 Protocols
Introduction
Methods
Virtual Protocol
Definitions
Supporting
Materials
|
 Methods for Looking at Student Work
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go to a collection of materials about that protocol OR scroll down to
see a paragraph description for each one.
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Art Shack
Developed by Kristin Tonnningsen & Shannon McBride at Riverdale Grade
School in Portland, Oregon, the Art Shack was specifically put together
to meet the needs of an art teacher examining her students' work. The
resulting protocol combines elements of the ATLAS and Descriptive Review
protocols.
ATLAS Learning from Student
Work
Developed by ATLAS
Communities, drawing on the Collaborative Assessment Conference and
other protocols, the Learning from Student Work is a tool to help teachers
better understand how their students develop understanding. In doing so,
it helps teachers identify the most effective teaching strategies for
teaching students, discover new ways to structure assignments, and find
different approaches to teaching familiar topics. A facilitated, structured
conversation, the process moves from description of samples of student
work (from presenting teacher), to interpretation of the work, to discussion
of implications for the classroom.
The Charrette
The Charrette is a term
and process borrowed from the architectural community. Charrette conversations
provide a low stakes/no stakes environment for teachers to present student
work (and/or teacher work) with which they are having a problem. After
presenting the work-in-progress and specifying the kind of help they want
from the group, the "requesting team" listens to the group discuss the
work in light of the request for help. A moderator/facilitator helps guide
the discussion, occasionally summarizing key points for discussion or
reflection.
Collaborative Assessment
Conference
Developed by Harvard
Project Zero, the Collaborative Assessment Conference (CAC) provides
a structure for groups of teachers to look closely at children's work,
describe it, ask questions about it, and explore implications for instruction
raised in the discussion. In the CAC, description of the context for the
student work is held back until participants have had ample time to describe
the work and ask questions about it. An experienced facilitator guides
participants through the stages of the conference.
Consultancy
Developed by the National
School Reform Faculty, the Consultancy process is typically used by
a small group of teachers, for example, a critical friends group, to engage
deeply with issues and problems of teaching and learning. One teacher
brings a problem, issue, or question to the group, reflects on the issue,
and listens in on the discussion of other group members. Student work
is often presented as key data in understanding the problem, issue, or
question. One of the teachers typically acts as a facilitator, as well
as a participant in the discussion.
Describing Students'
Work
There are several Descriptive
Review processes developed by Patricia Carini and colleagues at the Prospect
Center, including the Descriptive Review of a Child and the Descriptive
Review of Work. Both feature close, collaborative description of an individual
child's "works" (visual art, writing, constructions, etc.), as well as
the child as a learner and creator. A teacher typically requests a Descriptive
Review because she has a question about the child. Guided by an experienced
chair, participants engage in multiple "rounds" of description and questions
- with each round building on the knowledge developed in the previous
round, always seeking to build on children's strengths and deepen all
participants' understanding of and appreciation for the individual child.
Slice
Developed by Joseph McDonald and others. The Slice is a flexible method
that requires collecting all student work completed in a specified context
over a specified period of time (for example, all third grade work for
one week). Participants in the Slice method use this archive of material
to pursue an inquiry question, typically framed by teachers. A number
of structures can be created around the "reading" of the work and the
conversation that ensues, including a Socratic seminar approach (in which
the student work is the text). Unlike many of the protocols described
here, the Slice requires work from multiple students--from a whole classroom
to many classrooms.
Standards in Practice
Standards in Practice
(SIP) has been developed by the Education
Trust as a "quality control tool" for analyzing and improving the
quality of instruction provided to students. The SIP process is typically
used, in bi-monthly meetings of small teams of teachers, guidance counselors,
parents. The process calls for a close examination of teachers' assignments
and student work against a relevant standard or set of standards. Facilitation
of the process is typically provided by a coach from outside the school
(who may also serve as a resource to teachers outside the SIP meetings).
Success Analysis
Developed by Daniel Baron of the Harmony School, Indiana, the Constructivist
Protocol provides a self-assessment tool for students, intended to generate new
insights and deepened student investment in their own work. A student presents
his or her best work to classmates, who then look at the work in order to identify
the qualities in the work that contributes to making it "best work." Students
then seek to incorporate those qualities in future work, which they may choose
to bring to the group for another protocol.
Tuning Protocol
The Tuning Protocol was
developed by the Coalition
of Essential Schools as a means of providing teachers feedback on
the authentic assessment systems they were engaged in developing, including
exhibitions, portfolios, etc. A teacher, or team of teachers, presents
samples of student work and the context for the work (assignment, rubric)
and (usually) a focusing question about which he or she would especially
welcome discussion. After carefully reviewing the work, participants provide
"warm" and "cool" feedback on the work while the presenter listens in
silence, who then reflects on what she's heard. The Tuning Protocol may
be facilitated by someone from inside or outside the group using it.
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