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As educators we have all seen innovations come and go. Richard Elmore states in his lectures that education changes promiscuously while teaching remains the same. I often wonder why this is so and the answer that I construct has to do with the persistent lack of attention given to engaging teachers in the change process. So many reform and improvement models include strategies meant to “fix” instruction. We set out to improve teaching and learning by mandating refinement of practice without input or reflection from the group that is being asked to change…the teachers.

Walk-throughs have often been inadvertently adopted in this manner. School leaders dutifully placed time for walk-throughs in their schedules, gathered their teams, completed their process and checked off the completion of these exercises on their to-do list. It was believed that their mere presence throughout the school building would have the power to shift instruction. While a visible principal is important to any healthy school culture, visibility alone does little to change teaching practice. Without a focus, these walk-throughs made little difference in teaching or learning, at any level.

Teaching behaviors can be influenced and refined only by focused walk-throughs that have a meaningful feedback component. Walk-throughs need to be cyclical to be effective as powerful professional learning tools. Teachers should be aware of the focus of the walk-throughs in their school or district. They should know and be able to act upon points of evidence sought by school leaders. They need timely and meaningful feedback and an opportunity to reflect and act upon that feedback. Unfocused walk-throughs conducted without feedback do not have the potential to change teaching or learning, however, focused walk-throughs have tremendous power.

Regular focus on an instructional strategy a school is trying to implement, a new text series it is launching, or any change initiative it is executing will help ensure success. iObservation is a tool that can assist school leaders and instructional supporters focus their walk-throughs and close their feedback loops. Walk-throughs in the iObservation model are intended to be three to five minutes long and occur on a frequent and regular basis. This design allows the school leader to have an ongoing source of data that supports and demonstrates consistent school growth over time.

iObservation offers forms to collect and aggregate data in an electronic, web hosted system. More importantly, however, it is designed to promote growth and facilitate collegial conversations about teaching and learning between teachers and school leaders. The rubrics, or growth continua, provided for each focus area allow teachers and learners to see what application and innovation practices would look like. It contains teaching strategies and contextual structures that would create optimal learning environments for students.

iObservation contains structures that advance the probability of reflection and action. All forms have an editable comment space; the forms can be emailed to a teacher as soon as it is completed. The conferencing feature allows ongoing, online conversation over time. This threaded conversation gives teachers and school leaders the opportunity to reflect and comment on the teacher’s incubating capacity over time. This personal, confidential learning conversation promotes trust and growth.

In order for walk-throughs to reach their potential as a powerful learning tool for all adult learners in a school setting, they need to be focused and results oriented. They need to be aligned with any innovation being implemented by the school. The design needs to support school leaders’ articulation of growth over time and to celebrate the difference this growth is making for improved student learning.