Our Work: Leadership Development
Power Walkthrough Training & Software
McREL’s Power Walkthrough training and software helps school leaders
turn their regular classroom observations into “power walkthroughs” by
using a PDA, Tablet PC, Blackberry, or iPhone device loaded with McREL’s
Web-based software.
Get more from your
classroom observations
Learn more about Power Walkthrough and enroll in an upcoming seminar.
Principals know that to serve as effective instructional leaders, they should conduct regular classroom observations. But what should they look for when observing teachers? How should they track progress and report their observations back to teachers? How can they determine if staff development efforts are resulting in changes in teaching and student learning? McREL’s Power Walkthrough training and software provides answers to these questions.
Focus on proven instructional strategies
Strategies from our popular books, Classroom Instruction that Works and Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, are the basis for this classroom observation software. In just a three- to five-minute visit, you can observe teachers’ use of effective instructional strategies, level of student engagement, use of technology, and other teacher practices that research has shown to influence student learning.
Improve your classroom observation skills
McREL holds workshops to help leaders learn how to use data to provide feedback to teachers that promotes whole school change. We offer these workshops at schools, districts, and regional intermediate agencies or at McREL’s offices in Denver, Colorado. After two days, you will walk away with a practical understanding of the nine categories of strategies in Classroom Instruction that Works, why they are so powerful in improving student learning, and how to identify their use in classrooms.
Learn how to observe and evaluate these critical aspects of teaching and learning:
■ Extent to which teachers use research-based instructional strategies
■ Context of instruction (e.g., whole group, small group, individual)
■ Types of work students are producing
■ Students’ awareness of learning goals
■ Technology in use
■ Level of Bloom’s Taxonomy