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Professional Learning Suite—Framework Edition Domain 4 Course Index
Domain 4: Professional Responsibilities
Courses included in the Professional Learning Suite—Framework Edition related to Domain 4 of the Framework for Teaching (FfT) are included in the table below.
Component Series Course Name
4a Competency-Based Learning The Importance of Reflection
4a Data-Driven Instruction Data-Focused Instructional Decision Making
4a English Language Learner Using SDAIE for English Language Learners
4b Competency-Based Learning Maintaining Accurate Records to Monitor Student Progress
4b Data-Driven Instruction Finding Focus and Getting Results
4b Data-Driven Instruction Data-Focused Instructional Decision Making
4c Competency-Based Learning Communicating with and Engaging Families
4c Data-Driven Instruction Effective Formative Assessment
4d Competency-Based Learning Professional Learning Communities
4d Classroom Walkthrough CWT: Data Analysis and Reflection
4e Competency-Based Learning Being Receptive to Feedback
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Component Series Course Name
4e Elementary Science Science as Inquiry: Investigating Erosion
4e Literacy Organizing for Writing
4e Mathematics Higher Order Polynomial and Rational Functions
4e English Language Learner Module 4: Teaching Strategies for Content Instruction
4f Competency-Based Learning Service to Students
4f Excerpted from graduate course Teacher as Leader
The table that follows contains an index of courses that are related to the components of FfT Domain 4: Instruction. For each course, a description, the relationship to the Framework, and information about targeted resources are provided.
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Course Name Course Information
4a: Reflecting on Teaching
The Importance of Reflection
Course Description This course focuses on the importance of engaging in reflection to improve instructional practices and presents a 4-step reflection process to guide teachers’ analysis of their lessons.
Course Relationship to FfT The reflection process outlined in this course guides educators to identify what happened in a lesson and how this information can be used in future teaching—an element of Component 4a: Reflecting on Teaching. Examples of teacher reflection align to both elements of the component.
Targeted Resources in This Course Videos focused on teacher and expert commentary show a variety of strategies used for reflection. A 4-step process for guiding reflection includes questions that can be used individually or collaboratively with colleagues. Part of this process is reflected in a video of a conversation between an educator and her mentor.
Data-Focused Instructional Decision Making
Course Description This module presents opportunities for you to practice the process of data analysis, interpretation, grouping for instruction, and, ultimately, the instructional decision making that results from that work.
Course Relationship to FfT The strategies addressed in this module are related to two elements for Component 4a: Reflecting on Teaching—accuracy and use in future teaching.
Targeted Resources in This Course Reflection: Keeping It Going describes and then guides the learner through the process of reflection. Learners will view teachers and experts discussing the value of reflection, particularly during a collegial conversation.
Using SDAIE for English Language Learners
Course Description This course helps teachers understand the theory and practice of using SDAIE for English language learners. Participants apply SDAIE strategies and examine the importance of practice and reflection in the process of becoming expert teachers of ELLs.
Course Relationship to FfT The strategies addressed in this course are related to two elements for Component 4a: Reflecting on Teaching—accuracy and use in future teaching.
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Course Name Course Information
Targeted Resources in This Course While this course is targeted specifically to SDAIE instruction, the Reflecting on the Lesson section offers a process for reflection that would be useful for any teacher. In particular, the “Review the Research Base” page is a useful resource for all teachers. Teachers who use SDAIE in their classroom, or are interested in exploring it further, may want to complete the section activity.
The following courses in the PLS may be useful to you. The courses under “See Reflection” show other teachers practicing the art of reflection. In many cases, there are also expert commentaries or reflections about the featured teacher’s lesson. The courses under “Reflection in Action” include a reflection activity that asks the user to reflect on a particular instructional event. As you view other teachers reflecting and practice reflecting yourself, be mindful of the critical attributes for Reflecting on Teaching.
