The College and Career Readiness (CCR) Classroom Observation System—and the effective teaching and learning practices at its heart—enables directors or coordinators and other instructional leaders to recognize the components of good standards-based instruction. It is designed to assess how well instructors are teaching to CCR standards and employing effective standards-based instructional strategies. This includes the extent to which lesson content, instructional practices, and classroom assessments are effective and consistent with the demands of CCR standards. Through this training, participants will explore the relationship between the key instructional advances for English Language Arts/Literacy and the elements of the CCR Classroom Observation Tool.
In particular, by reviewing videotaped lessons, trainees will learn how to recognize instructor and student actions that are indicative of CCR standards-aligned lessons. They will learn how to capture evidence from observations to generate highly specific data on those core actions. They will learn to use an uncomplicated reporting system that permits easy aggregation and disaggregation of information collected from observations of numerous instructors. These data can be shared in easy-to-read charts and acted on by program staff to determine what professional supports and training instructors most need. Using the observation system can not only shape professional development, but also determine (through follow-up observations) whether professional development and other initiatives have actually effected changes in instruction.