Protocols for Considering Science Instruction

There is currently a lot of momentum around observing and reflecting on best-practices in classroom instruction. Books like Instructional Rounds in Education are gaining popularity as administrators seek to become more effective with walk-throughs.

The realm of science education luckily has some detailed and content-specific tools that can be used to analyze and reflect on effective classroom instruction in science. Here are two that have been developed in Washington State.

• Science Classroom Observation Guide– from the North Cascades and Olympic Science Partnership (NCOSP) has been mentioned here before- This is a thoughtfully designed tool
• LASER Science Classroom Observation Protocol– Similar to the SCOG (above) but this tool provides a rubric for each category

There are multiple uses of these tools and they were not designed to be evaluative. The SCOG proposes the following uses:

• Building a common vision for science
• Deprivatizing practice
• Supporting lesson study
• Case Study
• Developing a reflective practice
• Planning curricular units

You may also be interested in the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol– RTOP (thanks to Frank Noschese for the reminder). Click HERE to visit the RTOP site and HERE to download the self-reflection forms.