See Reflection
• Phonemic Awareness and Phonics • Letter-Sound Correspondences • Word Building • Organizing for Writing • Writing Conferences • Sharing and Publishing • ELL: Listening and Speaking • ELL: Reading and Writing • EL Development at Middle School • Teaching HS Math Using SDAIE Methodology • Teaching HS Science Using SDAIE Methodology • Numbers and Operations: Broken Calculator • Numbers and Operations: Division with Remainders • Numbers and Operations: The Magnitude of Fractions • Pre-Algebra: Pan Balance Equations • Pre-Algebra: Patterns and Functions • Geometry: 2D and 3D Figures • Geometry: Calculating the Area of a Triangle
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• Data Analysis and Probability: Measures of Center • Investigating Properties of Minerals: The 5 E’s • Science as Inquiry: Investigating Erosion • Investigating Density: Why Objects Sink or Float • Magnetism: Using Questions to Guide Learning • Linear Equations and Inequalities for Algebra II
Reflection in Action
• Differentiating Instruction • Problem Solving in Mathematics • Proportional Reasoning in the Middle Grades • Linear Equations and Inequalities • Linear Systems for Algebra II • Quadratic Functions for Algebra II • Transformations of Quadratic Functions • Exponential Functions • Function Operations and Inverses • Higher Order Polynomial and Rational Functions • Operations on Numbers and Expressions
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Course Name Course Information
4b: Maintaining Accurate Records
Maintaining Accurate Records to Monitor Student Progress
Course Description This course looks at the importance of creating and maintaining accurate, meaningful records of student data for making instructional decisions and communicating with students, parents, and colleagues about student progress.
Course Relationship to FfT This course moves educators from thinking about systems and strategies they currently use for record keeping to identifying new ways to track instructional and noninstructional information, aligning to all three elements of Component 4b: Maintaining Accurate Records. Targeted Resources in This Course Reflection questions help to identify the use of various record-keeping strategies and ways to improve current systems and procedures. Expert commentary explains how using the data collected from meaningful records can influence teaching practices and thereby advance student achievement.
Finding Focus and Getting Results
Course Description This course helps school leaders improve the processes related to working with data and implement successful strategies in their current work with data. The focus is on three areas: Assessment of Learning, Analysis of Data, and Taking Action based on the data analysis.
Course Relationship to FfT Strategies addressed in this course are related to student progress in learning, an element for the component.
Targeted Resources in This Course Although this resource is written for the administrator audience, the sections on Analysis of Data and Assessment of Learning are applicable for teachers who are interested in learning more about how to gauge student progress by designing appropriate assessments that can help them collect accurate student data.
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Course Name Course Information
Data-Focused Instructional Decision Making
Course Description This course presents opportunities for you to practice the process of data analysis, interpretation, grouping for instruction, and, ultimately, the instructional decision making that results from that work.
Course Relationship to FfT Some of the strategies addressed in this course are related to an element for Component 4b: Maintaining Accurate Records—student progress in learning.
Targeted Resources in This Course Strategies discussed in the sections Understanding Student Needs, Summarizing Multiple Assessments, and Creating a Class Profile are relevant for this component. These sections include information about how teachers can use assessments to collect information on student progress in learning. These sections also specify how teachers can use the data they have gathered about student progress to make instructional decisions and/or interventions; however, these strategies would be more relevant for Domain 3: Instruction, than for Domain 4: Professional Responsibilities.
The following courses in the PLS may help you refine your practice in regards to this component. You may wish to review them for additional resources related to this component. The New Teacher Support Series: Beginning of the Year Classroom Management This course is designed to support and orchestrate a successful beginning of the school year. It summarizes current research on effective classroom management and presents examples of that research in action.
The Data-Driven Instruction Series: Effective Formative Assessment This course focuses on effective ways to use formative assessment techniques to improve instruction and to provide students with the feedback they need to improve academically.
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Course Name Course Information
4c: Communicating with Families
Communicating with and Engaging Families
Course Description This course presents the importance of effective home-school communication and provides guidelines for informing families about the instructional program, communicating individual student progress, and engaging families in classroom activities.
Course Relationship to FfT This course offers many strategies and reasons for communicating with families, while highlighting the impact on student success. It is aligned to all three elements of Component 4c: Communicating with Families.
