![\"Photo](\"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/files\/2012\/05\/8180-031--260x173.jpg\")
<\/a>Wright State professors Ann Farrell (left) and Sachika Tosa (middle) meet with teachers at Kemp PreK-8 School in Dayton on March 14. At right, is Kemp teacher Vicki Westerfield.<\/p><\/div>\n
It is all part of a professional-development model for teachers being used in Dayton-area schools under the leadership of Wright State University.<\/p>\n
The \u201cLesson Study\u201d model is one of four professional-development programs for STEM teachers supported by Wright State in 2011-12.<\/p>\n
With 164 teachers from 77 schools in 12 counties, the programs have directly affected the instruction of about 11,500 students annually. Priority is given to teachers from schools that enroll high percentages of underserved minorities and the economically disadvantaged.<\/p>\n
Originating in Japan, the Lesson Study model used in one program has been credited for a shift from \u201cteaching as telling\u201d to \u201cteaching for understanding\u201d in math and science classes.<\/p>\n
In addition to Lesson Study, Wright State also sponsors traditional professional-development programs in which teachers gather on campus for intensive summer workshops four days a week for three weeks.<\/p>\n
PIES (Partners in Earth System Science) focuses on the teaching of earth science and chemistry and deals with issues such as water quality and environmental impact. The program often includes field trips to the ocean or Great Lakes.<\/p>\n
Another program, STONE (Science Teaching for Ohio\u2019s New Economy), is co-sponsored by the Ohio Aggregate and Industrial Mineral Association. The organization represents the aggregate industry, which, for example, mines sand and gravel for the production of concrete.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe participants learn about the extraction of things that are used in commerce and techniques for estimating how much you might be able to take out, whether it\u2019s economically feasible,\u201d said Edgar Rutter, director of Wright State\u2019s Center for Mathematics and Science Education.<\/p>\n
The fourth program is a multidisciplinary effort that offers summer workshops for STEM teachers of grades 5-11 in three areas: life science, earth science and physical science.<\/p>\n
Then, there is the Lesson Study program. Supporters say Lesson Study is flexible, inquiry driven, creates curiosity and keeps teachers in control while making students the focus. It is taking root across the United States, being used in classrooms from California to Chicago to Florida.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo really improve education, we need a more systemic approach,\u201d said Rutter. \u201cLesson Study often involves all the teachers of a particular subject matter within a school and has more potential to have schoolwide impact or even impact districtwide.\u201d<\/p>\n
For example, a group of teachers at a particular school might want to improve the teaching of fractions.<\/p>\n
They first meet as a team and discuss weaknesses in the existing lesson. A new, redesigned lesson is then presented in the classroom under the observation of the team, which carefully scrutinizes student reaction. The team later meets to discuss what worked, what didn\u2019t, and revises the lesson. There is then a second class presentation and second debriefing before the lesson revision is finalized.<\/p>\n
Rutter said it\u2019s all about the skill and methodology the teachers learn as they solve problems together.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey, themselves, have the power to improve their schools and the outcomes for their students,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
There are about 60 elementary and middle-school teachers in the Lesson Study program, most of them from Dayton Public Schools.<\/p>\n
Wright State professor Ann Farrell and assistant professor Sachiko Tosa meet with small groups of the teachers at their schools in three-hour sessions. Between August and December 2011, the two spent 170 \u00a0hours in the sessions.<\/p>\n
Farrell said the teachers bring their problems to the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe help them look at their textbook, at other resources, at their student work and try to find the answer,\u201d she said. \u201cThey build off of each other\u2019s expertise. We want them to be researchers in their own classrooms and do it collaboratively. That\u2019s one of the lasting effects we think there will be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lisa Minor, Dayton Public Schools\u2019 executive director of school improvement for pre-K to 8, experienced the Lesson Study program for several years when she was principal at Kemp PreK-8 School.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe redesigned lessons were more meaningful and relevant to the students,\u201d said Minor. \u201cAnd veteran teachers were revived and refreshed by the opportunities in the program.\u201d<\/p>\n
Math lessons include such things as ratios, bar graphs, classifying quadrilaterals and two-digit subtraction with regrouping. Other lessons focus on the teaching of history and social studies.<\/p>\n
Lesson Study has also affected teaching styles. One teacher learned to not always give students the answers, but let them work through problems–even if they fail to solve them.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said, \u2018I never realized how important student struggles are and that it\u2019s OK for students to have some struggles with material,\u2019\u201d Farrell said.<\/p>\n
Tosa said there have been improvements in student test scores at Kemp PreK-8, where all of the teachers participate in the Lesson Study program.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is some good evidence of teacher growth and student growth,\u201d Tosa said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
They look for \u201cthe look.\u201d It\u2019s the revealing expression on the face of a student that shows comprehension–understanding something that had once been a mystery. Continue reading