Investigate bright spots to identify and disseminate effective practices¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

In continuous improvement efforts, unusually large class-level gains in learning conditions (“bright spots”) are treated as leads on effective strategies. Improvement teams investigate what went right by “holding community of practice discussions and talking to students about the data,” then disseminate hypothesized effective approaches to other classes on the team and test whether their shifts improve. Over time, once-exceptional performance is expected to become commonplace.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Multiple planned improvement cycles with class-level learning conditions data so that bright spots can be identified and investigated

Constraints¶

• Bright-spot investigation depends on having some classes with dramatic positive shifts, which the report's data show emerged mainly at sites with 4+ planned cycles

Target Learners¶

• middle and high school students

Target Learning Goals¶

• improving learning conditions and spreading effective classroom practices across improvement teams

Related Strategies¶

• Dissemination planning and accurate, accessible data visualization
• Chronicle and disseminate collaborative successes as documented Bright Spots of regional best practice

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Gripshover, S., Londerée, A., Ahuvia, I., Shyjka, A., Kroshinsky, F., Ryan, N., Farrington, C., & Paunesku, D. (2022). Learning Conditions Are an Actionable, Early Indicator of Math Learning. PERTS & University of Chicago Consortium on School Research. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publication/learning-conditions-are-an-actionable-early-indicator-of-math-learning