From Evidence to Instruction

The cycle

Student → Standard → Evidence → Need → Response → New Evidence

Start with the student and the standard

Identify the learner or group and the exact learning target. Keep the conversation close to what students are expected to know or do.

Look at evidence, not labels

Use more than one score when possible. Ask what the evidence actually shows, what appears secure, what is inconsistent, and what remains unfinished.

Name the need before choosing the response

A response should match the need. The need may involve a misconception, prerequisite knowledge, practice, language or access, a different representation, extension, or simply more evidence before deciding.

Choose an instructional response

Decide what will happen next, who will provide it, and when. Intervention should not mean repeating the same lesson louder or longer. Enrichment should not mean more of the same work.

Collect new evidence

The cycle is incomplete until the team asks whether the response worked. New evidence should help determine the next step.

Nicholas in Practice

The Grade 5 QOTW and shared-evidence work is built around repeated evidence rather than defining a student by one assessment. The purpose of the system is to get from evidence to a better instructional decision.

Team planning prompts

1. Which student or group are we discussing?
2. What standard or learning target is involved?
3. What evidence do we have?
4. What need does that evidence suggest?
5. What response matches the need?
6. Who will do what and when?
7. What new evidence will tell us whether it worked?

Sources & Credit

Nicholas’s Grade 5 QOTW and shared-evidence system. Do not label this as a PLC at Work framework. No podcast connection is needed.