Power Walkthrough® elevates instruction in Ohio District

The Challenge

Principals in the Olmsted Falls City Schools district in Olmsted Falls, Ohio, know the importance of classroom observations and conduct them on a regular basis—but they weren't seeing any results in the classroom. Data were collected, according to Assistant Superintendent Jim Lloyd, but it wasn’t being used to reflect on instructional practice. “Rather than looking at just the activities going on in the classroom, we wanted to know how clear the learning targets were for students and how much effective feedback was being provided to them during the teaching and learning process,” Lloyd said.

Strategic Solution

Lloyd learned about McREL’s Power Walkthrough® software and training in McREL’s magazine, Changing Schools. The software appealed to him because of the user-friendly technology and its “built-in pedagogy,” based on Classroom Instruction That Works strategies. He signed up thirteen administrators, including principals from the elementary to the high school levels, the superintendent, some central office staff and himself, for a Power Walkthrough seminar, conducted by McREL Senior Director of Field Services Howard Pitler. Almost immediately, Lloyd said, they began using the software and have, to date, completed more than 6,000 walkthroughs.

Results

The results were brisk and more sweeping than Lloyd had expected. “Using Power Walkthrough has allowed our principals to become true instructional leaders,” he said. Schools are collaborating more and principals are united in carrying out the district’s non-negotiable goals—clear learning targets and high-quality feedback. Feedback and the use of cueing and questioning are two of the areas where he has seen the most improvement in classrooms. “Now, students know what they should be learning, teachers think more critically in planning lessons, and everyone knows our strengths and what we need to improve.

On a larger level, the use of Power Walkthrough has been like “gathering pieces of a mosaic and putting them together to get the whole picture,” Lloyd said. It has helped administrators monitor the district’s improvement and professional development plans and is moving the district from one that had “pockets of excellence” to one that is a “community of excellence.”  “We’ve had a high degree of academic achievement in our district for quite a while, and Power Walkthrough has provided us with a very useful, technological tool to acknowledge what works and continue to improve,” Lloyd said.

Next Steps

Now, once a month, teams of administrators from all the buildings and central office conduct 4–5 walkthroughs at each of the four buildings in the district, which serves 3,800 students. They’ve also invited neighboring districts to come and see how it works. Recently, administrators made a presentation to the Ohio Leadership Advisory Council about how Power Walkthrough has enabled Olmsted Falls to reach a new level of implementation in achieving their district goals.