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Study Guide

Field 108: School Building Leader Part 2 
Sample Assignment One: Video Observation and Analysis

Sample Directions

New York State's Annual Professional Performance Review ( A P P R ) procedures require school building leaders to use a rubric when observing and evaluating teachers. These rubrics have multiple domains and are aligned to the New York State Teaching Standards.

For this assignment, you will watch a 15-minute video clip of a teacher's instruction and then you will evaluate the teacher's performance against the criteria set forth in the Teacher Observation Rubric provided.

 start bold The video clip will only play once. You will not be able to pause, stop, or replay the video. end bold  While the video is playing, you will be able to view only the component text from the rubric. You may use the erasable *notebooklet provided to take notes. After you watch the video, you will once again see both the assignment and the complete rubric while you write your response.

 start bold You should familiarize yourself with the assignment and the rubric before you go on to the next screen and watch the video. end bold  The rubric is provided on the right side of this screen. The assignment to which you will respond is shown in the box below.

You will be asked to write a response in preparation for your post-observation conference with the teacher. Your response should be approximately  300 to 600  words and may be in a format of your choice (e.g., paragraphs, bulleted list). Be sure your evaluation clearly responds to each part of the task. The final version of your evaluation should conform to the conventions of edited American English.

In your evaluation, you will identify evidence of teaching related to each rubric component and assign a performance level for each rubric component. Then, using the evidence and the performance levels you have identified, you will identify one strength and one area for improvement in the teacher's performance.

Your evaluation of the teacher's performance will be based on your observation of the video-recorded instruction and your application of the criteria defined in the rubric. While you may see evidence of other teacher practices that are not addressed in the rubric, your task is to identify evidence from the video relating to the specific components of practice defined in this rubric and then assess the level of performance exhibited on those components.


*notebooklet: A small, hand-held erasable whiteboard

You will be asked to complete the following task:

Using the evidence you observed in the video and the Teacher Observation Rubric provided, prepare a  300 to 600  word evaluation of the observed teaching for your post-observation conference in which you:

  • for each rubric component, cite observable, objective evidence from the video;

  • assign a performance level (level 1 to level 5) for each rubric component, citing the evidence you identified;

  • identify one significant strength exhibited in the teacher's performance, citing the relevant component(s) of the Teacher Observation Rubric and observable evidence as support; and

  • identify one significant area for improvement exhibited in the teacher's performance, citing the relevant component(s) of the Teacher Observation Rubric and observable evidence as support.

Teacher Observation Rubric

Domain I: Engaging Students in Learning

Component 1: Engages students in learning tasks that develop understandings and/or skills relevant to the learning objective
Level 1

Students are passive or inattentive.

 start uppercase OR end uppercase 

Students are participating in tasks that are vaguely or superficially related to the lesson objective.

Level 2 Students are participating in learning tasks focused primarily on basic facts or procedures relevant to the lesson objective with little or no attention to deeper understandings and/or more complex skills applications.
Level 3 Students are engaged in learning tasks that address understandings and/or skills relevant to the lesson objective.
Level 4 Students are engaged in learning tasks that develop deep understandings and/or complex skills relevant to the lesson objective.
Level 5 Students are engaged in differentiated learning tasks that deepen and extend understandings and/or skills relevant to the lesson objective by addressing their individual learning needs.

Domain II: Deepening Student Learning

Component 2: Elicits and builds on students' responses to promote conceptual and/or skills development
Level 1

Teacher does most of the talking and students provide few responses.

 start uppercase OR end uppercase 

Teacher responses lead to significant student confusion and/or misunderstandings.

