BOOK INSPECTION AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO LOOK AT STUDENT WORK

1. with critical eyes BOOK INSPECTIONAS AN OPPORTUNITY TO LOOK AT STUDENT WORK CURRICULUM LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT LANGUAGE LEARNING SUPPORT SECTION 20 FEBRURAY 2012

2. Today’s menu PART ONE • Warm-up activity • Book inspection practices in HK schools • The purposes and potential benefits of book inspections PART TWO • Looking at student work together – the I in the Book Inspection PIE PART THREE • The rest of the Book Inspection PIE • Wrapping-up and key messages 9:30 – 10:30 10:30 – 12:45 BREAK 11:30 – 11:40 LUNCH – 12:45 – 14:00 14:00 – 16:30 BREAK 15:00 – 15:15 16:30 – 16:45

3. Objectives By the end of the workshop, the participants should be able to: • identify and describe the different purposes of Looking At Student Work as part of the Book Inspection task; • explain how Looking At Student Work can add a professional dimension to the Book Inspection task; • plan effectively for Looking At Student Work as part of the Book Inspection task; • make use findings to inform better learning and teaching

4. 1. You’ve had enough, there is just too much to do and life is too short. So… … you decide that you will no longer carry out book inspections.

5. Which of these pictures best describe the reaction you’re likely to face at school? Yeepee!!! Hurrah! The best panel head in the whole world! That is a ridiculous notion! Just follow the school’s procedures and stop being silly!

6. So if the principal would “insist” on keeping it and your colleagues would celebrate… Am I correct in assuming that both have very different views about the purpose of book inspections? What are those views? And more importantly, where do you stand and what is your role as curriculum leader?

8. The scope of today’s workshop How can I turn the book inspection task into a more meaningful pursuit? How can I add value to the book inspection while still meeting my school’s requirements? professional development accountability

9. Part one

10. 2. book inspection Practices In hong Kong Schools Based on a very small scale survey carried out amongst 9 of our partner schools we have been able to paint the following picture…

11. 1/3 – (3) times, 1/3 – (twice), 1/3 – (once) Frequency When Over half do it in January and/ or between May-June In over half the schools, the Principal and the Panel Head Who • by Ss learning abilities/ performance (5) • randomly (2) • different parties check different kinds of work to avoid duplication (1) • select average work (1) • select 1 piece that demonstrates the development of the main focus of the year (1) • by class (1) Sampling

12. Major strengths Major weakenesses Teachers • Careful marking and accuracy • No follow-up Students • Assignments completed on time • Careless mistakes, handwriting and attitude

13. Difficulties faced when conducting book inspections Feelings associated with this task • time & resources worthwhile and necessary • giving constructive feedback takes a lot of effort • giving realistic assessment lacks focus • linking student and teacher performance feels like an appraisal Despite the difficulties, the Book Inspection exercise allows the Curriculum Leader to monitor the quality and outcomes of the Learning and Teaching process

14. Work Collected grammar practice books notebooks worksheets used in class reading logs/ journals GE exercises formative assessments dictation

15. Overall… • The sample shows that our partner schools collect a wide range of student work; • However, not all types of student work are worth collecting for the purpose of developing a deep understanding of how students learn

17. 3. The purposes and potential benefits of book inspections So, when you do this task, are you…? or …inspecting books? …looking at student work? …And is there a difference?

18. It all depends… The panel head and/ or the principal ask all teachers to collect the relevant books for inspection. They inspect the “books” on their own and then complete the book inspection form and submit it to the general office to be filed. The panel head and/ or the principal ask all teachers to collect the relevant books for inspection. Everyone knows why certain “books” have been chosen. After the inspection, the panel head and/or the principal sit with the teachers and discuss the major findings. These findings are used to set priorities for the next subject plan. Which description is the closest to what happens in your school?

