I’ve been in numerous discussion with Teacher Leaders recently, and come across a common frustration. It seems that no matter how hard they try to convey that they are ‘just there to help’, there lingers a resistance and trust issue. When I dig deeper, I find that the observation process is one of identifying ‘good’ practices, and sometimes ‘bad’ practices; or it’s one of taking notes on ‘what occurred during the observation’.
I think that when the process has, in any way, judgment or valuing language involved there will be a defensive resistance. Even the notes are a problem as the choice of what to record is a judgment made by the observer.
Since this doesn’t occur in the Data-Based Observation Method, it’s really easy to get past the initial trust concerns – you just have to follow the system and prove that you are not there to hammer them with the data.
Key concepts: Don’t Praise, Don’t Criticize, Don’t Provide Solutions!
Follow this sequence of interaction:
Pre-conference: Centered around determining what data to collect – “What do you want to know about your classroom?”. This can be in light of a teacher’s individual goals, some teacher-perceived problem, or building/district/state standards.
During the observation, gather data without making any comments reflecting praise, criticism, or solutions.
In the post conference, ask these questions when presenting the data:
Is this what you thought was happening in the classroom? (teacher reflection and interpretation)
Do you think a change is indicated? (teacher and observer professional discussion about the interpretation of the data)
If so, what will you change (teacher ownership and empowerment; enhanced professional discussion)
How can I support you? (professional collaboration)
When should follow-up data be collected to see if the change is effective? (making the entire process not one of pleasing the observer, but in implementing effective change)
This approach shifts the dynamic from defensiveness to empowerment, from judge to colleague. There is no observer, Teacher Leader or Administrator, who can solve every classroom problem. It’s far better to develop the teachers’ skills in reflection and problem solving. This can be accomplished by basing the discussions on data rather than opinion.
How to add classes and teachers/students with an Excel spreadsheet.
It’s quite easy using the picture-book instructions and templates. Just type in the information, save as a tab-delimited file, and import from within eCOVE on the computer. The new setup will be available immediately, and if you sync an iPhone/iTouch the additions will show up there.
This is useful for entering or updating a small/medium number of observees. If you want to add an entire school, it’s better to export from the student information system, convert to the eCOVE template format, and then import. Look on the website under Support/Manuals and More for the Setting Up Manual.
We will send the instructions and templates to our user list this week. Email john@ecove.net if you’d like it right away.
All four of the eCOVE Observation Software Editions are available from the iTunes App Store. They are free apps, and include 2 sample classrooms with students, and 5 tools. You can gather data with the tools and email the results.
If you sync to a licensed Edition of eCOVE on the computer, it will also upload all 25 tools (plus any you’ve created yourself), your classrooms with teachers and students, and the names of all the observers. You can then gather data with the iPhone/iTouch and sync the data back to the computer to run any of the 5 types of reports.
The iPad version is very nearly finished and will take advantage of the increased screen size. All of the features work the same, and the data will sync to the computer for creating reports. We’ll notify everyone when it’s been approved by Apple and is on their App Store.
Here’s a sample of data graph from the emailed report from the iPhone/iTouch.
Now that the iPhone/iTouch version is finished and available, I’ll be back showing off the features at conferences. Here are a few that we’re signed up for. If you are attending, please contact me or stop by the exhibit booth.
NASP (National Association of School Psychologists) Chicago, March, 2010. Exhibit Booth
CEC (Council for Exceptional Children) Nashville, April, 2010. Presentation & Exhibit Booth
ABAI (Association of Behavior Analysis International) San Antonio, May 2010. Presentation & Exhibit Booth
COSA (Confederation of Oregon School Administrators), Seaside, OR, June, 1010. Exhibit Booth
NSDC (National Staff Development Council), Atlanta, December, 2010. Exhibit Booth
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And a plea – what conferences should we consider attending? National or state level? If you have a favorite conference that you feel would fit eCOVE, PLEASE let us know (john@ecove.net). I love to talk to folks about eCOVE and data-based observations, but there are so many conferences out there….
We have developed an iPhone/iTouch version, and have submitted it to Apple for approval (1/29/10). They say that 98% take 7 days for approval. Since this is a more sophisticated program than the simple games, it may take longer. It should work on the new iPad, but we haven’t tested that yet.
As currently designed, the iPhone Editions will come with a default set of 5 tools (different for each Edition), and licensed laptop users can add additional tools by syncing. Look under the Solutions/iPhone Version to see screenshots.
We’ve searched the Apple App store and there is nothing even remotely as advanced or easy to use. You can add comments, change observees during a single observation, email reports with graphs right from the iPhone. Syncing to the computer version adds tools, more report types, uploading of classrooms, etc.
….how busy I’ve been. Most of the time has been in developing new tools, working with districts and universities, and updating the software. We now have a version on the site that works with the small netbook/mini-computers, and we will shortly have a version that works on the iPhone/iTouch. It’s exciting, but time consuming and I’ve neglected posting here.
Nevertheless, if you have a netbook download the ‘Compact version’ from the website. If you have a license for one of the advanced Editions, your same license key will work (email if you’ve lost it). All the features are the same, but a few buttons have been moved and resized.
