Newly Released Harvard Press Book Features Farmington Public Schools

A new book featuring Farmington Public Schools has been released, according to a press release from Superintendent Kathy Greider and the school board. 

Author Lee Teitel writes in his book, School-Based Instructional Rounds, published by Harvard Press, that "Farmington is leading the way on strategic, flexible and customized use of instructional rounds to drive school and district improvement."

"The district has thoughtfully developed and integrated school-based, district-wide and vertical rounds in ways that contribute to achieving their clearly-articulated Vision of the Farmington Graduate," he continues. 

The book highlights strategies Farmington uses "within the area of instructional innovation" and dedicates Chapter 5 to an overview of the district's practices. 

Instructional rounds are how a district evaluates classroom instruction through "classroom visitations," "evidence gathering" and "analysis," as well as determining areas of improvement. 

Grieder and school board officials said that Farmington is highlighted in the book  because of its "strategic and forward-thinking use of instructional rounds in the context of focused and ongoing school and district improvement."

“Teams are at the heart of where the learning, instructional improvement, and the use of data takes place....High expectations and innovation are the hallmarks of a system that embraced distributed leadership for decades," Teitel writes in his book. "Teachers are leaders and participants deeply invested in the improvement work of the school and district.”

Farmington principals, district administrators and teachers participate in rounds and observe classrooms regularly. 

"In district and school-based rounds, the evidence and feedback provided to the school drives improvement efforts of teams and the school at large," school officials said in the press release. "Teachers who participate in rounds report that they gain new insights into effective practice and raise questions about instruction."

Farmington has also recently started including students in the instructional rounds process. 

"The first ever student rounds in Farmington is highlighted in the book in the form of an introductory vignette," school officials said. "Farmington strongly believes students’ insights and perspectives in the rounds process and their education create the type of interaction necessary for novel and meaningful continuous improvement to occur. The experiences and real-time observations in classrooms have bound administrators, teachers, students and teams in Farmington closely together into a strong and vibrant learning community."

Board of Education Chairperson Mary Grace Reed praised teachers and principals for their hard work. Greider touted Farmington as "a unique learning organization with a strong commitment to continuous improvement and excellence."

"In collaboration with Farmington’s visionary Board of Education, administrators, teachers, faculty and students engage in improvement routines that influence teaching and learning across all schools," Greider said. "The instructional rounds process has been a highly successful improvement routine that has contributed to our nationally recognized school district.”

The book is available for purchase on Amazon.com.