Math New Mexico

Step I - Identifying the problem and establishing the Overarching Goal
The lesson study process begins by teachers and administrators looking critically at their mathematics curriculum. Teachers need to look at the mathematics curriculum in their schools in relationship to what they know about their students' learning. Curriculum is not just material in books but the interaction of students with the learning opportunities being provided. This is a two-sided problem that involves looking at both what kids are having trouble learning and at how these concepts are currently being taught. We suggest:

Engaging in a Curriculum Alignment process
Developing an Overarching goal for the school.
Thinking about and engaging in Designing for Understanding
- What are the enduring understandings we want our students to have?
- How will we assess students to know if they have these understandings?
- What learning opportunities can be designed to support students' gaining this understanding?

Step 2 - Developing the research question in the Lesson Study Group

Reflect back on the overarching goal your team, school, or district has developed for your students. How can you relate this goal to the learning needs you identified in stage one? Clearly identify the problem area you want to address. Then develop your question for the research you will be doing through lesson study. Click here for some examples.

Step 3 - Designing the research lesson
Once you have identified the student learning problem you want to address it is time for planning. The research lesson must be developed in the context of the larger unit in which it exists and the overarching goal.

Plan the context for the research lesson by considering:
- The mathematics or other content you want students to learn
- The communication and discourse you intend students to engage in.

Step 4- Doing and Observing the Lesson
The research lesson is the opportunity to try out your ideas in the real world of teaching practice. The time spent completing steps 1-3 should help you to realize your goals for student learning in the observed lesson. Two rounds of lessons are usually done with an opportunity to revise between the lessons.

Visit the Observation Guidelines and be sure that all observers need to have copies of the research lesson and understand what data they will be gathering. Please make every effort to not change the lesson dates. Teachers from other schools as well as pre-service teachers can provide valuable feedback but find it difficult to participate if the dates change. This is also true for the MathStar staff.

Step 5 - Debriefing, reflecting and revising the lesson.
Immediately after the lesson all those who observed the lesson should spend a hour or so in a short debrief of the lesson. The debrief should start by allowing first the teacher(s) who taught the lessons to comment on their reactions to what happened followed by the team who designed the lesson. Then comments should be encouraged from the outside observers, the teachers and the staff. See debriefing guidelines. A second longer meeting should be held in a week or two to further reflect on the lesson using the actual video record of the lesson and the data gathered by the observers. If this is the first lesson cycle back to step 2. If you have completed two lesson cycles go to step 6.

One way to begin this meeting is to look back at your research question and then the process you used in the designing a lesson related to the question

Design: What was the planned learning for students?

Content- What was the concept you wanted students to learn? What evidence to you have of their understanding or lack of understanding?

Discourse: What discourse was planned and what kind of communication occurred?

Environment: What did you learn about your learning environment?

Hopefully the data gathered by the observers will help answer these questions as well as your own experiences in doing the lesson.

Step 6 - Sharing what you've learned
As teacher researchers you have learned valuable knowledge about how students learn and what kinds of instructional strategies seem to be most powerful for improving student learning. Just as sharing what they learned is an important part of student learning sharing teacher research is a necessary final stage to each research lesson cycle. You have much to offer to the field and to your colleagues. Use the lesson study report guidelines See information on data analysis.

The processes and documents described above were significantly influenced by the work of James Stigler and James Hiebert, authors of The Teaching Gap, and workshop materials from Clea Fernandez and the Lesson Study Research Group. These processes and materials are continuously evolving as we adjust them to the unique needs and challenges of the teachers, students and environment of New Mexico.



Standards Based Resources NM Standards and Benchmarks NCTM Standards Research Textbook Evaluation Resources Math Resources Mathematics Education Organizations NM Math Initiatives NMCTM New Mexico PED Math & Science Bureau STEM Education Group TODOS Teacher Certification Options Mathematics Events Town Hall NMCTM Conference NSF Epscore Conference Essential Events Professional Development Providers MC2 partnerships New Mexico Math Group NM Services and Workshops Assessment Lesson Study PED Text Adoption		The Lesson Study Process Lesson study is a teacher-directed professional development model developed in Japan. Lesson when translated from the Japanese can also be called in English investigation or inquiry. The lesson study process is grounded in teacher research and is not like traditional lesson planning. The following steps have been developed to help teachers engage in lesson study research. Notice the links to additional planning materials within each step. Step I - Identifying the problem and establishing the Overarching Goal The lesson study process begins by teachers and administrators looking critically at their mathematics curriculum. Teachers need to look at the mathematics curriculum in their schools in relationship to what they know about their students' learning. Curriculum is not just material in books but the interaction of students with the learning opportunities being provided. This is a two-sided problem that involves looking at both what kids are having trouble learning and at how these concepts are currently being taught. We suggest: Engaging in a Curriculum Alignment process Developing an Overarching goal for the school. Thinking about and engaging in Designing for Understanding What are the enduring understandings we want our students to have? How will we assess students to know if they have these understandings? What learning opportunities can be designed to support students' gaining this understanding? Step 2 - Developing the research question in the Lesson Study Group Reflect back on the overarching goal your team, school, or district has developed for your students. How can you relate this goal to the learning needs you identified in stage one? Clearly identify the problem area you want to address. Then develop your question for the research you will be doing through lesson study. Click here for some examples. Step 3 - Designing the research lesson Once you have identified the student learning problem you want to address it is time for planning. The research lesson must be developed in the context of the larger unit in which it exists and the overarching goal. Plan the context for the research lesson by considering: The mathematics or other content you want students to learn The communication and discourse you intend students to engage in. The kinds of data you want to gather to answer your questions. Considering principles related to engaged learning environments. Use the research lesson format to plan the actual observation lesson. Spend time on each of the steps and put a special emphasis on what questions or problems your students might have during the lesson Prior to doing the lesson share it with your mentor and other teachers via the web and ask for ideas and feedback. Also be clear about what data you want to gather and who will gather it. Step 4- Doing and Observing the Lesson The research lesson is the opportunity to try out your ideas in the real world of teaching practice. The time spent completing steps 1-3 should help you to realize your goals for student learning in the observed lesson. Two rounds of lessons are usually done with an opportunity to revise between the lessons. Visit the Observation Guidelines and be sure that all observers need to have copies of the research lesson and understand what data they will be gathering. Please make every effort to not change the lesson dates. Teachers from other schools as well as pre-service teachers can provide valuable feedback but find it difficult to participate if the dates change. This is also true for the MathStar staff. Step 5 - Debriefing, reflecting and revising the lesson. Immediately after the lesson all those who observed the lesson should spend a hour or so in a short debrief of the lesson. The debrief should start by allowing first the teacher(s) who taught the lessons to comment on their reactions to what happened followed by the team who designed the lesson. Then comments should be encouraged from the outside observers, the teachers and the staff. See debriefing guidelines. A second longer meeting should be held in a week or two to further reflect on the lesson using the actual video record of the lesson and the data gathered by the observers. If this is the first lesson cycle back to step 2. If you have completed two lesson cycles go to step 6. One way to begin this meeting is to look back at your research question and then the process you used in the designing a lesson related to the question Design: What was the planned learning for students? Content- What was the concept you wanted students to learn? What evidence to you have of their understanding or lack of understanding? Discourse: What discourse was planned and what kind of communication occurred? Environment: What did you learn about your learning environment? Hopefully the data gathered by the observers will help answer these questions as well as your own experiences in doing the lesson. Step 6 - Sharing what you've learned As teacher researchers you have learned valuable knowledge about how students learn and what kinds of instructional strategies seem to be most powerful for improving student learning. Just as sharing what they learned is an important part of student learning sharing teacher research is a necessary final stage to each research lesson cycle. You have much to offer to the field and to your colleagues. Use the lesson study report guidelines See information on data analysis. The processes and documents described above were significantly influenced by the work of James Stigler and James Hiebert, authors of The Teaching Gap, and workshop materials from Clea Fernandez and the Lesson Study Research Group. These processes and materials are continuously evolving as we adjust them to the unique needs and challenges of the teachers, students and environment of New Mexico. * MathNM would like to acknowledge MathStar for the materials they developed.

The Lesson Study Process