The Observation Gap?
Illustrations by Cathy Gendron
The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) has become the black hole of education discussions or “debates.” In fact, I’d submit that we spend far too much time and energy arguing for, or against, the CCSS that we’re neglecting other critical aspects of our profession. Case in point: the role classroom observations serve in providing teachers with meaningful feedback and support, or lack thereof. As a profession, we cannot afford to neglect the potential support classroom observations can offer.
In my professional opinion, classroom observations are necessary to keep teachers “honest.” Classroom observations help prevent teachers from forming bad teaching habits, i.e. passing out pointless drill-and-kill worksheets, or becoming complacent in their classroom management techniques. If performed correctly, observations can offer teachers instructional best practices. With that said, a classroom observer must provide teachers with specific resources, and, when appropriate, examples on how to leverage such resources or instructional practices, i.e. modeling. For this to occur, however, teachers must remain open to meaningful feedback: the