Experts: Teacher-Led Data Collection Spurs Improvement

Education Daily (10/8, Offut) reports on the practice of Instructional Practices Inventory, a system in which "a teacher pops into a colleague's classroom, quickly observes students, jots a code onto a chart, and off she goes to the next classroom. She and a team of teacher leaders will repeat these observations, visiting each classroom multiple times, over the course of the school day." The piece notes that the system is intended to analyze student engagement, adding that "a key facet that drives IPI - teacher-led data collection, analysis, and collaboration - is one to consider no matter what school improvement strategies you use, said Jerry Valentine, professor emeritus, who developed the IPI process more than 15 years ago along with colleagues at the University of Missouri's College of Education."