of the binder, if you are unfamiliar with this approach.)

Describe the arts program at your school and how your work fits into that.

What SMART goal/problem of practice are you focusing on this year?

How does the lesson we will observe reflect the SMART goal(s) you have set for yourself?

How does the lesson we will observe fit into a larger unit of study? Into your goals for your students this year?

What circumstances (in the class, the school, the district) make this a particular challenge (e.g., lack of supplies, students enrolled in, rather than choosing the class, poor quality instruments, working in the lobby, etc.)?

What kind of feedback would be helpful?

*Document to be turned in

Observer Name: ______

Person being Observed: ______

Partner Observer: ______

Low-Inference Observation for Quality Arts Learning p.____
Context / Date: ______School: ______Class/Grade:______Arts Discipline: ______
Instruction/Lesson: (e.g., where in the unit: intro, skills or practice, original work, rehearsal)
Physical Space, equipment, materials:
#/Type of Educators:
# of Students:
Time in
2-minute intervals / Actions, speech, interaction
T = Teacher, ED = other educators (intern, paraprofessionals, volunteers)
S1, S2, etc. = Individual students
G = Group of students / Dimension
(fill in after observation is complete)
AEW: Authentic and engaging work in art form / Opp.Exp: Opportunities to express personal ideas and experiences creatively / CHE: Clear and high expectations and levels of challenge
Cli: Classroom climate and routines that create safe working environment / GA: Guidance and assessment practices that help students develop / I/S: Inclusion and support for all students, universal design
Cul Pro – Cult. proficient arts / PtP: Peer –to-peer collaboration, mutual respect / Other:

Time in
2-minute intervals / Actions, speech, interaction
T = Teacher
S1, S2, etc. = Individual student
G = Group of students / Dimension (fill in after observation is complete)
AEW: Authentic and engaging work in art form / Opp.Exp: Opportunities to express personal ideas and experiences creatively / CHE: Clear and high expectations and levels of challenge
Cli: Classroom climate and routines that create safe working environment / GA: Guidance and assessment practices that help students develop / I/S: Inclusion and support for all students, universal design
Cul Pro – Cult. proficient arts / PtP: Peer –to-peer collaboration, mutual respect / Other:

*Document to be turned in

Observer Name: ______

Person being Observed: ______

Partner Observer: ______

Principal/Lead Teacher(s) Interview

As a part of an effort to expand quality arts education in Boston, the District, working with EdVestors, and teams of teachers and cultural partners are working to collect information about the strengths and needs of schools, educators, and students in the area of teaching and learning in the arts. Since principals and teacher leaders play a key role in shaping the arts in their buildings we want to ask you the way you support the arts in this building.

For the purposes of this conversation, we are defining arts education as in-school teaching and learning in a wide range of art forms, including dance, music, theater, visual arts, creative writing, and media arts.

This interview is to collect information that complements the survey that you have already submitted to EdVestors. Questions marked with * are important to ask. Others are supplementary.

*1. Your name: ______
Your school: ______
*2. How long have you been in your administrative position? ______How long have you been a principal at your current school? ______How long did you teach? ______
*3. What’s your vision of the role that the arts should play in the life of your school?
Who should be learning what? (If it does not come up, ask about the participation of children with special needs, including English Language Learners (Take notes).
What are the three biggest obstacles to reaching that vision at the building level? (Take notes).
1)
2)
3)
*4. What do you do as a school leader to support arts learning in the school? (First get an overall answer and then check on any of the following items not mentioned. Take notes on specifics.)
Overall:
 Scheduling
 Joint planning time for arts teachers
 Joint planning time for arts and other subject matter teachers
 Arrangements that allow children to take special or advanced classes during the school day (e.g., individual or small group instrumental lessons)
 Other time uses that support arts learning
 Special events
 Assemblies of special events that feature the arts
 Student Concerts
 Exhibitions of Student art work
 Family nights/Back to school nights that feature the arts
 Other types of events
 Making time to attend those events yourself
 Making Special Purchases/Securing Donations
 Materials –ask for examples
 Equipment – ask for examples
 Others
 Developing Partnerships with Cultural Partners (List the arts-relate partnerships in your school for the last five years, along with their durations). Circle the ones that you initiated, or played a role in bringing to the school.
 Partner Duration
 Partner Duration
 Partner Duration
 Organizing family volunteers in support of the arts (e. g., to go on field trips, to help build a stage, to sew costumes, etc.) (Take notes on specifics.)
 Supporting Arts Integration. (Ask for specific examples.)
 Other ways in which you support arts learning? (Take notes on specifics.)
*5. Supports: Select and rank order the three areas in which you, as a principal or teacher leader, want professional support. (Begin with 1 for the support you want the most. Continue to 3 for the area where you need the least support.)
 Being able to make the case for the arts
 Knowing how to supervise and supports arts teachers
 Identifying and getting the best from cultural partners
 Increasing the amount and quality of arts integration in the curriculum
 Assessing and improving student achievement in the arts
 Addressing the needs of different learners through the arts
 Other (please explain): ______
*6. Rank order the three most important things that the District could do to support arts learning in schools, even in a period of fiscal need? (Begin with 1 for the most important.)

Most important:

Next most important:

Next most important: