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SE 066 957

Weeks, Denise Jarrett, Ed.; Stepanek, Jennifer, Ed.

Lesson Study: Teachers Learning Together.

Northwest Eisenhower Regional Consortium for Mathematics andScience, Portland, OR.Department of Education, Washington, DC.

2001-00-0025p.; Theme issue. Published three times per year.

R319A000007Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Mathematics andScience Education Center, 101 SW Main Street, Suite 500,Portland, OR 97204. Tel: 503-275-0457; e-mail:[email protected]. For full text:http://www.nwrel.org/ msec.

Collected Works Serials (022)

Northwest Teacher; v2 n2 Spr 2001

EDRS Price MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage.Elementary Secondary Education; *Faculty Development; ForeignCountries; Instructional Development; Learning Activities;*Mathematics Instruction; *Mathematics Teachers

*Japan

This publication takes a look at lesson study both in itsJapanese form and as it is being implemented in the United States. Itcontains the lesson study process, the rationale for using such an approach,and illustrates how teachers and administrators around the United States aretaking the first steps toward adapting and implementing lesson study.Sections include: (1) "A New View of Professional Development" (JenniferStepanek); (2) "Creating Happy Memories" (Denise Jarrett Weeks); and (3)"Leading from Within" (Suzie Boss). (KHR)

Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be madefrom the original document.

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PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE ANDDISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS

BEEN GRANTED BY

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Northwest RegionalEducational Laboratory

LESSON STUDYEACI IF S IEARN ING TOGETHER

A NEW VIEW TO PROFESSIONAL GROWTH LEADING FROM WITHIN to

CREATING HAPPY MEMORIES THROUGH LESSON STUDY

2 BEST COPY NAPA

NORTHWEST

TEACHERA Math and Science Journal

Devoted to Rigorous

and Imaginative Learning

VOLUME 2 NUMBER 2

SPRING 2001

EACHER

ON THE COVER:

This still life with tulips was

created with tempura and oil

pastel by Grace Culhane, 7,

a student at Innerscape Art

Center, Portland, Oregon.

contentsLESSON STUDY: TEACHERS LEARNING TOGETHER

1 Editors' Note

SCOPE

2 A New View of Professional Development JENNIFER STEPANEK

FEATURES

6 Creating Happy Memories DENISE JARRETT WEEKS

12 Leading From Within SUZIE BOSS

DEPARTMENTS

17 Connected Corner ERIC BLACKFORD

18 Discourse

ALFIE KOHN, MIKE TOMLINSON, JIM BOYCE, LESLIE GORDON

20 Classroom Resources AMY SUTTON

21 A Word From the Director KIT PEIXOTTO

NORTHWEST TEACHER IS A PUBLICATION OF THE NORTHWEST EISENHOWER REGIONAL CONSORTIUM

FOR MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE AT THE NWREL MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE EDUCATION CENTER.

NWREL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/CEO Dr. Ethel Simon-McWilliams CONSORTIUM DIRECTOR

Kit Peixotto EDITORS Denise Jarrett Weeks and Jennifer Stepanek CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Suzie Boss GRAPHIC DESIGN Shawna McKeown GRAPHIC PRODUCTION Michael HeavenerTECHNICAL EDITING Eugenia Cooper Potter

NORTHWEST EISENHOWER REGIONAL CONSORTIUM Kit Peixotto, DIRECTOR Eric Blackford, ASSOCIATE

Halimah Polk, ASSOCIATE Carrie Baker, ASSOCIATE AIM Davis, ASSOCIATE Denise Jarrett Weeks and

Jennifer Stepanek, COEDITORS Amy Sutton, RESOURCE SPECIALIST Amy Coyle, RESOURCE ASSISTANT

Dawn Hathaway Dzubay, SPECIALIST Cathy Clark, MANAGEMENT ASSISTANT Evelyn Lockhart,

EXECUTIVE SECRETARY

NORTHWEST TEACHER is published three times a year by the Northwest Eisenhower Regional Consortium for Mathemat-ics and Science at the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory's Mathematics and Science Education Center, 101 SW Main

Street, Suite 500, Portland, Oregon 97204, (503) 275-9500. Single copies of the publication are available free of charge per

request to educators within the Consortium's region of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington (while supplies last).

To request a free copy, contact the Consortium by e-mail at math_and_science@nwrelorg, by telephone at (503) 275-0457, orplace an order from the Web site at www.nwrel.org/msec/. An online version of the publication is also available for downloading

from this Web site. Multiple copies, and copies to individuals outside the Consortium's region, may be purchased through

NWREL's Document Reproduction Service at the above address, or direct orders by e-mail to products @nwrel.org; by fax, (503)

275-0458, or by telephone, (503) 275-9519.

This publication is based on work supported wholly or in part by a grant (R319A000007) from the U.S. Department of Education.The content of this document does not necessarily reflect the views of the department or any other agency of the United States

government. Permission is granted to reproduce this publication in whole or in part for nonprofit educational use, with the ac-

knowledgment of the Northwest Eisenhower Regional Consortium for Mathematics and Science as the source on all copies.

3 BEST COPY AVAilLAnt

a EDITORS' NOTE: BEGINNING THE CONVERSATION a

N UST EMERGING IN THE

United States, lesson study

is a professional developmentpractice that holds substantialpromise for improving teaching

and learning.

Lesson study is an ongoingpractice used in schools through-out Japan in which teacherscollaborate to plan, observe,and refine a lesson. The cyclesof lesson study form the coreof teachers' professional growth.Researchers believe that itis one of the key reasonsfor Japanese students' highachievement in mathematicsand science, and Japaneseteachers also believe that itis essential to their success.

of the organizations working tobring lesson study to U.S. schools.We have been very fortunate tocollaborate with the Mid-AtlanticConsortium on this issue of thejournal. Patsy Wang-Iverson ofthe Mid-Atlantic Consortium hashelped us to understand both theorigins of lesson study and howit is being implemented in U.S.schools.

Understandably, many teachersare wary of yet another interna-tional comparison in which the

EDIT° S9 NI TEDENISE JARRETT WEEKS

JENIFFER STEPANEK

[email protected]

This issue of Northwest Teacher

takes a look at lesson study,both in its Japanese form andas it is being implementedin this country. We introducethe lesson study process,the rationale for using suchan approach, and illustratehow teachers and administratorsaround the United States aretaking the first steps towardadapting and implementinglesson study.

The Mid-Atlantic EisenhowerConsortium @ Research for Bet-ter Schools in Philadelphia is one

By Tasha Iverson, George Middle School, Portland

United States comes up shortof Japan. Lesson study scholarCatherine Lewis points out:

"American teachers are con-stantly being bashed by theJapanese example, and that'sreally unfortunate." In fact,Japanese teachers are eagerto learn from their Americancounterparts about such thingsas fostering children's indepen-dent and creative thinking.

Lesson study appeals naturallyto teachers who long for oppor-tunities to collaborate, learnabout their practice, and facilitatetheir own professional growth.

The lesson study processintegrates a number ofeffective professional devel-opment strategies, such aspeer observation, ongoingcollaboration, and lookingclosely at how studentsthink, both by observing

them in the classroom andexamining their classwork.

In Japan, there is a lessonstudy group that calls itself thePolar Method Group. In theseteachers' view, teaching is similarto polar exploration because itrequires a great deal of training,knowledge, and meticulousplanning, while also calling onteachers' abilities to be flexibleand respond to unpredictablesituations. Exploring unfamiliarterritory is an apt metaphorfor embarking on lesson studyin this country.

Our vision is that Northwest Teacher will serve as a tool for professional development by actively' engaging readers and by

speaking to them as imaginative problem solvers, thoughtful inquirers, and lifelong learner& The stories that follow were

selected to inspire teachers to reflect on and talk about their own experiences and belief&Professional development providers might use an article to illustrate a concept providing time for readingand discussion.

Teachers might want to share the journal with their colleagues, discussing their responses tothe stories perhaps even col-

laborating to try a new approach. Administrators might distribute copies to staff members, inviting them to share` theirreac-

tons and reflections at a meeting or by e-mail exchanges. Northwest Teacher can serve as a starting point for group dialogue

about issues in mathematics and science teaching, as well as for independent reading and personal reffection.

northwest eisenhower regional consortium at nwrel SPRING 2001 northwest teacher 1

fess°

*SCOPE 0

EW 07onal Develop I 1 1 ent

STORY BY Jennifer Stepanek ILLUSTRATIONS BY students of Innerscape Art Center

TrEACHERS ENGAGE IN LESSON

study as researchers and

scholars of their own class-rooms. Their inquiries honor

the fascinating and complexnature of teaching.

Classroom life is full of habitsand routines that often pass un-noticed. They will often remaininvisible until they are viewedfrom a different angle or in anew landscape. A video studyof eighth-grade classrooms inGermany, Japan, and the UnitedStates allowed researchers tomake cross-cultural comparisonsof mathematics teaching. Indoing so, they were able to lookat teaching "with new eyes" andobserve commonalities amongteachers that might have goneunnoticed when only lookinginto U.S. classrooms.

In The Teaching Gap, James Stigler

and James Hiebert (1999) ex-

vides a new perspective onteaching and educational reform:

"Teaching is a cultural activity.We learn how to teach indirectly,through years of participation inclassroom life, and we are largelyunaware of some of the mostwidespread attributes of teaching

By Megan Armstrong, 5, Innerscape Art

Center, Portland

in our own culture. The fact thatteaching is a cultural activityexplains why teaching has been

THE TRUE VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY CONSISTS NOT IN

SEEKING NEW LANDS, BUT IN SEEING WITH NEW EYES.

MARCEL PROUST (1 934)

plain how the video study fromthe Third International Mathemat-ics and Science Study (TIMSS),conducted in 41 countries, pro-

so resistant to change. But recog-nizing the cultural nature ofteaching gives us new insightsinto what we need to do if wewish to improve it."

According to Stigler andHiebert, lesson studya modelfor intensive, school-based pro-fessional development used inJapanis a strategy for changeand improvement that is appro-priate for a cultural activity suchas teaching. Developing newapproaches requires deep

&ti-erh.1-alu4s. 4.4,...mt °

By Taylor Vlastelicia, 5, Innerscape Art

Center, Portland

thought, inquiry, and collabora-tion with a collective focus onteaching rather than teachers.Lesson study provides a wayfor teachers to look at their ownpractice "with new eyes."

Mills College researcher Cather-ine Lewis has written extensivelyabout lesson study and "researchlessons," the lesson activities thattake place in the classroom aspart of the lesson study process.She is writing a handbook forteachers and administratorsbased on her research, LessonStudy: Teacher -Led Improvement of

Instruction, due out this summer.

2 northwest teacher SPRING 2001 northwest eisenhower regional consortium at nwrel

During her observationsof science lessons in Japaneseelementary schools, she noticedher own understanding of sci-ence concepts was increasing.She found that Japan had experi-enced a shift from rote teachingto teaching for understandingbased upon the recommendationsfor science education reformin the United States. While thechange process seemed to besuccessful in Japan, it was muchmore inconsistent in the UnitedStates. The Japanese teachersidentify research lessons as thesource of their success (Lewis&Tsuchida, 1998).

Lesson study embodies manyof the principles of effectiveprofessional development. PatsyWang-Iverson, a senior associatewith the Mid-Atlantic Eisen-hower Consortium for Mathematics and Science Education@ Research for Better Schoolsin Philadelphia, has been work-ing with Paterson School 2 inPaterson, New Jersey, one ofthe first schools in the UnitedStates to use the lesson studymodel. She explains that lessonstudy brings to life many of thetheories about teacher learningand change: "Even though theterm lesson study' is not familiarto most people in the UnitedStates, it converges with ourcurrent thinking about what'sthe most effective kind of profes-sional development." For exam-ple, it is embedded in theclassroom and focused on stu-dents, it is collaborative andongoing, and it is based onteachers' own concerns andquestions (Darling-Hammond& McLaughlin, 1 9 9 5 ) .

.0 SCOPE 0

students at thecenter

In her autobiography, VirginiaWoolf (1976) noted her desireto break through the "cottonwool" of daily lifethe routinesand habits that prevented herfrom seeing and living deeply.When teachers participate inlesson study and observe a lessonbeing taught, they have an op-portunity to focus their attentionon students. There is little timefor such concentration whenteachers are caught up in theflow of teaching.

Catherine Lewis explains thatthis is a key part of lesson study."Japanese teachers say that themost powerful part of lessonstudy is that you develop thevision to see children. So you're

watching the students to seeif their eyes are shining andlistening for the exclamationsthat students make to themselves(Lewis, 2 0 0 0) .

The process of watching stu-dents as they think and learnis the part of lesson study thatis most appealing and exciting.Patsy Wang-Iverson also pointsout that this is the reason theprocess is so effective. "TheJapanese approach to lessonstudy provides two importantpieces that are often missingfrom U.S. professional develop-ment: the direct observationof students and teachers in theclassroom and teachers comingtogether to discuss what they'veobserved. Rather than examining

UNLESS I CALL MY ATTENTION TO WHAT PASSES BEFORE

MY EYES, I SIMPLY WON'T SEE IT.

ANNIE DILLARD (1974)

really watching how childrenare learning, and learning tosee things that you didn't seebefore: their thinking and theirreactions."

When they observe, the teach-ers are often assigned to followone group of children through-out the lesson. They pay closeattention to the conversationsstudents have with each otheras well as the teacher's interac-tions with the small groups.They are also intent on capturingstudents' reactions to the lesson:How eager are they to investigatethe topic? The teachers mention

student work, teachers shouldbe examining students working."

Steve Rhine, who teaches atWillamette University in Salem,Oregon, suggests that the successof programs such as CognitivelyGuided Instruction and Integrat-ing Mathematics Assessment liesnot in providing teachers withresearch on student thinking andcognitive development, but infocusing the teachers' attentionon student thinking in their ownclassrooms. Lesson study mayprovide teachers with a similarexperience, inspiring them to"open their eyes and minds to


the diversity and complexityof students' thinking" (Rhine,1998).

An anecdote from ColumbiaUniversity researcher MakotoYoshida 's (1999) ethnographyof lesson study in Japan demon-strates teachers' attention tostudent thinking and the thought-ful use of manipulatives. Theteachers spent a great deal oftime in deciding what manipu-latives they would provide fora subtraction problem. In thisexample we see that the teacherswere not merely concerned withwhat type of manipulative mighthelp students solve the problem.More important to them wasidentifying materials that wouldallow them to see and under-stand students' thinking.

developingprofessionalauthority

School improvement effortsoften fail to engage teachersas knowledgeable practitioners,instead providing mandates,incentives, or "teacher-proof"strategies and materials. Someeducators argue that profession-alizing teaching is a moreeffective way to improve theeducational system. Darling-Hammond (1997) advocatesfor teachers' professional author-ity and judgment as a moreauthentic means of developingand ensuring high-qualityschools than bureaucratic ac-countability systems.

Lesson study approaches teach-ing as intellectually demandingwork rather than a set of skillsto be implemented. The attentionpaid to each lesson honors theimportance of teaching as a pro-

SCOPE

foundly complex and interestingendeavor.

"Through the process ofimproving lessons and sharingwith colleagues the knowledgethey acquire, something remark-able happens to teachers: theybegin viewing themselves astrue professionals. They seethemselves as contributing tothe knowledge base that definesthe profession. And they seethis as an integral part of whatit means to be a teacher" (Stigler& Hiebert, 1999).

In Japan, lesson study is a col-laborative, schoolwide process,which means that improvementhappens in more than one class-rbom, and teachers benefit from

By Mackenzie Lamberton, 7, Innerscape

Art Center, Portland

building on each other's knowl-edge and ideas. The process oflearning through inquiry anddiscussion about classroomteaching helps teachers to buildtheir sense of professionalauthority (Linn, Lewis, Tsuchida,& Songer, 2000). Lesson studyalso increases teachers' accessto different points of view ratherthan limiting their interactions tothose colleagues who share simi-lar perspectives (Lewis, 2000).

constructingknowledge

In Liping Ma's (1999) studyof elementary teachers in Chinaand the United States, she foundthat the Chinese teachers demon-strated a deeper and morethorough understanding ofelementary mathematics thanthe U.S. teachers. For example,the Chinese teachers emphasized"knowing how but also knowingwhy," interweaving proceduraland conceptual knowledge.The U.S. teachers were concernedalmost exclusively with proce-dural knowledge. This focuson procedural knowledge wasalso characteristic of the U.S.teachers in the TIMSS video study(Stigler & Hiebert, 1999).

Though they had a deeperunderstanding, the Chineseteachers had less formal educa-tion in mathematics than theU.S. teachers. Ma found that theChinese teachers develop theirpedagogical knowledge afterthey start teaching. They use aprocess similar to lesson study,working together in teacher re-search groups. The teachers studyteaching materials together,exploring both what to teachand how to teach it. Their con-tent knowledge in mathematicsfocuses on understanding theconcepts in order to teach themto children (Ma, 1999).

Catherine Lewis points out thatlesson study provides "a mean-ingful, motivating, high-fidelitycontext in which teachers canbuild their content knowledge"(Lewis, 2000). Therefore, theprocess of lesson study seemsto be a more effective way toimprove teachers' understanding


of the content than increasingthe number of college-levelmathematics classes that teachersare required to take. In comment-ing on lesson study, a Japaneseteacher echoes Ma's findings:"The knowledge you gain bymajoring in something is impor-tant, but more important is whatkind of studying you do afteryou become a teacher" (Lewis&Tsuchida, 1997).

It may not be practical forschools in the United States tosimply adopt the lesson studyprocess without modifications.Nevertheless, it is a useful modelfor delivering intensive, school-based professional developmentthat educators may want to adaptto their own needs. In Japan, les-son study helps teachers to "rein-vent" policy in the classroom(Lewis, 2000). Teachers and ad-ministrators in the United Stateswill make adjustments and rein-vent lesson study in their ownschools.

The challenge will be to strikea balance between keeping theessential elements of lesson studyintactfor example, collabora-tion and peer observationand changing the model to fitthe reality of schools in theUnited States. For example,teachers tend to work in isola-tion and they have few, if any,opportunities to observe eachother. Lesson study may helpeducators to see these barriers"with new eyes" and identifypossibilities for change.

Jennifer Stepanek is coeditor of North-

west Teacher.

SEE REFERENCES, PAGE 16

o SCOPE o

THE LESSON STUDY PROCESS

In Japanese schools, the lesson study process generally flows through the fol-

lowing phases. The amount of time devoted to each lesson study varies, but

the teachers commonly work on a lesson for about one month. This overview

of the process is based on the work of Lewis (2000), Stigler & Hiebert (1999),

and Yoshida (1999).

1. Focusing the LessonThe lesson study usually focuses on a broad, schoolwide goal such as "inde-

pendent thinking" or "love of learning." The teachers help determine thesebroad goals, and they choose the specific topic of the lesson. The topic often

comes from a problematic concept that the teachers have observed in their

own classrooms.

2. Planning the Lesson.The teachers research the topic of the study, reading books and articles about

the problem they are working on. They collaborate to develop the lesson plan,

and a draft is presented to the school staff for feedback.

3. Teaching the LessonOne teacher from the team presents the lesson in his classroom. The other

teachers observe the lesson very closely, taking notes, on what the students

and the teacher are doing and saying. The lesson may be documented

through video, photographs, audiotapes, and student work.

4. Reflecting and EvaluatingThe group meets after school to discuss the lesson and their observations.

The teacher who presented the lesson speaks first, outlining how he thinks

the lesson went and identifying problems he observed, The other teachers

contribute their own observations and suggestions.

5. Revising the LessonBased on the problems identified in the first presentation, the study group

makes changes in the lesson. Changes are usually based on student misun-

derstandings that the teachers noticed during their observation. The group

may meet several times to improve the lesson and prepare for a second im-

plementation, although sometimes the teachers decide that they do not need

to reteach it.

6. Teaching the Revised LessonThe lesson may be presented again to a different group of students. The same

person may teach the lesson a second time or a different teacher may try itout. Often, all the teachers in the school are invited to observe the revised

lesson.

7. Reflecting and EvaluatingThe whole faculty will participate in the second debriefing session, which may

cover more general issues of learning and instruction. There is usually an out-

side expert working with the lesson study group, who speaks last during the

debriefing.

8. Sharing ResultsTeachers share the lessons they develop through this process, creating a bank

of well-crafted lessons to draw upon. The teachers will often publish a report

about their study, including the teachers' reflections and a summary of group

discussions. In addition, teachers from outside the school may be invited to

observe the teachers present the lesson.

BEST COPY AVAILABLE


,o4

For veteran teacher Judy Thiel, lesson study

transformed a difficult unit into a fun andsuccessful one for her Tillicum Middle

School students.

BELLEVUE,WASHINGTONEVeTy

year, math class seems to humalong for eighth-gradersat Tillicum Middle School,right through data collec-don, graphing, and ma-nipulating variables. Butjust as spring promiseswarmer breezes, pupilsand teachers can findthemselves caught in theannual doldrums you

o FEATURE o

of linear relationshipssuchas coordinate graphingtheirunderstanding often flags whenconfronted with the more ab-stract concept of y = mx + b, theslope-intercept equation.

Teacher Judy Thiel, a 16-yearveteran math teacher in theBellevue School District, longedfor a better way to teach thisessential lesson. Despite its ab-stract form, it's an applicationthat has many real-world pur-poses, such as modeling data orcomparing rates of change. Lastfall, when she and three otherteachers got together for the firsttime to do a lesson study, theteachers tossed around severalideas for the focus of their study,but y = mx + b seemed the bestcandidate for improvement.

TEACHERS ARE BUILDINGAND

SHARINGTHEIR WISDOM AND

KNOW-HOW THROUGH LESSON

STUDY. IN THE PROCESS, THEY'RE

CREATING MEMORABLE LEARNING

EXPERIENCES FOR STUDENTS,

AND FOR EACH OTHER.

I saw all of those things on thatpage that these kids had to mas-ter to develop the understandingof y = mx + b, I said no wonderthey don't get there!"

Even for this master teacher,the best way she knew how toget through the unit, beforetoday, was to "crank and grind"through the components oflinear relationships and hopestudents would get it. Aftergrappling with it in a lessonstudy, she sees new ways toteach this important concept.

Now, she organizes and plansher lessons differently, buildinga stronger foundation for learn-ing by anticipating students'approaches. She pays closerattention to the detailsthesmaller components of a lessonas well as those subtle miscon-ceptions that can stump a stu-dent. She's more creative in howshe gets the fine points acrossto all students, using variedstrategies to support their learn-ing. She also breaks ideas downand stays on those ideas longerbecause she's more in tune witheach student's understanding.

CreaanIP

ap e oriesmight call the BermudaTriangle of middle schoolmath: linear algebra.

Linear relationships are, per-haps, the most important func-tions students study in algebra,yet they can be tough for younglearners. While students mightsail through the concrete aspects

STORY AND PHOTOS BY Denise Jarrett Weeks

The teachers started their lessonstudy by creating a "mind map,"a chart of all the essential ideasstudents needed to understandthe slope and y-intercept concept."For me, that was an incredibleeye-opener," recalls Thiel. "When

In the process, she's found herown knowledge of mathematicsdeepening.

"You learn the math along theway," she says. "You also see howall the pieces fit together, stepby step by step. I teach every-thing a little more solidly, I feel."


transformingteaching

Lesson study gave Thiel andher teammates the time to lookclosely at the lesson as it waspresented in the district's middleschool textbook, ConnectedMathematics Project. They alsodelved into the equation itselfand the many ways studentscould approach it. They incorpo-rated an interactive computer labactivity they found on Explore-Math.com that roused students'enthusiasm while providing vi-sual reinforcement of y = nix + b,and they developed materials andactivities to support learning allalong the way. The experiencechanged everything.

For Thiel, the lesson study focustransformed a difficult unit intoone in which she and her stu-dents could succeed and havefun. "I was much more relaxedand my students a lot less frus-trated. I think their scores werehigher, but more than that, theirattitude was just so much better,"she says. "To a teacher, what

ALearning to take time is one of the keys to

lesson study, says Tillicum teacher Liz Jones.

o FEATURE 0.

makes you frustrated sooner thananything else is if you've taughtsomething to the best of yourability and the kids don't under-stand it."

The experience also changedthe way these four teachers workwith each other. Now, Thiel andfellow Tillicum math teacher LizJones regularly share materials.When one of them writes a sup-plemental worksheet or activity,she will slip it under the other'sdoorthe welcome token is al-most always put right to use.

"One of the things that we real-ized," says Jones, "is we taughtthe whole unit better. It wasn'tjust about one lesson. We wereable to share ideas and comparenotes from about six weeks'worth of material, which is sorich. That never happens!"

Two other teammates broughtspecial points of view that en-riched the whole group's think-ing about learning and teaching.Barb Diesel-Hoover is a specialeducation teacher for the districtand Steve Lelievre teaches mathat Robinswood Middle School,the district's alternative school.Their insights and suggestionsfor adapting instruction for spe-cial-needs studentslearningdisabled students as well as thosewho are talented and giftedhave been invaluable, say Thieland Jones.

in it for the long runA triathlete in her off hours,

third-year teacher Liz Jonesknows how to go the distance.Last fall, when the superintend-ent of the Bellevue SchoolDistrict initiated lesson studydistrictwide, Jones stepped rightup to the challenge, volunteering

to be a lesson study leader forher school. Yet, lesson studytested her in unexpected ways.In lesson study, she discovered,it's not about crossing the finishline, it's about the run itself.

"I'm a product person asopposed to a process person.It's a stretch for me to spendso much time on one topic.As teachers, the demands areincredible to get through thematerial. It's been a good lessonin patience for me," she says,laughing. "I've really come toappreciate the process."

Like many others in her dis-trict, Jones has read The TeachingGap, a slim volume describingJapan's approach to lesson studyand suggesting how it can beintroduced in U.S. schools.

"In the Japanese model,'theymight take years before evencoming up with a [finished]lesson," says Jones. "My Westernresponse to that is, Oh yeah,right! That's an extreme differ-ence in our cultures that I don'tthink we can collapse in ourfirst experience with this." Asa lesson study leader, she feelsan obligation to help her groupproduce well-developed lessonswithin weeks.

Researcher Catherine Lewisencourages teachers to also payattention to other valuable out-comes of lesson study. In Japan,lesson study is used to creatememorable lessons and a sup-portive classroom community,she says. "When you ask Japaneseelementary teachers, 'What'syour most important job?' theysay things like, 'My job is to cre-ate happy memories.


