Instruction: Dimension 2.3
Dimension 2.3 Communication:
The teacher clearly and accurately communicates to support persistence, deeper learning and effective effort.
Clarifying Statement:
This dimension focuses on how the teacher clearly and accurately communicates with students to support learning. Teachers effectively communicate goals, expectations, and objectives to help all students reach high levels of achievement. In many ways, this dimension is the foundation for all other dimensions, as there must be a clearly communicated purpose for learning. Communication must be two-way, where teachers and students clearly understand and articulate learning expectations. There are descriptors across other dimensions that are clearly linked to this dimension and support the holistic nature of the T-TESS Rubric.
Standards Basis:
Standards Basis: 1D, 1E, 2A, 3A, 4D
Possible Sources of EvidencePossible Sources of Evidence:
- Conferences and Conversations with the Teacher
- Formal Observations/ Walkthroughs
- Classroom Artifacts
- Student Growth Processes
- Analysis of Student Data
-
T-TESS Alignment to Practice
- Teachers communicate clearly and accurately and engage students in a manner that encourages students’ persistence and best efforts.
- Teachers identify gaps in students’ knowledge of subject matter and communicate with their leaders and colleagues to ensure that these gaps are adequately addressed across grade levels and subject areas.
- Teachers ensure that the learning environment features a high degree of student engagement by facilitating discussion and student-centered activities as well as leading direct instruction.
- Teachers promote complex, higher-order thinking, leading class discussions and activities that provide opportunities for deeper learning.
- Teachers ensure that instruction includes opportunities for students to generate questions that lead to further inquiry and promote complex, higher-order thinking, problem solving and real- world application.
- Teachers understand, actively anticipate, and adapt instruction to address common misunderstandings and preconceptions.
- Teachers use and adapt resources, technologies, and standards-aligned instructional materials to promote student success in meeting learning goals.
- Teachers establish, implement, and communicate consistent routines for effective classroom management, including clear expectations for student behavior.
- Teachers communicate regularly, clearly, and appropriately with parents and families about student progress, providing detailed and constructive feedback and partnering with families in furthering their students’ achievement goals.
- Teachers communicate consistently, clearly, and respectfully with all members of the campus community, including students, parents and families, colleagues, administrators, and staff.
-
Key Questions
- How are lessons structured in ways that promote student-led learning that is challenging, meaningful and deeply engages them in discussion?
- How are explanations presented in a clear and logically sequenced manner to facilitate mastery of learning and a clear understanding of lesson goals and outcomes?
- How are higher-order questions consistently used during instruction?
- How is instruction orchestrated to balance questioning techniques, wait time, and the integration of resources that move towards student-centered actions?
- How are technology and other media tools used to process instruction and communicate students' understanding of the content?
Distinguished
The Teacher
- Establishes classroom practices that encourage all students to communicate safely and effectively using a variety of tools and methods with the teacher and their peers.
- Uses possible student misunderstandings at strategic points in lessons to highlight misconceptions and inspire exploration and discovery.
- Provides explanations that are clear and coherent and uses verbal and written communication that is clear and correct.
- Asks questions at the creative, evaluative and/or analysis levels that require a deeper learning and broader understanding of the objective of the lesson.
- Skillfully balances wait time, questioning techniques and integration of student responses to support student-directed learning.
- Skillfully provokes and guides discussion to pique curiosity and inspire student-led learning of meaningful and challenging content.
Accomplished
The Teacher
- Establishes classroom practices that encourage all students to communicate effectively, including the use of visual tools and technology, with the teacher and their peers.
- Anticipates possible student misunderstandings and proactively develops techniques to address obstacles to learning.
- Provides explanations that are clear and coherent and uses verbal and written communication that is clear and correct.
- Asks questions at the creative, evaluative and/or analysis levels that focus on the objective of the lesson and provoke thought and discussion.
- Skillfully uses probing questions to clarify, elaborate and extend learning.
- Provides wait time when questioning students.
Proficient
The Teacher
- Establishes classroom practices that provide opportunities for most students to communicate effectively with the teacher and their peers.
- Recognizes student misunderstandings and responds with an array of teaching techniques to clarify concepts.
- Provides explanations that are clear and uses verbal and written communication that is clear and correct.
- Asks remember, understand and apply level questions that focus on the objective of the lesson and provoke discussion.
- Uses probing questions to clarify and elaborate learning.
Developing
The Teacher
- Leads lessons with some opportunity for dialogue, clarification or elaboration.
- Recognizes student misunderstandings but has a limited ability to respond.
- Uses verbal and written communication that is generally clear with minor errors of grammar.
- Asks remember and understand level questions that focus on the objective of the lesson but do little to amplify discussion.
Improvement Needed
The Teacher
- Directs lessons with little opportunity for dialogue, clarification or elaboration.
- Is sometimes unaware of or unresponsive to student misunderstandings.
- Uses verbal communication that is characterized by inaccurate grammar; written communication that has inaccurate spelling, grammar, punctuation or structure.
- Rarely asks questions, or asks questions that do not amplify discussion or align to the objective of the lesson.
Student-Centered Actions
Teacher-Center Actions