Targeted Resources in This Course In the Specialist Commentary video, Charlotte Danielson describes the importance of each element of component 4c. Examples of strategies are offered throughout the course to help teachers foster home-school communication. Epstein’s Framework is outlined to explain six types of parent involvement. Video examples show various ways to communicate with families and include teacher, student, and parent reflections alongside expert commentary.
Effective Formative Assessment
Course Description This course focuses on effective ways to use formative assessment techniques to improve instruction and to provide students with the feedback they need to improve academically. It illustrates the benefits of student self-assessment and the inclusion of students in parent-teacher conferences.
Course Relationship to FfT Some of the strategies addressed in this course are related to an element for Component 4c: Communicating with Families—information about individual students.
Targeted Resources in This Course The section Effective Feedback is directly applicable to Component 4c. This section includes examples of teachers communicating individual student progress to parents.
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Course Name Course Information
4d: Participating in the Professional Community
Professional Learning Communities
Course Description This course presents the theoretical foundations of professional learning communities (PLCs), and examines how teachers’ participation in PLCs plays a major role in improving teaching practices and increasing student achievement.
Course Relationship to FfT This course describes how establishing a professional learning community that involves teachers and teacher leaders in collaborative efforts can lead to effective enactment of each element of Component 4d: Participating in the Professional Community.
Targeted Resources in This Course Expert commentary provides a rationale and strategies for implementing a PLC. A brief case study of one school shows a PLC at work, focusing on the roles of those involved and the outcomes that can be realized when the professional community is valued. A Learning Community Survey is provided to gather initial data on a school’s current state in establishing a PLC and serves as a way to reflect and identify next steps to creating such a community with colleagues.
CWT: Data Analysis and Reflection
Course Description This resource provides information about how data can inform reflection, goal setting, and instructional decision making. It offers guidelines for identifying and analyzing data. Additionally, this resource provides concrete suggestions for CWT reflective dialogue.
Course Relationship to FfT This course features teacher collaboration in professional learning communities, which is relevant for two elements in component 4d: Participating in a Professional Community—relationships with colleagues and involvement in a culture of professional inquiry.
Targeted Resources in This Course Although this course is written for an audience of administrators, the videos in CWT Reflective Dialogue are a valuable resource for teachers. The videos show teachers working with one another in team meetings and would be useful for any teacher who is interested in learning more about how to develop collegial relationships and participate in a learning community.
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Course Name Course Information
4e: Growing and Developing Professionally
Teaching Cases
Science as Inquiry: Investigating Erosion
Course Description This case shows a teacher engaging her students in scientific inquiry to help them learn an important concept in earth science by using collaborative (cooperative) learning in her classroom, as well as science journals as a tool to assess student learning.
Course Relationship to FfT This is a sample teaching case from the Professional Learning Suite. All teaching cases in the Professional Learning Suite are relevant for enhancement of content knowledge and pedagogical skill—an element for Component 4e. The element states that teachers remain current by taking courses, reading professional literature, and remaining current on the evolution of thinking regarding instruction. You should select the teaching case that is most relevant for the particular content you want to learn and/or skills you want to hone.
Targeted Resources in This Course The entire resource is relevant for this component.
Organizing for Writing
Course Description This teaching case focuses on the ways in which organizing for writing can provide critical structures for ongoing systematic instruction, purposeful practice, and meaningful sharing and reflection.
Course Relationship to FfT This is a sample teaching case from the PLS. All teaching cases in the PLS are relevant for enhancement of content knowledge and pedagogical skill—an element for the component. The element states that teachers remain current by taking courses, reading professional literature, and remaining current on the evolution of thinking regarding instruction. You should select the teaching case that is most relevant for the particular content you want to learn and/or skills you want to hone.
Targeted Resources in This Course The entire resource is relevant for this component.
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Courses
Being Receptive to Feedback
Course Description This course discusses several strategies for being receptive to feedback. The course outlines the research base for reflective practice based on feedback, describes effective strategies, as well as potential obstacles, and then presents video of those strategies in action.