Creating good memories andlearning experiences for studentsis no less important to U.S.teachers, despite immense pres-sure to cover a broad curriculumand produce high test scores.For Jones and her teammates,every aspect of the lesson-studyprocess had something to teachthem. Their discussions wereopen and rich, and they learneda great deal from watching eachother teach. Jones, who twicemodeled a lesson for her team-mates, says she was a little nerv-ous at first, "but it was just sonice to have help, that's sucha rare experience. I counted ontheir eyes and ears to keep trackof how the kids were doing.When you're giving the lesson,you can't honestly say how it isgoing, you're too busy teaching."

[learning bywatching

While Bellevue's teachers werefollowing the lead of their super-intendent, teachers in San MateoFoster City School District in Cal-ifornia were taking up the callto lesson study from one of theirown.

Jackie Hurd, a math coach andteacher at Highland Elementary,has been something of a trail-blazer in her district, clearingthe way for teachers to joinlesson study groups and creatinga growing network of enthusias-tic participants. Her role at thefront of this grassroots effortbegan with a visit to Tokyowhere she attended a lessonstudy open house at one of theschools. These open houses occurat schools around Japan eachyear, commonly attracting thou-sands of teachers who crowd

0 FEATURE o

into classrooms to watch demon-stration lessons developed duringlesson studies. What Hurd sawthere convinced her that lessonstudy was also a good idea forU.S. schools.

"I definitely felt fortified fromthe experience," she says, andshe returned to San Mateo withresolve. With a nod from districtleaders, Hurd mailed letters toteachers inviting them to attenda lesson study training sessionthe day before the start of schoollast fall. She included articlesincluding Catherine Lewis' "ALesson Is Like a Swiftly FlowingRiver" that appeared in AmericanEducator, win-

ter 1998.

Severalteachersshowed upthat day, andthe seedsof lessonstudy wereplanted.Since then,more than25 teachershave joinedlesson studiesacross thedistrict. Somemeet with teachers in theirown school buildings, othershave formed cross-school teams.Teachers receive $500 stipendsfor 20 hours of lesson studywork and can request substitutes,enabling them to observe otherteachers' classrooms.

"We're so challenged by howwe are going to teach all of this,"says Hurd. "In Japan, their math-ematics curriculum is muchmore narrowly focused, andteachers get a lot more supportfor training. They can reallyspend that time on one issue.We feel like we don't have thatkind of time."

In this first year, most groupshave produced 2-3 lessons. Theteachers found that it took a lotmore than 20 hours to completethe lesson study cycles, but thathasn't dissuaded them. In fact,more teachers are being drawn

Newport High School teachers Christy Brasher (left) and

Laura Peterson meet with a group of other Bellevue science teachers to

analyze a lesson they've designed.

Like Bellevue, San Mateo hasadapted lesson study, includingmaking allowances for the pres-sure teachers feel to cover thecurriculum.

in from all disciplines andspecializations.

As did Bellevue, San Mateoencouraged but didn't requireteachers to observe each otherteaching a lesson. "We said,'We're going to make it as com-fortable as possible for you toparticipate' If teachers want toteach the lesson by themselvesin their classrooms, and thencome back and share what hap-pened, that's fine," says Hurd."It has happened that in every


group, there's at least one teacherwho's willing to demonstrateand teach the lesson so thateverybody can watch. I do thinkthat's much more powerful thanpeople doing it individually.People quickly discovered howuseful it is for everybody to bewatching the same group ofkids."

To introduce more teachersto lesson study, the district iscreating a demonstration schoolwhere teachers from near andfar can come to watch lesson-study lessons being taught.

"What teachers love is the op-portunity to see another teacherteach, the opportunity to justcollaborate and bounce ideasoff of people, and just howmuch richer they can createlessons by getting the inputof other teachers," says Hurd.

The day after one of her firstlesson study meetings, Hurdwalked back into her classroomrealizing she had many newideas at her disposal. Her grouphad been developing ways todifferentiate a particular lesson,but now it occurred to her thatshe could organize all of herlessons in a similar way. Forexample, they had come upwith a way to arrange the lessonmaterials and to use the black-board so that all of the students'work would be retained whilethe lesson unfolded. In this way,teachers and students could referback to these artifacts of the les-son process to reinforce learning.

"So people are feeling like,immediately, they're learningthings that are enhancing theirteaching every day," says Hurd."I think we're starved for thatkind of collegiality."

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searcling fogundestandng

Their group discussions havebeen of the highest caliber,Hurd says. "It really elevates ourprofession and gives you a realappreciation for how you cantake teaching and make it thishighly refined craft." The focusof one of their lesson studieswas subtraction and regrouping,concepts difficult for some sec-ond-graders.

"We started this whole conver-sation about what kids need toknow to be able to do subtrac-tion," Hurd says. "What are thethings that we are assuming thatthey can do? Should you teachsubtraction by itself or do youteach addition and subtractiontogether? What are all of theconcepts that kids have to have?

"In order to plan that lesson,it really made us think about thecontent and really understandwhat it means to subtract. It isn'tjust about 'take away,' but ratherwhich numbers will lead to kidsunderstanding certain patternsand relationships? We had longconversations about what num-bers we were going to select forthese story problems. We defi-nitely got into some very deepcontent conversations."

These discussions led them ontheir own search for understand-ing in books like Liping Ma'sKnowing and Teaching Elementary Mathe-

matics:Teachers' Understanding of Funda-

mental Mathematics in China and the

United States (1999). They alsotalked to the first-grade teachersin their schools to find outwhich math concepts theyfocused on at that grade level.By talking with each other and

QUESTIONS To CONSIDER

What lesson has been themost difficult to teach?Create a "mind map" of the con-

cepts and skills involved. Identify

ways students might approach

the problem and pinpoint trouble

spots.

What activity will revealstudents' thinking? Will differ-ent manipulatives reveal different

aspects of their reasoning?

Who can we invite to ob-serve our classrooms andthen sit in on a lesson studymeeting to offer feedback?A specialist can help teachers

deepen their content knowledge.

How will our group negoti-ate differences in opinionsand teaching philosophies?Working collaboratively doesn't-

mean teaching the lesson exactly.

alike. Teachers might adapt the

lesson for their particular stu-

dents. A diversity of views is a

strength of lesson study.

What if we're apprehen-sive about being observedteaching? By developing a les-

son collaboratively, everyone

shares ownership of its strengths

and weaknesses. The focus is on

teaching, not the teacher.

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consulting other experts, theysharpened their own mathemati-cal knowledge.

"To move people [ahead] interms of their content under-standing, it is definitely goodto have an expert, like a mathcoach or curriculum director,come to some of the lessondemonstrations," says Hurd.

'knowledgeableothers'

Inviting outside experts toobserve demonstration lessonsand offer feedback is a commonpractice in Japan. In the UnitedStates, the school that has beendoing lesson study the longest,School 2 in Paterson, New Jersey,credits much of its success toits partnerships with the Green-wich Japanese School in Con-necticut and researchers atTeachers College/ColumbiaUniversity in New York and theMid-Atlantic Eisenhower Con-sortium @ Research for BetterSchools in Philadelphia.

Paterson teachers have observedJapanese teachers at the Green-wich School teach demonstra-tion lessons and meet in lessonstudies. Also, the Japanese teach-ers have been guest teachers atPaterson School 2, allowing Pa-terson's faculty to observe theirown students working througha lesson-study lesson. The re-searchers from Columbia andthe Mid-Atlantic Consortiumhave shared their knowledgeabout lesson study with theteachers, and they're also study-ing the influence lesson studyis having at School 2.

Paterson teacher MagnoliaMontilla was one of the first

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to join a lesson study groupin February 2000. "It wouldbe very difficult to transformthe way your school doesprofessional developmentwithout 'knowledgeable others,she says.

Paterson Principal Lynn Liptakagrees that outside experts areessential to supporting teachers'professional growth throughlesson study, but the intellectualpursuit must be driven by teach-ers themselves. "It must beginwith a question which takes usto our own professional knowl-edge, not to a question posedby an expert."

In fact, teachers should expectthat the first step any profes-sional development providershould take is into their class-rooms, says Patsy Wang-Iversonof the Mid-Atlantic Consortium.Only by observing students andteachers at work can a providerunderstand the needs of the stu-dents, and thereby identify whattraining or technical assistanceto organize for teachers.

"You have not done a good jobuntil you assess what's happen-ing in the classroom," she says.

challenges to faceLack of time is the biggest

obstacle for U.S. teachers. Typi-cally, Japanese teachers' officialwork day continues after classesare out of session, until about5 o'clock, allowing them to meetfor lesson study during theirregular work hours. U.S. schoolsmust find extra funding to payfor substitutes or stipends to payteachers to stay after school todo lesson study.

