Preparation

Practice-Based Inquiry® is a thoroughly tested, rigorous model of school assessment.  Its validity as a tool is governed by a protocol customized prior to the Visit by the Visit Chair and the school Principal.  The protocol governs the day-to-day operations of the visit as well as the central questions the school wants the Visit Team to investigate.

After the protocol is agreed upon, the School Visit Team is assembled.  The size of the Visit Team is scaled to the size of the school to be visited and can be as large as 15 members.  It includes experienced teachers, administrators and, if a school requests, specialists in particular academic areas (i.e., math or bilingual education).  In Chicago, a minimum of two years of public school teaching is required, and most team members have far more.  The Visit Chair (certified by Catalpa, Inc. after training) trains the Visit Team on the first morning of the visit and informally throughout the week.

A Typical Visit Week

• Monday: How well are students learning? This includes the students’ perspective about how they think about their learning. Each team member follows a student for the entire day. 
• Tuesday: How well does teaching lead to student learning?  Collectively, the team observes every teacher in the school for approximately one class period.  The Team is challenged to answer: What do you see? What do the teachers (the actors) think about what you are seeing? What do you think about it?
• Wednesday: How well does this school’s organization and community structure support good learning and teaching?  The Team may use the day to finish classroom observations and interview key school stakeholders, such as administrators, parents, and/or community or Local School Council members.
• Thursday: This is the Visit Team’s last chance to gather evidence that confirms or challenges the team’s working conclusions. Team members might talk further with teachers, administrators, students, staff, or a school leadership team, and start working on the written report.
• Friday: The Visit Team completes the report and reads it aloud to the school administration and faculty at an all-school meeting.  All drafts and notes are destroyed to preserve confidentiality.

Follow-Up

Two copies of the report are printed, one for the visited school’s principal and one for the Alliance.  The school retains exclusive authority over the circulation of the report. 

For Alliance member schools, follow-up includes sharing the report’s commendations and recommendations (informally or formally) with other member schools for support as well as to brainstorm how to implement Visit Team recommendations, use the report in staff development and in strategic planning.  The trust required for – and built by – this process has not only proved helpful to visited schools but also builds shared accountability for using the report.

More information on School Visits/Reviews: