Godfrey, D; (2017) Target oriented lesson study (TOLS) Combining Lesson study with an integrated impact evaluation model. In: Proceedings of the ICSEI: Collaborative Partnerships for System-Wide Educational Improvement. ICSEI

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Abstract

This paper presents the learning gained from two projects in London from 2013 to 2015, both of which primarily involved improving teacher pedagogy and pupil learning outcomes through the promotion of lesson study. Students from under-achieving or vulnerable groups were targeted as the source of the interventions. One project was aimed at mathematics teaching in primary schools, while the other involved both primary and secondary school teachers and were targeted at improving outcomes for students in either mathematics or literacy. An impact evaluation approach was adopted that had been previously used at the authors’ university department to evaluate other professional development programmes and this was adapted specifically to use in lesson study cycles. The approach combined the ideas of i) ‘starting with the end in mind’, i.e. targeting the impact on pupil learning and changes to practice, ii) using Guskey’s multi-level logical chain of impact to guide the use of data collection tools and iii) an ‘improving rather than proving’ approach to evaluation that sought to maximise the impact of lesson study on practice. These programmes showed that the lesson study cycles had significant impact on teacher learning, and where organisational cultures and structures were attended to teachers were successful in developing new knowledge and skills that led to explicit gains in pupil outcomes after one year of the project. The methodological approach to impact evaluation shows promise in that it enabled teachers to focus their minds on what they were trying to achieve with pupils; helped to maximise the effect of lesson study cycles on their pupils’ learning and also showed the key factors that led to the success of lesson study as an approach to professional development in schools. A conceptual model of ‘target oriented lesson study (TOLS) is suggested and areas for future development and research are identified. One particular challenge is to link changes in teaching strategies to specific qualitative pupil learning gains and we also discuss the ‘thorny’ issue of quantifying changes to learner outcomes.

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