Pathwise® Programs

Professional Development Rooted in Standards of Professional Practice

Doesn't everyone know good teaching when they see it?

As educators, we all understand the importance of standards in defining expectations for student performance; however, we often leave the definition of good teaching performance to individual interpretation and experience.

So what measures do we use in defining and assessing teaching practice?

The Pathwise® Framework Observation Program is founded on the research-based definition of teaching described in Charlotte Danielson's Enhancing Professional Practice: A Framework for Teaching (ASCD, 1996, 2007). This framework, based on years of research by ETS in the development of Praxis III, defines teaching in terms of four domains - Planning and Preparation, Classroom Environment, Instruction and Professional Responsibilities and the components associated with each. Users of the Framework have found it to be a common sense organization of the complex task of teaching and the source for a common language for examining and assessing teaching practice.

The ETS Pathwise® Framework Observation Program

Pathwise® provides 3 days of facilitator-led training for anyone who has responsibility for teacher observation or assessment - including principals, mentors, department chairs and supervisors of student teachers. Our training sessions prepare participants to use the Framework for Teaching as the foundation for their teacher observation and assessment systems.

On the first day of training, the focus is on helping participants become firmly grounded in the structure, content and benefits of the Framework. Using an interactive approach, workshop participants explore the domains and components of the Framework and their interrelationship. Days 2 and 3 are devoted to integrating the foundational information learned in the first day into a consistent teacher assessment process focused on the collection of evidence.

Is the Pathwise® Framework Observation Program right for you?

Consider these questions:

• Does the process for teacher observation differ from school to school in your district?
• Has teacher observation and evaluation become solely a compliance task resulting in little feedback on teaching practice?
• Is the focus on teacher improvement centered primarily on programs instead of best practice?
• Is your teacher evaluation system based upon personal opinion instead of research-based standards of practice?
• Are your professional development systems based upon individual judgment of teacher needs instead of data around teaching practice?

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, the Pathwise® Framework Observation Program may be right for you!

Then get started now by planning for meaningful, job-embedded professional development for your principals, department chairs, student teacher cooperating teachers, etc. by inquiring about the Pathwise® Framework Observation Program today.