Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP)

Daiyo Sawada
External Evaluator

and

Michael Piburn
Internal Evaluator

I.

II.

Kathleen Falconer,  Jeff Turley, Russell Benford and Irene Bloom
 Evaluation Facilitation Group (EFG)

Technical Report No. IN00-1
Arizona Collaborative for Excellence in the Preparation of Teachers
Arizona State University

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Name of teacher                                       	Announced Observation?                                       
(yes, no, or explain)

Location of class                                                                                                                          
(district, school, room)
Years of Teaching                                    	Teaching Certification
  (K-8 or 7-12)

Subject observed                                      	Grade level                                                          

Observer                                                 	Date of observation                                              

Start time                                               	End time                                                            

CONTEXTUAL BACKGROUND AND ACTIVITIES

In the space provided below please give a brief description of the lesson observed, the classroom setting in
which the lesson took place (space, seating arrangements, etc.), and any relevant details about the students
(number, gender, ethnicity) and teacher that you think are important. Use diagrams if they seem appropriate.

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Copyright© 2000 Arizona Board of Regents
All Rights Reserved

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Record here events which may help in documenting the ratings.

Time

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Description of Events

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All Rights Reserved

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III.	LESSON DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION

Never                      Very
Occurred                 Descriptive

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

The instructional strategies and activities respected students’ prior
knowledge and the preconceptions inherent therein.

The lesson was designed to engage students as members of a
learning community.

In this lesson, student exploration preceded formal presentation.

This lesson encouraged students to seek and value alternative modes
of investigation or of problem solving.

The focus and direction of the lesson was often determined by ideas
originating with students.

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IV.	CONTENT

Propositional knowledge

6)	The lesson involved fundamental concepts of the subject.

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7)

8)

9)

10)

11)

12)

13)

14)

15)

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The lesson promoted strongly coherent conceptual understanding.

The teacher had a solid grasp of the subject matter content inherent
in the lesson.

Elements of abstraction (i.e., symbolic representations, theory
building) were encouraged when it was important to do so.

Connections with other content disciplines and/or real world
phenomena were explored and valued.

Procedural Knowledge

Students used a variety of means (models, drawings, graphs,
concrete materials, manipulatives, etc.) to represent phenomena.

Students made predictions, estimations and/or hypotheses and
devised means for testing them.

Students were actively engaged in thought-provoking activity that
often involved the critical assessment of procedures.

Students were reflective about their learning.

Intellectual rigor, constructive criticism, and the challenging of ideas
were valued.

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Copyright© 2000 Arizona Board of Regents
All Rights Reserved

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Continue recording salient events here.

Time

2000 Revision

Description of Events

Copyright© 2000 Arizona Board of Regents
All Rights Reserved

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V .

CLASSROOM CULTURE

Communicative Interactions

16)	Students were involved in the communication of their ideas to
others using a variety of means and media.

17)	The teacher’s questions triggered divergent modes of thinking.

Never                      Very
Occurred                 Descriptive

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18)

19)

20)

21)

22)

23)

24)

25)

There was a high proportion of student talk and a significant amount
of it occurred between and among students.

Student questions and comments often determined the focus and
direction of classroom discourse.

There was a climate of respect for what others had to say.

Student/Teacher Relationships

Active participation of students was encouraged and valued.

Students were encouraged to generate conjectures, alternative
solution strategies, and ways of interpreting evidence.

In general the teacher was patient with students.

The teacher acted as a resource person, working to support and
enhance student investigations.

The metaphor “teacher as listener” was very characteristic of this
classroom.

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Additional comments you may wish to make about this lesson.

2000 Revision
Copyright© 2000 Arizona Board of Regents
All Rights Reserved

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