If you are a handheld user, I strongly recommend that you look into the iTouch as a replacement. It’s under $200 and is VERY functional on both Windows and Mac. eCOVE runs much better on it that either the Palm or PocketPC. There are some new but subtle features coming that make the iTouch (or iPhone if you need the phone capabilities) really exciting to use.
When? a couple weeks of programming (you don’t know how many times I’ve said that) and then it goes to Apple for approval (2 weeks to many months).
If Apple approves things, you will NOT believe the price.
In a nutshell, the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy is easier to reliably use during an observation. The original Bloom’s is very useful when examining written questions, but if you’re not quite skilled with it, it’s difficult to categorize questions on the fly. The revised actually covers the same behaviors, but the terms used make it easier to identify spoken questions.
In addition, the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy includes sub-categories for each level, which can be very useful when doing more detailed observations about question-asking or answering behaviors. The original Bloom’s Taxonomy is in the Basic Edition; the new Revised Bloom’s is in the current advanced General Edition. All of the Bloom’s tools (there are 12) are available in the Build Your Own heading on the website. Look under Solutions and Buy menu headings.
Here is a comparison chart.
Comparison chart - Original Blooms versus Revised Blooms
Just a quick note about the Confederation of Oregon School Administrators conference in Seaside, OR. This is our 6th year of attending and although the attendance is down, it’s been rewarding to talk to the satisfied users and the new administrators discovering eCOVE for the first time. There seems to be less focus on ‘evaluation’ of teachers and more on helping teachers develope their skills. It very clear that the value of having objective observation data as a significant part of the process is high, not for the data itself but for the reflection and professional discussions that it produces.
There are now new ‘advanced’ Editions available. We’ve been working hard to develop new tools, toolsets, and complete Editions. Here’s a brief description of each of them:
General Edition. This is the new name for the ‘Advanced Edition’ that came out February, 2009. It has the same 40 tools but several additional features. The tools are useful for wide variety of observation needs – regular classroom, special ed, etc. It is a free update for owners of the Advanced Edition, but you will need a replacement license key. We’ll be sending those soon, but email if you need it right away (or we miss you). Very often, our ‘contact person’ is in the business or tech support office and not the end user.
Special Education Edition. This is a set of 25 tools designed by a team of special education professionals. The tools are grouped by eligibility area (which can be changed) and deals with the full spectrum of disabilities. There is a 6 tool overlap with the General Edition, so most of the tools are brand new. There are additional tools available in the Build-Your-Own section. Search for ’special education’ for our recommendations.
Administrator Edition. This is a set of 25 tools focused on general classroom observation and is useful for building administrators, lead teachers, coaches as a way to provide data to the classroom teacher. There is a 19 tool overlap with the General Edition, so there are 6 new tools in this Edition. General Edition owners can add the 6 new tools in the website ‘Add-On Toolsets’ section. Also there are many additional tools available in the Build-Your-Own section.
Sheltered Instruction/ESL Edition. Another set of 25 tools useful to those observing classroom with second language students. These tools support the use of the Sheltered Observation Observation Protocol (SIOP) but is not limited to that use. These are a core set of tools to track best practices for teaching ESL (and other) students. Again, additional tools are available in the Build-Your-Own section – search for Sheltered Instruction.
As we continue to create new tools for the general classroom observation, special education, sheltered instruction, and implementation of a curriculum or behavior plan, it’s becoming clearer that there is major need to focus on the fidelity of implementation. So often the evaluation efforts are focused on either student outcomes (test scores or a culminating performance) or the level/type of student engagement. While those are critical pieces of data, the first data needs to on whether the teacher is implementing the curriculum or behavior plan as it was designed to be used.
I’m not in favor of lock-step following of the directions of ‘experts’, especially textbook publishers. To expect someone not familiar with the students and the school culture to lay out a specific sequence of teaching steps is asking too much. However, good curriculum is carefully designed and reviewed, and should have a consistent delivery system that should be initially followed. It’s very important to track the fidelity of implementation if you want to determine if the new curriculum or behavior plan is effective. If the teachers are consistent in the organization and delivery, then the data on change of student behavior can be trusted. Without the fidelity of implementation data, you would have no way of determining the cause of the success or failure of the efforts. Is it because the curriculum and/or delivery system is flawed or is the actual delivery by the teacher inconsistent or significantly changed?
With eCOVE Observation Software and the ability to create tools to match the desired behaviors, it’s possible to track both in the same observation. And with the ability to see the data over time and in comparison to other groups, it’s easy to get serious about making data based decisions. I get excited thinking about the time saved and frustration avoided when you can use the data to make in-progress adjustments, schedule retraining, or engage the teachers in an objective evaluation of the intervention. Rather than waiting for the outcomes to determine that it’s not working, tracking the student behavior can indicate the effectiveness of the intervention early in the process. Where that effectiveness is lacking, the data on the fidelity of implementation can help identify the cause, and in-progress corrections made in a timely manner.
Of course, this applies to not only school wide curriculum implementation but also to an individual student’s IEP. Whatever the level, the three basic questions are the same: Is the intervention being appropriately implemented? Is it having the desired effect on the student’s behavior? Does that result in greater learning? You need all three pieces of data to make professional decisions.
