S h o w & T e ll : A v i d e o C o lu m n

Doug Fisher and Nancy Frey

Laying the Groundwork for Teacher Feedback

m glad thats over. We role-played and practiced a range of situa-

I principals
Those words could be uttered by many
and teachers after a post-
observation feedback session. Both are often equally
relieved to have the whole meeting behind them.
Maybe thats because none of us likes being in
a position of giving or receiving critical feedback.
When we work with people we like, we want them
to like us. Too often, evaluators describe in great
detail what the teachers
doing well, but their
feedback regarding areas Too often, evaluators
of needed growth is vague
and less useful. describe in great detail
Leaders might ask
teachers to tighten up what the teachers doing
their pacing or work on
building a classroom com- well, but their negative
munity or make sure
students are engaged, feedback is vague
but they dont always
give teachers specific and less useful.
data and suggestions that
can actually produce
improvement. Understandably, this kind of
feedback can leave teachers feeling defensive or
at a loss for what to do next. If youve ever been
asked, Just tell me what to do, and Ill do it, then direct instruction at the front of the classroom, or
you know you havent given the kind of feedback
thats likely to lead to improvement.
At Health Sciences High and Middle College,
we reached a turning point through work with
Jennifer Abrams (2009) on having hard conversa-
tions. Following a book study, Jennifer presented
to all the faculty members during a profes-
sional development session. She taught us how
to identify specific actions that were of concern
and what we could do to remedy the situation.
tions, from receiving an unintentionally hurtful
comment to observing a colleague who needs to
improve his or her teaching quality. Because of this
work, our school chose to add honest, humane,
and growth-producing conversations occur regu-
larly to the expectations we have for one another.
This dialogue begins long before post-
observation meetings. Heres how one school
leader, assistant principal
Will Mellman, laid the
groundwork for productive
feedback conversations.
Develop a Shared
Sense of Good Teaching
Anyone who has been
around classrooms as a
student, parent, teacher,
or administrator believes
that he or she knows what
good teaching looks like.
But scratch just below the
surface, and youll find
quite a few different definitions of good teaching.
Is the classroom quiet and orderly, or is there a
buzz of productive noise? Is the teacher delivering
is it hard to spot the teacher because he or she is
sitting at a table with several students? Reaching
agreement on the most effective, research-based
teaching practices is an important step toward
improving instruction schoolwide.
At the beginning of the school year, Will
formed a professional book club with the new
mathematics faculty. He selected Better Learning
Through Structured Teaching (Fisher & Frey, 2013)
to discuss the gradual-release-of-responsibility

Watch See how a post-observation conference provides constructive

feedback that promotes instructional improvement in the video

the Video at www.ascd.org/el0415fisherfrey.

84 Educational Leadership / April 2015 John Jay Cabuay

Fisher_Frey.indd 84 3/2/15 4:48 PM

 instructional framework that our
school has adopted.
During several lunch sessions, he
and the other book club members
discussed the theoretical underpin-
nings and practical applications of
the frameworks componentsclearly
established purpose, teacher modeling,
guided instruction, productive group
work, and independent learning
and shared insights about specialized
applications in mathematics. During
the school year, Will led learning
walks with the new math teachers
through other content classrooms to
build a broader sense of how these
instructional moves thread throughout
the curriculum.
Build Relationships
Through Routines
At the same time, Will adopted the
practice of making rounds. Just like
hospital physicians check in regularly
but briefly with their patients, he
visits the new math teachers class-
rooms nearly every day (Fisher, Frey,
& Pumpian, 2012). He asks, What
would make your job easier? or Who
has been of help to you, so that I can
recognize them?
He intersperses these daily rounds
with informal 10- to 15-minute obser-
vations. These are not times to fill out
evaluation forms; Will comes equipped
only with notecards and envelopes.
Before leaving, he writes a short thank-
you note to the teacher, along with a
question inquiring about what hap-
pened next in the lesson or how the
teacher assessed the learning. These
notes result in hallway conversations
and e-mail replies that deepen profes-
sional relationships.
Use Social Media
to Share Practices
Over time, the book club conversa-
tions have shifted from face-to-face
to virtual. Will uses the schools
learning management system (LMS) to
warehouse short videos of classroom
Fisher_Frey.indd 85
practices among the teachers. Either
he or the instructional technology
coordinator film, lightly edit, and
post the videos on the LMS for the
mathematics team to watch. Part of
each department meeting is devoted
to discussion of these practices. As a
result, the team is building an archive
of materials to support one another.
Forge Group Identity
Will communicates with the math-
ematics team every week about
logistics, upcoming events, and areas
of focus. Many administrators do
this, but Will makes sure that he
uses these regular communications
to build the teams identity, too. He
addresses them in e-mails as Nation
Builders to forge their collective
sense of efficacy. He and county math
coordinator Melinda Shacklett guided
them in writing a vision for what the
best math instruction in the universe
would look like, including descrip-
tions of high-quality instructional
tasks (Munter, 2014). Perhaps most
important, the teachers have outlined
their own expectations of themselves
to strengthen a classroom community:
The teacher creates...
n Enthusiasm and passion from
students.
n A well-structured environment.
n Academic and behavioral supports
to foster success.
n A growth mind-set among
students.
n Risk taking and a culture of error
(productive failure).
n A superbly managed classroom.
Move on to Productive
Evaluation Conversations
During the second semester of the
school year, more formal teacher
observations are initiated. The
groundwork laid during the first half
of the year will undoubtedly help Will
host humane, growth-producing con-
versations. With the vision statement
that teachers themselves developed
in hand, this administrator can tie his
observational data and feedback to
their stated goals.
In the video that accompanies this
column (www.ascd.org/el0415fisher
frey), you can watch how Will sup-
ports one of the mathematics teachers,
Joseph Assof, in his professional
growth. The lesson Will has observed
was a review for an assessment. Joseph
is pleased that his students assumed
more responsibility for their learning
and that he was able to target a review
based on what his students knew and
did not know. But Will notes that the
purpose was focused on students com-
pleting the task rather than on what
they were supposed to be learning.
Their conversation, which is positive
and growth-producing, results in a
renewed commitment for the teacher
to ensure that the purpose for learning
is always relevant for students. EL
References
Abrams, J. (2009). Having hard conversa-
tions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2013). Better
learning through structured teaching:
A framework for the gradual release of
responsibility (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA:
ASCD.
Fisher, D., Frey, N., &, Pumpian, I.
(2012). How to create a culture of
achievement in your school and classroom.
Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Munter, C. (2014). Developing visions of
high-quality mathematics instruction.
Journal for Research in Mathematics Edu-
cation, 45(5), 484635.
Doug Fisher (dfisher@mail.sdsu.edu)
and Nancy Frey (nfrey@mail.sdsu.edu)
are professors in the Department of Edu-
cational Leadership at San Diego State
University and teacher leaders at Health
Sciences High and Middle College.
They are ASCD authors and creators of
ASCDs Framework for Targeted and
Intentional Teaching (FIT) (www.ascd
.org/professional-development/about-
fit-teaching.aspx), which blends four of
their ASCD books into a system of high-
quality teaching and learning for every
classroom.
ASCD / w w w . ascd . o r g 85
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