19. Probably a mix of the two depending on what you want to find out. However, you need to be sure that even though your focus may be… Teacher Learning Teacher Appraisal

21. Reflection question To what extent does/ should the book inspection reflect a curriculum leader’s: • planning skills • subject knowledge • ability to develop a common understanding of goals related to student and teacher learning …and why

22. Our proposal for you today…

23. How?

24. Part two

25. 1. Looking at student work together – the I in the Book Inspection PIE

26. Our daily observation : Some schools already have protocols and standard procedures for doing book inspections, e.g. specifying inspection focuses for different kinds of student work, such as reading, writing, portfolios, etc. 1. Looking at student work together – the I in the Book Inspection PIE

27. Common inspection focusesin schools that we observed Teachers Attitude Accuracy Conformity Feedback Students Attitude Correction Content Ideas & sentence structure

28. To add value to the professional side of the book inspection exercise in the implementation stage To share ideas on how to look at student work with more critical eyes To help curriculum leaders reflect on their school-based contexts and current practices Focus of the morning session

29. Using the Book Inspection as an opportunity to look at student work with critical eyes • What kind of messages should the BI task generate? What kind of structure can be adopted? • How to look at student work in greater depth (I)? • How to look at student work with greater depth (II)? • Is there any golden rule of how book inspection should be conducted? Do all schools have the same practice? • How can I bring my learning back to school?

30. Chapter One What kind of messages should the BI generate? What kind of structurecan be adopted? Different levels: • student • teacher • form • key stage • panel

31. Pointers for book inspection? As curriculum leaders, discuss in groups what you may want to find out at student level teacher level form level key stage level panel level from the book inspection exercise.

33. Chapter Two How to look at student work in greater depth (I)?

34. What to begin with? Where to begin?

35. Looking at student work with greater depth Comment if positive student learning evidence can be seen in the exhibit

36. Background info., e.g. • level, • what kind of task is this, • students’ prior learning, etc. • Learning objectives in terms of • language skills • grammar • text types • cognitive expectation How students learned, i.e. the learning process, how scaffolding was done, etc.

37. Looking at student work with greater depth • Knowing the background and objectives is important when looking at student work during book inspections • Information gaps need to be filled.

38. Scrutiny cover sheet ? To be prepared by your panel members

40. Sample scrutiny cover sheet Work type chosen Prepared by (optional) Level & class Class background Previous learning and/or scaffolding Learning objectives: Language skills Grammar Vocabulary Text-types Measures to cater for learner diversity Student attainment Difficulties encountered Reflection

41. Chapter Three How to look at student work in greater depth (II)?

42. You will find in your brown envelope… A set of teaching materials Simplified scrutiny cover sheet • 3 sets of student work from • different ability group : • stronger • average • weaker Task sheet

44. Chapter Four Is there any golden rule of how book inspection should be conducted? Do all schools have the same practice?

45. 40% of English teachers have 1 or 2 years’ experience teaching in the school There are complaints about teachers’ inaccurate marking Collaborative culture is not evident. Teachers usually do their teaching independently without much sharing among colleagues. ESR report suggested more attention on catering for learner diversity for the English subject. Support is sought from LLSS to work at S2 on learner diversity. The school would like teachers to use transparent assessment criteria and constructive feedback to help students make improvements in their learning. It has been made a focus in both the school development plan and the subject plan. Case study (1) School A

46. Your group’s decision in this column Given in strips (beige) Given in strips (green) Given in strips (yellow) Complete the table

49. About three-quarters of English teachers have been teaching for 5+ years in the school Improving students’ writing is a major priority in the school’s subject plan for the year. Measures to improve writing: Holistic planning of different writing genres across levels Strengthening idea generation and vocabulary building in pre-tasks set Strengthening the scaffolding of tasks designed (Teachers) Providing constructive feedback to students’ writing Setting clear assessment criteria for writing Case study (2) School B

50. Case study (2) [ cont’d ] • S4 parents complain that writing is too hard for their children and there is a considerable gap between S3 and S4writing. • Senior level teachers reflected that their curriculum is too packed and they were frustrated that they had to cover a lot of knowledge and skills about the electives from scratch. They felt that more could be done at the junior levels to prepare the students early.