I’m constantly looking for new ways to help teachers via supervision, and I began using the tool below which provided a great jumping off point for improving instruction. What I like about the tool is (a) it’s something different; (b) it’s less threatening to the teacher as the supervisor is mainly focused on the students; (c) it’s fairly subjective as a quantitative tool should be.

It works this way:  The observer takes sweeps of the classroom at 5-minute intervals. During each sweep, he or she spends about 15-20 seconds on each individual student and records the specific type of on-task/off-task behavior the student is engaged in at the time. Here is a shot of the form:

Click to expand.

I won’t interpret the form for you, but there are some clear areas in which there can be improvement. What do you see? I gave the observed teacher the raw form without analysis before our meeting. When we met, she saw some of the same things I did, but not what I considered the most serious. As we discussed the data and worked on improvement goals, I think we both felt that the instrument was valuable for showing us things we might otherwise miss. If you’re in a supervisory role in education, give the form a try and let me know how it works for you.