Course Relationship to FfT The focus of this course—receptivity to feedback from colleagues—is an element of Component 4e: Growing and Developing Professionally.
Targeted Resources in This Course Research provides a basis for being open to feedback and its potential effects on teaching practice. Video reflections and classroom examples illustrate strategies and successes in developing collegial relationships that allow for open conversations about feedback.
Higher Order Polynomial and Rational Functions
Course Description This course focuses on different characteristics of higher order polynomial and rational functions, including characteristics of their algebraic representations (e.g., number of roots or zeros, odd or even, degree) and their graphical representations (e.g., vertical and horizontal asymptotes, holes and zeroes, behavior near various critical points). In this course, you will explore your own understanding of the content, look at examples of student thinking, and think about applications to your own teaching. The course goal is to help you think about higher order polynomial and rational functions in ways that will enable you to foster the development of your students’ understandings.
Course Relationship to FfT This is a sample course from the PLS. All courses (otherwise known as modules) in the PLS are relevant for enhancement of content knowledge and pedagogical skill—an element for the component. The element states that teachers remain current by taking courses, reading professional literature, and remaining current on the evolution of thinking regarding instruction. You should select the course that is most relevant for the particular content you want to learn and/or skills you want to hone.
Targeted Resources in This Course The entire resource is relevant for this component.
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Featured Expert
Module 4: Teaching Strategies for Content Instruction
Course Description This course outlines effective strategies for delivering content-area instruction.
Course Relationship to FfT This is a sample featured expert module from the PLS. All featured expert modules in the PLS are relevant for enhancement of content knowledge and pedagogical skill—an element for the component. The element states that teachers remain current by taking courses, reading professional literature, and remaining current on the evolution of thinking regarding instruction. You should select the featured expert module that is most relevant for the particular content you want to learn and/or skills you want to hone.
Targeted Resources in This Course The entire resource is relevant for this component.
You may find other teaching cases in the PLS in the following series:
• The Mathematics Series • The Elementary Science Series • The Literacy Series • The English Language Learner Series
You may find other courses in the series listed below:
• The Effective Instructional Strategies Series • The New Teacher Support Series • The Literacy Series • The English Language Learners Series • The Mathematics Series • The Data-Driven Instruction Series
You may find other featured expert modules in the following series:
• The Literacy Series • The English Language Learner Series
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Course Name Course Information
4f: Showing Professionalism
Service to Students
Course Description This course offers a profile of a highly effective, passionate educator and teacher leader who demonstrates service to students through her dedication to helping all students succeed.
Course Relationship to FfT This course focuses on three elements of Component 4f: Showing Professionalism—service to students, advocacy, and decision making. Targeted Resources in This Course The videos in the Service to Students section profile Lisa Haynes through her work in the classroom, engaging in reflection, and participating in a professional learning community. All of her efforts maintain the goal of improving expectations and education for students.
Teacher as Leader
Course Description This course provides information about teacher leadership in the classroom, in the school district, and in the community, and how to overcome obstacles to teacher leadership.
Course Relationship to FfT At the heart of this component is the notion of putting students first. This course is relevant for most of the elements in Component 4e: Showing Professionalism—integrity and ethical conduct, service to students, advocacy and decision-making.
Targeted Resources in This Course Strategies discussed in Leadership from Within, Leadership in the Classroom—Affecting Student Achievement, Leadership Beyond the Classroom, and Preparing for Teacher Leadership are relevant for the component. These sections show teachers putting students at the center of their decision-making processes, developing new programs outside of their classroom to support their students’ best interests.
The following courses in the PLS may help to refine your practice with English language learners in relation to this component. You may wish to review them in their respective series for additional resources related to this component. The English Language Learner Series: Module 1: ELs & the Law Module 1: ELs & the Law addresses the laws, court decisions, and policies that impact the EL classroom and guide school programs. The English Language Learner Series: Module 6: ELs & Accountability Module 6: ELs & Accountability identifies ways in which English learners are included in school and district accountability.