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SERVE > Topic Areas > Assessment > Accountability for Instructional Quality > District Consortium > SERVE Leads Standards

 
 

SERVE Leads Standards of Classroom Practice

The following Standards of Classroom Practice represent a synthesis of what district leadership teams participating in a SERVE regional consortium believed were the characteristics of a powerful classroom learning environment. The list is short, by design, in that participants were asked to come to agreement on five-to-seven compelling characteristics that represent a vision for quality at the classroom level. The statements are intended to encourage professional dialogue.

  
  • Instruction is organized and delivered in well-planned units that focus on clear learning goals and expectations for student learning.
  • Work assigned to students is purposeful, frequently cognitively challenging, and result in useful feedback from the teacher to help students improve.
  • Daily instructional interactions between teacher and student are structured to promote the development of key thinking and communication skills.
  • Persistence and effort on the part of students are nurtured.
  • Strategies are implemented to help students develop responsibility for their progress toward stated goals through self-assessment of the quality of their own work and thinking.
  • Meaningful social and interpersonal relationships are established that honor individual differences and respect for one another as learners with different styles, personalities, and viewpoints

Other examples of definitions of high quality teaching are provided below. These examples aren't intended as exhaustive, but as variations in ways to define a vision for classroom quality.

Principles of Learning Authentic Pedagogy

The following Principles of Learning were developed by the Institute for Learning for use in work with a consortium of urban districts. The nine descriptors represent condensed theoretical statements summarizing decades of learning research. The Institute offers a CD that describes the Principles of Learning to educators who wish to analyze the quality of instruction and opportunities for learning that they offer to students. The CD ROM covers the history of the Principles of Learning and why they are important.

  1. Academic Rigor in a Thinking Curriculum
  2. Accountable Talk (sm)
  3. Clear Expectations
  4. Fair and Credible Evaluations
  5. Organizing for Effort
  6. Recognition of Accomplishment
  7. Socializing Intelligence
  8. Self-Management of Learning

A five-year study of classrooms identified dimensions of good teaching related to higher levels of achievement, especially in low-income or high-minority schools. According to the researchers, "authentic" pedagogy involves

  1. Engaging students in higher-order thinking,
  2. Addressing central ideas thoroughly in order to help students acquire deep knowledge,
  3. Fostering substantive conversation among students, and
  4. Connecting student learning to the world beyond the classroom

 

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