SelfAssess

What is an Inquiry
Cycle and what
experiences have
I had with an
Inquiry cycle?

Supporting the
Inquiry Cycle
How to Support Colleagues:
p
p
p
p
p

Facilitating PLCs
o Analyzing data together
Providing Data Snaps
Participating in learning labs
Gathering learning materials and
teacher resources
Creating/Sharing/Collaborating on:
o Rubrics
o Lessons
o Graphic organizers
o Student learning goals

How Districts Support Teachers:

p
p
p
p
p

5D professional development
trainings
Hiring TOSAs
Purchasing support materials
(books, curriculum, ProD)
Adopting a district criterion focus
connected to instructional practices
Scaffolded breakdown of staff into
cohorts
o Building in common
plan/meeting times for cohorts
o Collaborative clock hours
Feedback cycles (through
administrators and TOSAs)

Analyze
Impact

Determine
Focus

Implement
and
Support

The
Inquiry
Cycle
Ashley Walser
EDAD 543
Assignment #2
Fall 2016

The Inquiry Cycle

An Inquiry Cycle is a professional practice of continuous improvement focused on student need. It involves a cyclical
process starting with a teacher identifying a focus area based on self-assessments, which then leads a teacher to
collaborate with others to analyze data to determine a theory of action, followed by implementing the plan with data
collection and reflections, ending with a collaborative analysis of the implemented plan.
I have been a part of an inquiry cycle for the past four years in my role as a special education teacher. My journey
started by joining my buildings 5D team and participating in our first TPEP cohort. Through this process I was trained
in the 5D model, supported by a collaborative group of colleagues and administrators to practice with and participated
in feedback cycles. My principal, colleagues in my cohort, TOSAs and administrators supported me in this process.
The most cumbersome aspect of the inquiry cycle is determining a means of presenting the information collected
(forms, binders, etc.). My participation in the inquiry cycle taught me that collecting evidence is powerful to my
instructional practices, collaboration works across all settings, and it put me in the practice of feeding forward into new
inquiry cycles.

Implementation and Support

Self-assessment and
Determination of a Focus
Area
1. Complete a pre-self
assessment based on the
5D rubric.
2. Work with colleagues
and administrative
evaluators to determine a focus
area.
3. Collaborate with PLCs, colleagues,
TOSAS and or administrators to
develop a theory of action.

Example:

Theory of Action: If I increase my communication

(verbal and posting of) learning targets and success
criteria throughout my lessons, then students will
be able to articulate:
1. What they are learning
2. Why they are learning it
3. How they will know if they are successful
If students can articulate these three points, then
they will meet their learning targets.

1. Engage in collaboration with

others (colleagues, administrators)
to implement your theory of action
to impact student growth.
2. Collect qualitative and quantitative
data to support evidence of your
students growth to guide future
instructional/professional
decisions.
***Choosing multiple forms of data, like
triangulating data, provides strong evidence of
growth.

Data Collection Examples:

Qualitative
p Pictures of teacher practices
p Teacher artifacts
p Interviews with children
p Teacher journal notes
p Scripting of student voice
p Observation feedback
p Feedback cycles
Quantitative
p Formative/summative assessments
p Normative-based assessments
p Data snaps based on rubrics
p Student surveys
p Exit slips
p Self-assessments

Analyzing Impact
and Reflection

1. Analyze data collected

with colleagues (TOSAs,
PLCs, cohorts, etc.).
2. Individually analyze your
data and reflect on how
your practices are
impacting student
learning.
3. Analyze the results of
your work with your
principal/evaluator.
4. Use the results of your
analysis to feed into your
next focus area.