Coach/Supervisor Observation Checklist Instructions

Effective professional development should be supportive, intensive, and continuous, with individualized feedback and positive mentoring. This checklist is designed for a 90-minute classroom observation. The teacher should provide a class schedule indicating when PAVEd for Success is typically carried out in the classroom. If the teacher uses an assistant to carry out significant parts of the program, the assistant should also be observed.

1. Building Bridges: Child-Centered Conversation The purpose of this component is to provide conversations that build oral language skills and good teacher–student relationships through talk. a. Children’s interests or topics should be focused on in these conversations. The teacher should not reteach other topics within the curriculum in these conversations. b. Children should have a significant opportunity to talk. The teacher should encourage children to elaborate.

2. Building Bridges: Sufficient Conversation Duration The goal of this component is to ensure that a sufficient amount of teacher–child conversation occurs to encourage the development of language skills. a. Small groups (seven children or fewer) should be at least 5 minutes in duration. b. Groups can follow small-group activities, meals, or naps or occur before or after school. c. Ideally two sessions per observation should be observed. If only one is observed, then another occurring that day can be self-reported. d. There should be a schedule showing each child participating in at least three Building Bridges conversations per week.

3. Building Bridges: Linguistically Complex Talk The purpose of this component is to encourage teacher speech related to the development of oral language skills and vocabulary. It should characterize teacher speech. a. Complex talk
   i. Questions that query thoughts and feelings (“What was he feeling?”), require clarifying and hypothesizing (“What do you mean?” “What happened?”), and elicit talk (“How?” “Why?” “What else?”).
   ii. Language expansions that add missing grammatical elements or elaborate on child speech. They should be noncorrective in tone so that the child is encouraged to speak (e.g., Child: “My daddy, he went Wal-Mart.” → Teacher: “Your father went to Wal-Mart? Did he go to the one near the mall?”). b. Emphasis on vocabulary
   i. Rare vocabulary introduced by the teacher in conversation (e.g., Child: “There a big car.” → Teacher: “Oh, yes, that’s an enormous car. Is that a sports utility vehicle?”).

4. CAR Quest: Competence Questions The purpose of these questions is to provide children with success in addressing some teacher questions and to encourage their participation during storybook reading. a. Classify a question as Competence if children would be expected to know the information being queried or if the information is directly in the book. A vocabulary word might be embedded, however. b. The teacher can be observed asking two questions of this type, or sticky notes containing the questions inserted in books can be used as evidence.

5. CAR Quest: Abstract Questions The purpose of these questions is to encourage cognitively and linguistically complex talk, which has been shown to improve vocabulary and comprehension. a. Classify a question as abstract if it asks students to summarize, define, explain, judge, compare, contrast, predict, take another point of view, or solve problems. “How” and “why” questions and questions about character thoughts are always abstract (e.g., “Why do you think [person] did [action]?” “What is [character] thinking?” “What does [word] mean?” “What will happen next?” “How are [two objects] different?” “What was the story about?”). b. The teacher can be observed asking two questions of this type, or sticky notes with the questions inserted in books can be used as evidence.

6. CAR Quest: Relate Questions The purpose of these questions is to encourage children to relate the contents of books to their own lives and prior knowledge to promote comprehension. a. Classify a question as relate if it requires children to relate the contents of books to their own lives (e.g., “Have you ever had a really horrible day?” “What do you do when you have a bad dream?” “What would you do if you could [action] like Hager?” “Who has on a blue shirt like Oliver’s?”). b. The teacher can be observed asking two questions of this type, or sticky notes with the questions inserted in books can be used as evidence.

7. CAR Quest: Sufficient Small-Group Book-Reading Quantity The purpose of this component is to ensure that children have ample opportunity to learn vocabulary words from the books being read. a. Two small-group (group size of seven or fewer) book readings should occur. b. Ideally two sessions should be observed. If only one session is observed, then another self-reported one occurring that day can be used as evidence. c. There should be a schedule showing each child participating in small-group book-reading sessions per week.

8. New VEhicles: Quick Definitions The purpose of this component is to get children familiar with thinking about definitions for words, a skill under development at this age.
   a. The teacher should supply kid-friendly definitions of vocabulary words or any words. b. This can be self-reported.

9. New VEhicles: N3C Introduction or Review of Vocabulary The purpose of this component is to provide children with a chance to exercise a strategy for learning new words already in their word-learning repertoire and to review previously introduced words. a. The teacher should present a vocabulary word picture card in the context of several known (nontarget) picture cards. The teacher should query each by saying, “Show me (vocabulary word)” or something similar.

   Or

The teacher can review previously presented vocabulary words using picture cards and props by saying, “Which one is (vocabulary word)?” or something similar. b. If not observed, this can be self-reported.

10. New VEhicles: Presence of Vocabulary Targets The purpose of this component is to communicate to children that there is a list of words that they should be learning. a. The teacher should post vocabulary lists or picture cards or props of targets as a group somewhere in the room. b. The teacher should send home a parent communication indicating the vocabulary for the week.

11. New VEhicles: Extension Activity a. Children should be sent to small-group (seven members or fewer) activities in which they are encouraged to process vocabulary words further.

12. New VEhicles: Sufficient Small-Group Extension Activity Quantity The purpose of this practice is to ensure that children have enough practice using the vocabulary words in an activity. a. Ideally, two groups should be observed, but if only one is observed, a second occurring that day can be self-reported. b. There should be a schedule showing each child participating in two small-group extension activities per week.