Level 2 Teacher primarily asks surface-level questions and evaluates student responses as correct or incorrect.
Level 3 Teacher elicits student responses that require and promote conceptual and/or skills development.
Level 4 Teacher elicits and builds on students' responses to promote conceptual and/or skills development.
Level 5 Teacher designs learning experiences that allow students to evaluate their own abilities to understand and apply relevant concepts and/or skills.
Component 3: Uses instructional strategies in ways that deepen students' understanding of and/or ability to apply relevant concepts or skills
Level 1

Teacher focuses on facts with no opportunities for student application or practice.

 start uppercase OR end uppercase 

There is a clear mismatch between instructional strategies, skills, and students' readiness to learn.

Level 2 Teacher uses instructional strategies that address concepts and/or skills in vague or superficial ways or that give students very limited opportunity to apply new concepts and/or skills.
Level 3 Teacher uses instructional strategies in ways that help students understand and/or apply relevant concepts or skills.
Level 4 Teacher uses instructional strategies in ways that deepen students' understanding of and/or ability to apply relevant concepts or skills.
Level 5 Teacher uses instructional strategies in ways that deepen students' understanding of and/or ability to apply relevant concepts or skills and facilitates interactions among students to promote conceptual and/or skills development.

Domain III: Maintaining a Positive and Challenging Learning Environment

Component 4: Demonstrates rapport with and respect for students in a positive and challenging learning environment
Level 1 There is evidence of disrespectful and/or disruptive behavior that interferes with student learning.
Level 2 Teacher provides a learning environment that serves primarily to control student behavior and does not challenge students academically.
Level 3 Teacher demonstrates rapport with and respect for students in a positive learning environment.
Level 4 Teacher demonstrates rapport with and respect for students in a positive and challenging learning environment.
Level 5 Teacher demonstrates rapport with and respect for students in a positive and challenging learning environment where students demonstrate willingness to take risks and support each other to achieve.

Copyright 2011 Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved. Adapted with permission.

Video Description

At the test center, the examinee watches a 15-minute video clip of a teacher's instruction. The video clip will only play once. Examinees will not be able to pause, stop, or replay the video. While the video is playing, examinees will be able to view only the video and the component text from the rubric.

Third grade classroom the teacher is standing at the front of the room facing the students most students pictured are raising their hands.

 start bold Setting: end bold  third-grade class English Language Arts lesson (35 students)

 start bold Lesson Objective: end bold  "Students will be able to think analytically, address problems creatively, and advocate persuasively."

Rubric Components

Domain I: Engaging Students in Learning

Component 1: engages students in learning tasks that develop understandings and/or skills relevant to the learning objective

Domain II: Deepening Student Learning

Component 2: elicits and builds on students' responses to promote conceptual and/or skills development

Component 3: uses instructional strategies in ways that deepen students' understanding of and/or ability to apply relevant concepts or skills

Domain III: Maintaining a Positive and Challenging Learning Environment

Component 4: demonstrates rapport with and respect for students in a positive and challenging learning environment

 start bold Complete the task that follows. end bold 

Using the evidence you observed in the video and the Teacher Observation Rubric provided, prepare a  300 to 600  word evaluation of the observed teaching for your post-observation conference in which you:

Performance Characteristics

The following characteristics guide the scoring of the response to the assignment.

COMPLETENESS The degree to which the response addresses all parts of the assignment
ACCURACY The degree to which the response demonstrates the relevant knowledge and skills accurately and effectively
DEPTH OF SUPPORT AND UNDERSTANDING The degree to which the response provides appropriate examples and details that demonstrate sound reasoning and reflects a strong understanding of the relevant knowledge and skills

Score Scale

Scores will be assigned to the response to the assignment according to the following score scale.

Score Point Score Point Description
4 The "4" response reflects a thorough command of the relevant knowledge and skills.
3 The "3" response reflects a general command of the relevant knowledge and skills.
2 The "2" response reflects a limited command of the relevant knowledge and skills.
1 The "1" response reflects little or no command of the relevant knowledge and skills.
U The response is unscorable because it is unrelated to the assigned topic or off-task, unreadable, written in a language other than English or contains an insufficient amount of original work to score.
B No response.