Classroom interruptions areanother challenge for U.S. teach-ers. In Japan, interruptions arekept to a minimum, while classperiods in the United Statesare frequently disrupted byannouncements over the inter-com, attendance collectors,messengers from the office,and ringing telephones. Liptaknotes that Japanese teachers viewthe lesson as "a story that shouldnot be interrupted."

Many teachers struggle witha burgeoning curriculum.Paterson School 2 switchedto a Singapore math curriculum,distributed by Singapore Math.com in West Linn, Oregon. It isa lean curriculum focusing onkey concepts that are efficientlysequenced. This helps teachersfocus their lesson studies onthose ideas that are most essen-tial for students to learn. In theprocess, they've improved theirown mathematical understand-ing while raising students' mas-tery of more complex ideas. Yet,cautions Montilla, this masteryisn't always revealed in statestandardized tests.

"Using the Singapore curricu-lum, your students' progressmay not show up in standardizedtest scores, because they don'ttest these kinds of complexproblems," she says. Getting stu-dents ready to do well on statetests that emphasize rote learn-ing, while also trying to fosterstudents' higher-order thinkingskills, is a burden that's felt heav-ily by Paterson faculty.

"The pressure on teachers atSchool 2 to prepare for the testis phenomenal," concedes Liptak.

i 310 northwest teacher SPRING 2001 northwest regional educational laboratory

iesson studypioneers

Despite the challenges, lessonstudy offers something manyteachers long for: the chanceto work together to improvestudent learning. In a guidebookshe is preparing for publicationthis year, Catherine Lewiswrites:

"Our lesson study pioneerswill need to be brave enoughto challenge the norms of pri-vacy and isolation that pervadeso many schools and to take onwork that is both intellectuallyand interpersonally demanding."

The teachers in Bellevue, SanMateo, and Patersonand inother places around the countrywhere lesson study is emerg-ingmay be pioneering thisnew practice, but, for most, itfeels like coming home.

Denise Jarrett Weeks is coeditor of

Northwest Teacher.

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A SUPERINTENDENT'S VIEW

It's not so much reinventing the wheel, says Bellevue's Superintendent Mike

Riley about adapting Japan's lesson study to U.S. schools, it's more like,

"Here's a picture of a wheel, now create one that will actually fit your car."Lesson study is as naturaland necessary-4o teaching as wheels are to

your sedan.

"When you take away the words 'lesson study,' and you just say, 'How wouldyou like to get together with other people who teach the same thing that you

do and develop lessons?' Would somebody really say, 'No thank you?" asks

Riley, a former English teacher. "It's formalizing something that most of us

have wished we could do our entire lives."

Riley has been described both as a "visionary" and as a "top-down" adminis-trator. Whatever his leadership style, he's succeeded in putting into place

many practices that support lesson study. He's initiated weekly early release

to free teachers to meet in lesson study groups and provides stipends and

training for lesson study leaders. He's raised donations to offer $1,000 to

groups that develop Blue Ribbon Lessons, which are published on the dis-

trict's Intranet. But implementing districtwide curricula may be the linchpin

to Bellevue's apparent early success with lesson study.

"It was a change from a very loose association of schools called the Bellevue,School District," says math specialist Eric McDowell. "Every single building

was using whatever the heck they wanted to use for their curriculum.". Now,

he says, "we can all talk together, share our common experiences, our suc -.

cesses, our failures. If you didn't have a common curriculum, a lesson study

would be absolutely impossible."

With districtwide curricula, teachers can form cross-school teams and use

lessons developed by other teachers. In this way, the wisdom and knowledge

of individual teachers can be saved and shared, says McDowell.

Lessons are to include five elements: a narrative objective, assessments,

student work samples, activities, and teachers' reflections. "What we were

looking for was the kind of deep reflection and hard look at curriculum and

instruction that we believe lesson study provokes," saysAssistant. Superinten-

dent Jan Zuber.

Former math teacher and University of Washington graduate student Mike

Gilbert is observing a lesson study group as part of his dissertation research.

While most professional development is done "to" teachers, he says, lesson

study is teacher-driven. "Of all the different things I've seen, this really holds

the most promise for practice."

In Bellevue, they're putting their faith in the promise of lesson study. It's an

initiative Superintendent Riley plans to stand by: "You can call it 'top-down'

if you want, but I think it's a hell of a good decision."

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14northwest regional educational laboratory SPRING 2001 northwest teacher 11

0 FEATURE 0

EA DDENG FROM W=EN

ESSON STUDY BUILDS TEACHERS'

,instructional skills, but alsomoves administrators in new

directions.

For 90 minutes on a Januaryafternoon, four teachers andtheir principal sat down withpencils, paper, and a specificgoal: improving how they teachexpository writing to fourth-graders. One of the teachersa 30-year classroom veteranstarted the discussion by leadingher colleagues through an exercisedesigned to help them under-stand the components of goodwriting.

Betsy Hill, principal of MedinaElementary School in Bellevue,Washington, remembers the after-noon vividly: "The directionsweren't just to write so manywords on such and such a topicand use proper capitalization.We broke it down into theelements of writing. We talkedabout how to create those ele-ments in a quality way. What'sthe process? How do you orga-nize what you want to say? Whatmight get in the way? Then wewrote something, putting whatwe had learned into practice.What I wrote for that exercisewas unlike anything I had everwritten before. It all tied togetherfor me." Others in the roomexperienced their own "Aha!"moments. "We all became betterwriters ourselves that afternoon,"says Hill.

STORY BY Suzie Boss

She recalls something else.When the session ended and theywere walking into the hallway,one of the teachers announced,"I learned more in that hour anda half about how to teach writ-ing than I did in four yearsof college." As her colleagueschimed in their agreement, Hillfelt her own excitement surge."It's exhilarating to feel thatmomentum. Here was a groupof experienced teachers who hadjust figured out how to make adifference for their studentsstarting tomorrow."

But they were far from finished.Once a week since that first after-noon, the team has been comingtogether to continue fine-tuningthe instructional skills that relateto expository writing. Hill partic-ipates on an equal footing withher teachers, learning rightalongside them and going intoclassrooms to observe teachingpractices in action. She describesthe process: "We talk aboutsomething specific that relatesto how to teach writing, then gointo the classroom the next dayand do somethingtry out whatwe've discussed. The next week,we bring the results back to thegroup. What did we miss? Whatworked well with our students?We keep at it until we get itright."

That long-term goal of improv-ing instruction is what's drivingsupport for this professionaldevelopment process known aslesson study. The Bellevue SchoolDistrict is one of a handful of

districts in the nation to embracelesson study across all disciplinesand grade levels, putting teachersin a leadership role for improvingtheir own classroom practices.Administrators are, however,discovering that they, too, playa critical role in whether lessonstudy will succeed or falter.

start-up questkmsBecause lesson study is still so

new in this country, administra-tors are having to grapple witha host of start-up questions. Howcan principals gauge whetherlesson study will be a good ideafor their schools? How mightadministrators get teachers ex-cited about the idea of comingtogether in small groups toimprove their skills and deepentheir content knowledge? Howcan a school or district allocatestaff time and other resourcesto support lesson study?

The answers vary widely fromone community to the next.Bellevue, for instance, haslaunched lesson study as a volun-tary activity, coaxing teachersto participate by providing staffdevelopment time, financial in-centives, and training for teach-ers willing to facilitate lessonstudy teams. But importantgroundwork must also be laidat the individual school level tosupport teachers.

"My school was ripe for lessonstudy," says Hill. "I had alreadyspent a lot of time getting thestaff together. We were in the


habit of talking collaborativelyabout teaching and learningobjectives. Now when we meetas a lesson study team, peoplefeel free to suggest ideas. It's asafe place. We all look forwardto it. It's not a chore. It helps tohave that teamwork in place."For a school that is less cohesive,however, Hill suggests, "Lessonstudy could be the thing youuse to bring people together."

In Paterson, New Jersey, PrincipalLynn Liptak of Paterson School 2says administrators should behonest with teachers about theenergy, time, and commitmentit takes to make lesson studywork, and let them decide ifthey're ready for it. "Lesson studyrequires so much teacher direc-tion that it is not something youwant to manipulate people intodoing," Liptak says. A supportiveprincipal is essential, "but it goesnowhere without the interest,commitment, and hard workof the teachers." As principal,she shows her supportnot only by servingon a lesson studyteam, but also byscheduling two hoursper weekduring theregular school dayfor her teachers towork on lesson study.

Other districts aretaking a more directapproach to get teach-ers involved. NashvilleMetro Schools, forexample, rolled outlesson study last Sep-tember for its entirestaff of more than4,000 teachers. DavidShearon, then a mem-ber of the Nashville

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School Board, got inspired whenhe read The Teaching Gap by James

Stigler and James Hiebert. "I fin-ished that book and thought:This is it," he recalls. "We haveto create an ongoing structureto give teachers time to workon issues related to teaching andlearning." He proposed that thedistrict make lesson study thecornerstone of school improve-ment. Contract negotiations thenunderway with teachers providedthe opportunity to replace fivehalf-days of unstructured plan-ning time with five full days,spaced throughout the schoolyear, devoted to lesson studyteamwork. Between June andSeptember 2000, the districtmoved from talking about theidea to implementation. SaysShearon, "Some things you can'tease into."

