Charlotte Danielson on Effective Observation and Follow-Up

(Originally titled “Observing Classroom Practice”)

“Classroom observations can foster teacher learning – if observation systems include crucial components and observers know what to look for,” says teacher-evaluation guru Charlotte Danielson in this Educational Leadership article. To be fair, “the judgments that are made about a teacher’s practice must accurately reflect the teacher’s true level of performance.” Although some of teachers’ work is “behind the scenes”, Danielson believes the most important parts of teaching can be observed in classrooms. A teacher who is ineffective in front of students can’t be considered competent. 

What should administrators look for in classrooms? Danielson believes that every district needs a research-based instructional framework (hers, for example) that gives everyone a detailed, well-crafted, agreed-upon definition of teaching at different levels of effectiveness. The framework should be validated, meaning that teachers who do well on the rubric produce significant gains in student achievement. Administrators should also be clear on what evidence they must gather to score teachers, and the evaluation process should be supported by training ensuring that different administrators would give pretty much the same ratings to the same teacher. In addition, it’s important that teachers have a clear picture (ideally through videotapes) of performance at different levels. 

Danielson believes administrators need to be proficient in four areas to conduct effective classroom observations, and should be certified in these before conducting high-stakes evaluations:

• Collecting evidence – She says administrators should write down what they actually see and hear in classrooms, not their opinions or interpretations. This might include something the teacher says (e.g., “Can anyone think of another idea?”), what students do (e.g., taking 45 seconds to line up), or something else (e.g., backpacks strewn in the middle of the floor). It’s hard for many administrators to refrain from making judgments, says Danielson, but it’s important to separate evidence from conclusions, especially when there’s disagreement about a teacher’s level of performance.

• Deciding on rubric scores – This is where the administrator takes the evidence gathered in the classroom and finds the rubric language that provides a valid interpretation and judgment. Ideally, different administrators observing the same classroom will identify the same rubric lines and the same 4-3-2-1 levels of performance. This is relatively easy for low-inference items (did the class start on time?) but considerably more difficult for items like a teacher using questioning and discussion to deepen understanding. 

• Conducting professional conversations with teachers – Although there are times when administrators need to tell teachers bluntly that something must change, the focus in most follow-up conferences with teachers, Danielson believes, “should be dialogue, with a sharing of views and perspectives. After all, teachers make hundreds of decisions every day. If we accept that teaching is, among other things, cognitive work, then the conversations between teachers and observers must be about cognition.” These conversations “are the best opportunity to engage teachers in thinking through how they could strengthen their practice.” This, of course, has implications for how administrators are trained and supported. 

• Making the teacher an active participant – In most conventional evaluations, says Danielson, teachers are passive recipients and the administrator does almost all the work – not the best strategy for bringing about adult learning. To change this one-sided dynamic, Danielson suggests the following steps. First, both teacher and administrator become conversant with the evaluation rubric. Second, after a classroom observation, the administrator shares his or her low-inference notes with the teacher and accepts additions and edits from the teacher’s perspective. Third, the teacher and administrator independently align the observation notes with the rubric, identifying which cell accurately describes and evaluates what was taking place in the classroom. Finally, they meet and compare their rubric scores and discuss any differences. 

“Observing Classroom Practice” by Charlotte Danielson in Educational Leadership, November 2012 (Vol. 70, #3, p. 32-37), http://www.ascd.org; Danielson can be reached at

info@danielsongroup.org. 

From the Marshall Memo #459