Instructional Rounds

Identifying problems of practice and developing theories of action can lead to networked, continual improvement that develops the instructional core in K-12 schools.

“What is it that we’re seeing in classrooms that we’re interested in solving? Can we figure out a causal relationship? That’s exactly what physicians do when they stand around the hospital bed and look at blood tests.They try to come up with theories about what the problem is. Then they do something we call “analysis,” which is just grouping the evidence into clumps and forming some sort of model about what the evidence is trying to tell us about the problem of practice. What’s causing this to happen? We try to nail down the terms of prediction.Then we can try to get people to make some powerful suggestions or come up with ideas about what the next level or work or idea is.That, in a very schematic way, is the whole process from beginning to end.”
— Dr. Richard Elmore, Instructional Rounds training at UC Davis, January 2013