Information Regarding Leading Instructional Rounds

By Debra Price


In the United States and in many other countries around the world, the need to produce better results in schools has been called for on many occasions. In response to these calls, heads of schools together with other major stakeholders have implemented ways of improving the efficiency of the learning process. One of the methods used to achieve efficiency is through leading instructional rounds.

Instructional rounds is a term that refers to the process through which the learning process in schools is scrutinized. School districts and schools have adopted this method aiming to understand the process of learning and teaching in schools better. Improving learning at large is also an aim of the instructional rounds. Due to the positive impact the process has had on learning, the whole of the US has embraced the idea.

The word instructional rounds was adapted from medical rounds used in medicine schools and teaching hospitals to improve practice of current and prospective doctors. Physicians use this term a lot to improve their theory and practice. The most commonly used models in medicine includes medical interns visiting patients, residents, and supervising physicians.

As the patients are visited, the group makes close observation and engages in a discussion about the available evidence of diagnoses. During the discussion, they analyze the evidence available before trying to come up with the best treatment option. This way, when prospective and current physicians are faced with the same situation again in future, they know the best treatment option to choose to treat a patient.

There are several steps involved in instructional rounds. The first step of the process is to form a network of individuals to undertake the process. The network of individuals must include representative members from all groups of people who impact the learning process of students. The second step after formation of a network is to select a specific problem that will be addressed. The problem chosen must be current and relevant.

The third step involves classroom observation where a group of individuals spend time in classrooms observing the learning process. Other steps are observation debrief, detection of next steps, and finally regular repletion of this entire process. It is important to know that no criterion has been set as of now for individuals or members to be included in the networks.

The selection of members usually depends on several factors such as preference of educators, time, and the specific situation at hand. The membership of the groups may be cross-functional or homogeneous. In some cases, the choosing of teachers to engage in the exercise is made depending on the subjects they teach. Here, the choosing of teachers is done intentionally. In other cases, the choosing is more pragmatic.

Finally, the issue that is being dealt with in the process should be selected carefully. The issue should also be observable and current. The goal should be to make improvements on teaching. Typically, the issue should be one that has proven to require more assistance even after spending money and time in the past to resolve it.




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