What is IPI? Instructional Practices Inventory

Keystone AEAJanuary 28, 2009

“Students would be better served if educators embraced learning rather than teaching as the mission of their school,

if they worked collaboratively to help all students learn,

and if they used formative assessments and a focus on results to guide their practice and foster continuous improvement.”

On Common Ground: The Power of Professional Learning Communities,

Rick and Rebecca DuFour and their co-editor Robert Eaker (2005)

Who developed IPI?

Jerry ValentineUniversity of MissouriMiddle Level Leadership Center.

The IPI is a very practical system for understanding learning across an entire school.

It provides one form of data that is valuable when a school faculty begins the critical conversations.

The focus is on student learning rather than teaching--the IPI process collects data about student engagement.

Teachers must study and think together collaboratively--the IPI profiles are created to be the basis for collaborative faculty study and reflection.

Formative data are essential to monitor and adjust practices--the IPI profiles provide formative data about student engaged learning.

IPI data can help maintain faculty focus on continuous change in school-wide learning and related instruction.

What is the IPI process?

Observe a typical school day: no unusual circumstances occurring on that day that would disrupt normalcy of the day.

Fridays are avoided when possible

Observers use a map to systematically move throughout the school and observe every class.

Each classroom is observed for a short period of time, typically one to three minutes.

Observers focus on the students’ learning experiences during the first few moments of the observation. Transitions may occur while the observer is in the classroom, but the first learning experience observed is coded.

Each observation is coded anonymously; IPI observations should never be used for purposes of teacher evaluation.

When a learning experience is borderline between two categories, the observer records the category that represents the most favorable learning experience—the profile being created is an “optimum” profile of student engagement.

Classes are not observed (coded) during the first five minutes or the last five minutes of a class at the middle or secondary level or during content transitions at the elementary level.

One hundred observations per day should be considered a minimum (125-150 is preferred and more typical).

Special education classes are coded as core or non-core based on the content that is occurring at the time of the observation.

Classes of substitute teachers are not coded into the profile unless higher-order thinking is evident.

Classes of student teachers are coded like a regular teacher.

Review the rubric for coding engagement

Is a #5 or #6 important?

“Students in highly successful schools are significantly more likely to be engaged in higher order thinking with teachers who are actively teaching the students.”

“Students in less successful schools are more likely to be doing seatwork with or without teachers’ support or disengaged from learning.”

% of an Elem. day spent…

#6 15-25%#5 3-5%#4 35-40%#3 20-30%#2 5-10%#1 3-8%

% of Middle School spent…

#6 15-20%#5 3-5%#4 35-45%#3 20-30%#2 10-20%#1 5-10%

% of High School spent…

#6 15-20#5 3-5%#4 30-40%#3 15-20%#2 15-20%#1 5-15%

Questions about IPI?