Indeed, some decisionsfund-ing for staff release time, policyabout use of substitutes to coverclasses when teachers are observ-

ing one another's lessons, and soforthalmost have to be madeby administrators. "Administra-tors can free up the time thatteachers need" to pursue lessonstudy, says Janice Itzel, a teacher-in-residence for lesson study atthe Delaware Department ofEducation. As she travels the statepromoting lesson study andhelping teachers overcome ob-stacles, she consistently sees lackof time as the biggest barrier.

No matter how the idea getslaunched, when it comes to put-ting lesson study into practice,administrators must be willingto let teachers take the lead. "Andthat's a radical changeto trustteachers to be the leaders of theirown instructional improve-ment," acknowledges Shearon.

The traditional role of the prin-cipal does not work well in thecontext of lesson study, cautionsLiptak. "You are not leading fromin front (where you have theanswer and share it).You are not

Students are the big beneficiaries of their '01

teachers' lesson study efforts in Bellevue. olt.L44


leading from behind (whereyou facilitate).You are trulyleading from within along with

everyone else."

Catherine Lewis of Mills Col-lege in Oakland, California, saysthat principals like Liptak areeffective leaders because theydare "to put their own teachingon the line, to make it clear thatthey are learners also.That saysto other people what learningis in this school, that leadingis learning." When a principalvolunteers to model a lesson infront of teachers and invitesthem to critique it, as Liptakdoes routinely, "that makes it safefor other people to do it," saysLewis.

Hessons for headersTom Ward, principal of Hume-

Fogg Magnet High School inNashville, chaired the committeeassigned to implement lessonstudy throughout the districtduring the 2000-2001 schoolyear. The committee's first stepwas to buy a copy of The TeachingGap for every teacher in the dis-trict "so we'd be on the samepage, literally." Ward laid out hiscommittee's vision to the schoolboard. "I explained that this isabout cultural change. It's goingto be slow. And we can't do it bywriting a memo that tells teach-ers: `Do this' It has to be open-ended. It won't work if we tryto tell teachers what to do."

In hindsight, Ward can also seethe important role that principalsplay in the process. "They haveto set the right tone," Ward says."You can't build success withoutthat."

0 FEATURE 0.

At a principals' retreat just be-fore the school year began, Wardled a training session intendedto pave the way to lesson study.He outlined the process andstressed the need for collabora-tion to make it work. Then helistened to their questionsinamazement. "I'm not sure anyof us had a realistic analysis ofthe state of our principals, of

support teachers as they beginto put lesson study into practice.Paterson Principal Lynn Liptakturned to outside experts earlyon. "I don't know how youbegin lesson study in this coun-try without the help of outsideexperts," she says.

Researchers Clea Fernandezand Makoto Yoshida of Columbia

Teachers observe and eavesdrop while students dig into their science project at the

Greenwich Japanese School in Connecticut. Photo courtesy of the Mid-Atlantic Eisenhower

Consortium@Research for Better Schools.

their different levels of develop-ment as leaders," he admits."There are those who under-stand collaboration. They are ableto lead without people feelingput upon: But they are not asmany as we'd like. The ones whoare autocraticthe little dicta-torsreally struggled with this.And so did the ones who wereafraid of getting their handsslapped. They wanted us to tellthem exactly what to do." If hehad a chance to start over, Wardsays he would put "more energyinto working with principals."

Administrators can also playa role in lining up resources to

University Teachers College inNew York put Liptak in touchwith the Greenwich JapaneseSchool in Connecticut. Lessonstudy is part of the culture at thisschool geared to teaching thechildren of Japanese expatriateswho are working in the UnitedStates. "Makoto explained lessonstudy to us in detail at the outsetand then remained with us stepby step, as did the teachers andprincipal of the GreenwichJapanese School," Liptak ex-plains. "Their help was invalu-able. It is crucial to select outsideexperts who not only possess theprecise target expertise that you


17

need, but also look for thosewho are willing to roll up theirsleeves and work alongside you."

Others acknowledge that expertscan bring more understandingabout the theory of lesson study,but stress that the real work mustbe done by teachers themselves.Janice Itzel turns to The Teaching

Gap coauthor and fellowDelaware resident James Hiebertas a consultant and mentor. "Wemight invite him to speak to acadre of teachers or at a profes-sional development workshop,"she explains. "But this is bottom-up work. It's grassroots. We wantteachers to help each otherthrough this, not be led by ex-perts. Experts can talk about it,but teachers do the work."

recognizing successGiven the current accountabil-

ity climate, some administratorsmay be put off by hearing thatlesson study is a slow processof improving instructional skills."If you're looking to raise testscores by spring, this is not theprogram for you," acknowledgesItzel. "You have to be in it forthe long haul."

How can administrators tellif lesson study is working? Long-term results may include im-proved student achievement,deeper levels of understanding,and teachers who feel less isolatedand more skilled at collaboratingwith colleagues. In the shortterm, though, many administra-tors are basing their impressionson what they see: Are teachersexcited about their discussions?Do they understand how to ob-serve and critique a lesson in aconstructive way? Are they hav-ing fun? Are they deepening

0 FEATURE 0.

their understanding of the sub-ject matter?

At a Delaware elementaryschool, Itzel watched a teamplan a lesson designed to teachstudents to write with moredescriptive detail. The teamincluded classroom teachersfrom kindergarten through fifthgrade, plus a P.E. specialist. Thelesson they designed had stu-dents working in pairs: Onewould strike a pose and the otherwould describe itin exquisitedetail. The P.E. teacher playeda key role in lesson planning,demonstrating that lesson studycuts across disciplines and sup-ports an integrated curriculum.Watching the team work to-gether, Itzel was impressed bythe atmosphere. "You could seethe fun of this!" she says. "Theyenjoyed the freedom to planthis lesson collaboratively."In the debriefing that followsan actual lesson, Itzel listens forthe group's receptiveness to con-structive criticism. The goal isalways to direct criticism towardthe lesson, not the teacher. "Theresults," she says, "really dependon how you take that criticism,and what you do as a result inyour classroom."

Liptak says she has no hard datayet to show that lesson studyhas improved results for kidsin Paterson. But she has plentyof reasons to think it's beena positive experience for herschool. She explains: "Becauseit is ongoing, because it involvesthe teachers intellectually,because it challenges all of usto think more deeply and lookmore closely, I see changes inthe day-to-day teaching of math-ematics [the focus of the first

QUESTIONS To CONSIDER

Does the culture of ourschool support collaboration?As an administrator, what can Ido to increase the spirit of team-

work in my building?

How, well do I modelgiving and receivingconstructive criticism?An important step in the lesson

study process involves reflection.

How active a role wouldI want to play?Some principals join lesson study

teams and participate as peers

with their teachers. Others take

more of a backseat role, support-

ing teams with release time or

other resources.

How might I let teachersknow that I'm supportiveand patient?Lesson study is about long-term

improvement in instruction.

How will I make sure thatlesson study leads to betterlearning results for students?Collecting data about lessonstudy outcomes is an important

aspect of the process.

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Mike Ferguson, science specialist for the

Bellevue School District, leads a discussion with

science teachers as they review a lesson design.

lesson study team]. I hear a dif-ference in the conversations thatwe are having and the numberof them that are about teachingand learning."

Ward, the Nashville principal,has made the rounds of everylesson study team in his build-ing. "The key for the principal,"he says, is "to go be an educatoragain."

When Ward visits lesson studyteams, teachers sometimes turnto the principal for answers. Hereplies with more questions."I tend to rephrase their ques-tion so they can discover whatthey need to figure out. That maybe frustrating for them to hearat first, because most educators

.0 FEATURE 0

are never allowed to do that,"he admits. "It's important toencourage them to go aheadand make some mistakes."

Evidence of collaboration andreflection have been commonat Nashville elementary schools,as well, during the past year.Shearon recalls watching a sec-ond-grade team struggle withdeveloping a math lesson onproblem solving. "They wantedto find out whether studentsreally know how to solve a diffi-cult problem. The challengeis that students pick up on thevocabulary of test taking. It wasfascinating," Shearon says, tohear teachers wrestle with howto design a math lesson wherestudents' thinking would notbe prompted by the languageof the lesson.

On a morning when Wardarrived early to serve breakfastto his lesson study teams, heoverheard seasoned veteranstalking intensely with rookieteachers about how to improveinstruction. At every table, con-versations were humming withenergy and enthusiasm. AndWard had his own powerful in-sight into the value of how theywere spending their time to-gether. "Lesson study," he says,"is a highlight of communityin your school."

Suzie Boss is associate editor of

NWREL's quarterly magazine,

Northwest Education.

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

referencesDarling-Hammond, L. (1997). The rightto leam:A blueprint for creating schools that work.

