Snapshots

Barbara McSwain
Apr 27, 2009

If someone took a snapshot of your school, what would it look like? Is one room representative of the entire school? A vertical walkthrough allows administrators, district office personnel and teachers to see a school at a glance. It works the same way that a photo snapshot works. It does not tell the whole story, but it gives a "picture" of what the school looks like on a given day. Walkthroughs are not something for which teachers need to "get ready." A Walkthrough day should be treated as a regular day school day.

As administrators/teachers walk vertically through a school, they should see a definitive difference at each grade level. Recently, during a walkthrough an administrator was surprised to see that the second graders were producing writing with more quality than the fifth graders. What was happening? Sometimes it is as simple as "expectations." This particular administrator had kept student writing portfolios from the previous year.  When the principal showed the teacher and the students the quality of writing that they were capable of producing, the students rose to the quality of writing that was expected of them. Another question to" look for" or "ask about" is summary point writing. Is there evidence that students are having summary point writing during a lesson? Look at assignments and artifacts; they tell the real story.

Second, a vertical walkthrough allows us to observe the distributed summarizing and distributed guided practice being conducted throughout the school. Do Assessment Prompts encourage students to respond in writing, orally, visually or by showing the teacher? Are the questions requiring extending thinking skills? Are the questions relevant to the students' lives?

Third, one may observe not only if students are using graphic organizers, but also how are they using them. Are they being used for structured note taking, guided reading, or writing? Are the graphic organizers matched to the structure of the text? Is there evidence that there is an emphasis on reading comprehension throughout the school?

Fourth, is there evidence that teachers have planned for students to use the top five strategies (extending thinking, summarizing, vocabulary in Context, advance organizers, non-verbal representation) that increase achievement? Are these strategies being used consistently, and are they pervasive throughout the grade levels? Are vocabulary words coming from state standards?  Are students using researched-based strategies to learn vocabulary?

Finally, how are teachers receiving feedback from the walkthrough?  How are coaches using the information gathered on the walkthrough to assist teachers in implementing strategies that will increase student achievement? Are coaches modeling as well as conducting professional development?

To learn more about walkthroughs, please see the Leadership Collection on our website.