District presents new instructional framework and school walkthrough process

Regina Colquitt and a colleague identified as Sonia presented the district’s newly implemented instructional framework and a rollout of classroom walkthroughs designed to support building leaders and improve instructional practice.

The team said they selected three of eight framework components this year to focus work: ensuring access to grade‑level tasks with appropriate scaffolds, communicating belief and productive struggle to students, and promoting student cognitive lift (students doing the heavy thinking). The walkthrough process has three phases: a pre‑visit meeting with building leaders to set focus, in‑school walkthroughs done in teams of two to three using low‑inference notes, and a debrief that produces a Padlet and a follow‑up letter with “glows and grows” for leaders and staff.

Staff reported conducting 12 walkthroughs so far and aiming to visit all 18 schools twice by the end of the school year. Examples cited as strengths included frequent guided practice before independent work and use of organizers across content areas; areas for growth included intentional grouping during collaborative work, better use of adults in classrooms and increasing student ownership of rigorous tasks.

Board members asked about alignment with school work plans and longer‑term data collection; presenters said the walkthroughs are intentionally non‑evaluative, tied to principals’ school plans and crosswalked to other measures such as the 5 Essentials and Danielson domains to inform future professional learning.

The presentation concluded with plans for continued school leader PLCs and a second round of visits beginning in February.