San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Darling-Hammond, L., & McLaughlin,M.W. (1995). Policies that support profes-sional development in an era of reform.Phi Delta Kappan, 76(8), 597-604.

Dillard, A. ( I 974). Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.

NewYork, NY: Harper's Magazine Press.

Greene, M. (1995). Releasing the imagination:

Essays on education, the arts, and social change.

San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Lewis, C. (2000, April). Lesson study:The core

of Japanese professional development. Paper pre-

sented at the annual meeting of the Ameri-can Educational Research Association, NewOrleans, LA.

Lewis, C., & Tsuchida, I. (1997). Plannededucational change in Japan: The shift tostudent-centered elementary science. Journalof Educational Policy, 12(5), 313-33 I .

Linn, M., Lewis, .C., Tsuchida, I., & Songer,

N. (2000). Beyond fourth-grade science:Why do U.S. and Japanese students di-verge? Educational Researcher, 29(3), 4-14.

Ma, L. (1999). Knowing and teaching elementary

mathematics: Teachers' understanding of fundamental

mathematics in China and the United States. Mah-

way, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Proust, M. (1934). Remembrance of things past.

NewYork, NY: Random House.

Rhine, S. (1998). The role of research andteachers' knowledge base in professionaldevelopment. Educational Researcher, 27(5),

27 31.

Stigler, J.W., & Hiebert, J. (1999). The teach-ing gap: Best ideas from the world's teachers for im-

proving education in the classroom. New York, NY:

Free Press.

Woolf, V. (1976). A sketch of the past. In J.Schuylkind (Ed.), Moments of being: Unpublished

autobiographical writings. NewYork, NY: Har-

court Brace Jovanovich.

Yoshida, M. (1999, April). Lesson study [ju-

gyokenkyu] in elementary school mathematics in

Japan:A case study. Paper presented at the an-

nual meeting of the American EducationalResearch Association, Montreal, Canada.

1916 northwest teacher SPRING 2001 northwest regional educational laboratory

o CONNECTED CORNER 0-

SOME LEADING U.S. RESEARCHERS HAVE

CREATED WEB SITES to share their accu-

mulating knowledge about lesson

study: how lesson study can be imple-

mented in this country, which schools

and districts are trying this approach,

what educators and researchers have

to say about it, and where to find fur-

ther resources.

TheLesson Study Research

Group at Teachers College/Co-

lumbia University in New York

(www.tc.edu/centers/lessonstudy/)

examines how lesson study is prac-

ticed in Japan, the effect of Ameri-

can and Japanese teachers' practice

of lesson study on teaching and

learning, and the tools needed to

support this activity. From the home

page, lesson study field application

sites can be accessed, allowing

viewers to read about the progress

of lesson study activities at schools

around the country.

Mills College Education Depart-

ment in Oakland, California, hosts

a Japan-United States Elementary

Education Research Project funded

by the NSF which looks at lesson

study. The project has a Web site

(lessonresearch.net) featuring

publications, video clips study from

Japanese classrooms, descriptions

of lesson study videotapes that

can be ordered, as well as news

of events and funding opportunities

related to lesson study. Links to

additional resources and further

professional development around

the issue of lesson study are also

available.

James Stigler, coauthor of The

Teaching Gap, has set out to

develop Web-based software that

will support teacher lesson study

groups by providing a means for

creating databases; placing entire

classroom lessons online; and

structuring electronic communities

for facilitating collaborations, shar-

ing information, and disseminating

lesson study results and curriculum.

Stigler's company, Lesson Lab Inc.

of Los Angeles (www.lessonlab.

corn/), examines the applications

of multimedia technologies to

large-scale research into teaching.

The Mid-Atlantic Eisenhower

Consortium for Mathematics and

Science Education @ Research

for Better Schools in Philadelphia

hosts the TIMSS Resource Center

(www.rbs.org/ec.nsf/pages/L2TIMSS).

This site provides links to TIMSS-

related resources, a lesson study

Web site (www.rbs.org/ec.nsf/

pages/LessonStudy), and the

Journey Beyond TIMSS brochure,

which provides information linking

TIMSS results and the importance

of professional development

grounded in the practice of lesson

study (www.rbs.org/ec.nsf/pages/

JourneyBeyondTIMSS).

The Journey Beyond TIMSS Web

site presents an easily understood

outline of the components of lesson

study, as well as the characteristics

of teachers who have a deep un-

derstanding of mathematics as re-

vealed through Liping Ma's book,

Knowing and Teaching Elementary

Mathematics: Teachers' Under-

standing of Fundamental Mathe-

matics in China and the United

States (Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc.,

1999).

To find out more about how

lesson study is being implemented

at some of the schools and districts

featured in this issue of Northwest

Teacher, visit these Web sites:

Bellevue School District,

Bellevue, Washington (belnet.

bellevue.k12.wa.us/lessonstudy.html)

Nashville, Tennessee

(www.nashville.k12.tn.us)

State of Delaware

(www.doe.state.de.us/englangarts/

Istudy.htm) and (www.doe.state.

de.us/Lessonstudy.htm)

ERIC BLACKFORDis an associate for the Northwest

Eisenhower Regional Consortium at

NWREL.

20northwest regional educational laboratory SPRING no northwest teacher 17

DISCOURSE

I

rom you

More To SayAbout Standards

was struck by two sections in the

article "Standards and the Im-

pulse for Human Betterment" (Win-

ter 2001).

1. You describe how the move

to raise standards was a response

to two problems: poor performance

by U.S. students and low gradua-

tion rates. The first claim (which you

offer as fact) has been challenged

by many researchers on many

fronts. TIMSS deals only with rank-

ings, which tell us nothing about

whether we're doing well or poorly,

only who's winning. Iris Rotberg

and Gerald Bracey have challenged

even these ratings at the high

school level (the only level where

it's argued U.S. students lag) for

methodological reasons. Your

second claim is graduation rates,

but no one has ever argued for

"tougher standards" and testing

to solve this problem. In fact, it's

becoming increasingly clear as the

data accumulate that the standards

movement is making the problem

far worse. (Recently, it was revealed

that the NYC dropout rate spiked

again as another high-stakes Re-

gents test was added.) By the way,

is it possible your article is conflat-

ing vertical standards (efforts to

"raise the bar") with horizontal

standards (NCTM-type guidelines

for pedagogy)?

SUBMIT LETTERS TO:

The EditorsNorthwest Teacher


101 SW Main StreetSuite 500

Portland, OR 97204or

[email protected]

2. After raising concerns about

state standards, with their lists

of facts and skills, you uncritically

quote Marzano and Kendall to the

effect that teachers still ought to

make sure all that stuff is covered.

Yet if the standards are atrocious,

representing a superficial "bunch

o' facts" pedagogy, then the last

thing conscientious teachers should

do is try to align their teaching to

those standards. The point isn't that

the state is unclear about what the

tests will cover; more precision and

advance warning won't address the

real problems here.

ALFIE KOHNAuthor of The Schools Our Children Deserve

and The Case Against Standardized Testing

Boston, Massachusetts

Our Partners in Science teachers

have used the [Alaska state]

standards with great success for

a number of years. I have gotten

feedback from them regularly and

they feel supported by the stan-

dards. Where the problem arises

is when standards are used to

construct high-stakes tests, but it

is the tests that are the problem,

not the standards, in my opinion.

What I am afraid may happen is

that the high-stakes tests may label

and condemn kids when it is the

system/district/school and teaching

that are broken and need the reme-

dial support. I am afraid if we have

tests without the support to change

teaching, they will fail and the

whole standards movement may be

dragged down with the failure of

the tests. There are no quick or easy

fixes in education today, but I am

not sure that politicians and others

have the patience needed to make

changes in a way that will endure.

Teachers need to understand and

support the standards movement

or it will go nowhere, in my opin-

ion. Standards can provide a frame-

work of goals (key concepts and

skills) but the substance of how

each concept and skill is taught is

up to the teachers.

LESLIE GORDONPartners in Science Project, NSF

Fairbanks, Alaska

CONTINUED NEXT PAGE

4),

LETTERS CONTINUED:

n the last edition of your journal

you strongly recommended that

every teacher become knowledge-

able about his/her state's stan-

dards. While I strongly agree with

this, I don't believe you went quite

far enough. To thoroughly under-

stand the standards you must un-

derstand how the standards

document is constructed.

The Oregon Science Standards

have four categories: Common

Curriculum Goals, Content Stan-

dards, Benchmarks, Eligible Con-

tent. Each of these categories hasof a different purpose. Too often, the

intended purpose is either ignored

or misunderstood.

The Common Curriculum Goals

are broad statements that define

the breadth of instruction that is

to be covered across Oregon. The

rest of the Standards relate to state

assessment. The Content Standards

define the portion of the Common

Curriculum Goals that will be

tested. Benchmarks break the

Content Standards down by grade

level and are themselves broken

down further by Eligible Content,

which defines specifically what

may be included on the state test.

