The Instructional Practice Guide includes coaching and lesson planning tools to help teachers and those who support teachers to make the Key Shifts in instructional practice required by the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).
In order for teachers, colleagues, and instructional leaders to have meaningful and productive conversations about instructional goals and outcomes, there must be shared expectations regarding lesson planning and observation. These tools provide common criteria framed around the Key Shifts required by the CCSS that can be used to facilitate conversations between teachers and coaches about aligning content and instruction. By using these tools to reflect on practice, clear connections can be made between Common Core-aligned lesson planning and classroom instruction--conversations which can supplement information from other established observation protocols that focus on planning and preparation, classroom management and environment, and professional responsibilities.