All too frequently, teachers use

the Benchmarks and Eligible

Content to build their curriculum

because they offer fairly specific

statements compared to the Corn-

mon Curriculum Goals. But these

statements represent only a small

portion of the content that is to be

.0 DISCOURSE a.

taught, so the result [of relying

solely on them] can result in an

incomplete curriculum For example,

a high school biology teacher did

not teach photosynthesis because

it wasn't specifically included in

a Benchmark and the principal

required that teachers teach only

what is in the Benchmarks.

Teachers need to be knowledge-

able about the curriculum they are

required to teach, as defined in the

state standards. Learn how those

standards are constructed, then use

instruments such as Benchmarks for

Science Literacy and the National

Science Education Standards to

interpret the standards for your

grade level.,

MIKE TOMLINSONDurham Elementary School

Tigard, Oregon

While I strongly agree that edu-

cation should be discussed

and analyzed by all aspects of soci-

ety, I alsb strongly believe that the

assumption that education in the

United States is failing could not

be more wrong.

Although I don't have the factual

data at my fingertips, I believe that

we are educating more people than

ever before in the history of the

United States. What percentage of

the American population is now

reaching the high-school level?

How many more percentage-wise

are receiving diplomas? More are

going on to higher education than

ever before. A higher percentage

c,

eii

of students are now taking SAT

tests, yet the average scores are not

far off the peak scores from the

"good ol' days Putting it simply,

we are educating more people,

lower-level students are being eval-

uated, and we are still measuring

up reasonably well

Other aspects of our educational

system that are rarely discussed in-

clude our world leadership econom-

ically and production of more Nobel

Prize winners than anywhere else

in the world. Does that sound like

our system is failing? The contex-

tual setting of the American society

at the turn of the century needs to

be included in any discussion about

education: the crumbling family

structure; the many new require-

ments thrown at educators from

federal and state governments

(without funding of course); the

paralysis often created due to fears

of liability; more parents required

to work (read: less time for their

children); and the negative rhetoric

from all facets of society.

When you truly examine educa-

tion in a more objective context,

analyzing all factors that influence

the educational product, it's diffi-

cult not to admire the people

(teachers) who are continuing to

work at doing a better job in their

classrooms to reach the most

diverse population in the history

of the United States.

JIM BOYCEWhite River High School

Bucldey, Washington

tit

northwest regional educational laboratory SPRING 2001 northwest teacher 19

books and materials available fromLENDING RESOURCE

THE NWREL MATHEMATICS AND

SCIENCE EDUCATION CENTER'S

Resource Collection is a lending library

of teacher-support material. Search

the collection and request items

from the Web site at www.nwrel.org/

msec/resources/ or call (503) 275-

0457. The only cost is to mail items

back at library rate.

While lesson study originated

as an effective professional

development method in the Japa-

nese educational system, U.S.

educators are finding much promise

and relevance in this teacher-

centered approach. The resources

below highlight successful profes-

sional development practices that

support elements of lesson study.

Learning CirclesCreating Conditions for ProfessionalDevelopmentMichelle Collay, Diane Dunlap, Walter

Enloe, and George W. Gagnon Jr. (1998)

Learning circles are small communi-

ties of practitioners who come to-

gether to support each other in the

process of learning. This guide ex-

amines the essential conditions for

creating such a professional cul-

ture: building community, construct-

ing knowledge, supporting learners,

documenting reflection, and assess-

ing expectations.

Reflective Practice for EducatorsImproving Schooling Through Profes-sional DevelopmentKaren F. Osterman and

Robert B. Kottkamp (1993)

The authors outline a collaborative

process for educators to develop

a greater level of self-awareness

about the nature and impact of

their performance, creating power-

ful opportunities for professional

growth and development.

Creating the Conditions for Class-room ImprovementA Handbook of Staff DevelopmentActivitiesDavid Hopkins, Mel West, Mel Ainscow,

and John Beresford (1999)

To be effective at managing

change, schools and teachers need

to modify the internal conditions of

the classroom at the same time as

introducing changecin teaching or

in the curriculum. Based on the in-

ternational Improving the Quality

of Education for All project, the

book provides ideas, materials, and

strategies to help create conditions

that support changes_in the class-

room.

Listening to Urban KidsSchool Reform and the TeachersThey WantBruce L. Wilson and H. Dickson Corbett

(2001)

After interviewing students at

several low-performing schools

over a three-year reform effort,

the authors conclude that success-

ful reform touches students' class-

room lives noticeably and their

input should be an important

part of planning, implementing,

and adjusting reform.

The Teaching Gap

Best Ideas From the World's Teachersfor Improving Education in theClassroomJames W. Stigler and James Hiebert

(1999)

Based on the TIMSS video study

that compared the teaching of

eighth-grade mathematics in Ger-

many, Japan, and the United States,

this highly readable book shows

the extent to which teaching is a

cultural activity. The descriptions

of Japanese lesson study provide

insight into a process for develop-

ing professional knowledge and

giving teachers the opportunity to

learn about teaching.

Knowing and Teaching ElementaryMathematics: Teachers' Understand-ing of Fundamental Mathematics inChina and the United StatesLiping Ma (1999)

This book describes the nature and

development of the "profound un-

derstanding of fundamental mathe-

matics" that elementary teachers

need to teach math effectively,

and suggests why such teaching

knowledge is much more common

in China than in the United States.

Chinese teachers work together in

teacher research groups to improve

their teaching and understanding

of mathematics.

Singapore Math TextbooksMinistry of Education, Singapore

These texts from Singapore are

being used in schools around the

United States. The lending collec-

tion includes several textbooks and

workbooks in the Primary Mathe-

matics Series, for grades 1-6, and

the New Elementary Mathematics

Syllabus and Teacher's Guide, for

grades 7-10.

AMY SUTTONis a resource specialist for the North-

west Eisenhower Regional Consortium

at NWREL.

20 northwest teacher SPRING 2001 northwest regional educational laboratory

3BEST COPY AVAILABLE2

N THE COLLABORATIVE SPIRIT OF

LESSON STUDY, the Northwest

and Mid-Atlantic EisenhowerConsortia have teamed up toproduce this issue of NorthwestTeacher.

I'm very excited about the topicof lesson study! Like many othersin the mathematics and scienceeducation community, I havebeen intrigued with the findingsand implications from the ThirdInternational Mathematics andScience Study (TIMSS) sincethe results were first releasedin 1996. The differences revealedin the study regarding U.S. andJapanese approaches to teachingmathematics are especiallythought-provoking.

More recently, as ourstaff began to learnabout lesson studyand its relationshipto Japanese instruc-tional strategies andstudent performance,my beliefs about theconnections betweeneffective teaching andeffective professionaldevelopment havebeen reinforced. Den-nis Sparks, executivedirector of the Na-

A WORD FROM THE DIRECTOR 0

development" (Education Week,April 4, 2001). It is our beliefthat lesson study represents thistype of professional development.

In collaboration with our Con-sortium partner site schoolsaround the Northwest, we arebeginning to explore the promis-ing potential of lesson study byengaging teachers in meaningfuldiscussions about their classrooms,providing them with an oppor-tunity to examine their instruc-

A WORDFROM THEDIRECTOR

KIT PEIXOTTO

[email protected]

gether to design, implement,and revise lessons.

By attending seminars and con-ferences, reading professionaljournals and papers, and talkingwith others, we are developinga deeper understanding of theprocess and how we can bestfacilitate lesson study groups.Our counterpart, the Mid-At-lantic Eisenhower Consortium@ Research for Better Schoolsin Philadelphia has been a valu-able partner in our efforts todevelop expertise and resourceson the topic of lesson study. TheMid-Atlantic Consortium orga-nized two symposia at the 2001American Association for theAdvancement of Science confer-ence, where we deepened our

understanding of thetheory and practiceof lesson study.

We're excited aboutthe promise of lessonstudy as an effectiveprofessional develop-ment strategy for im-

, proving mathematicsand science teachingand learning. We planto develop resourcesthat others might usein their efforts withlesson study and

perhaps host a regionalforum on the topic.

For now, we hope this issueof Northwest Teacher and the lessonstudy links on our Web site,www.nwrel.org /msec/nwerc/index.html, will be informativeand spark your interest! GO

By Linea Dymond, Roosevelt High School, Portland. Courtesy

tional Staff DevelopmentNorthwest College of Art, Young Artists Program.

Council, says it well,"Quality teaching fed by power-ful professional learning canmake a difference in all schools.Teaching is a complex, intellec-tually demanding task that re-quires sustained, intellectuallyrigorous forms of professional

Pacific

tional practices, and observingand learning from each other.We believe that one of the mostimportant outcomes of lessonstudy is the deeper mathematicsand science content knowledgeteachers gain by working to


NORTHWEST

TEACHERA Math and Science Journal

Devoted to Rigorousand Imaginative Learning

NORTHWEST TEACHER IS PUBLISHED BY THE NORTHWEST EISENHOWER

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LABORATORY'S MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE EDUCATION CENTER,

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