Getting Started: Key Resources

Lesson Study has had such an enormous impact on our school community, our professional learning and effective and empowering instruction for our students. We have been able to come together multiple times through the year to address very real culture and climate issues through the lens of how they pertain to instruction and student learning and to try different ways to find solutions these problems and to celebrate the ways in which we succeed and or maybe fall short. We have been able to envision structures and ways to move schedules and people around to engage in research lessons that in the past seemed like it would never be possible to figure out how to do. This has now set our own vision even higher to think about what else we can attain collectively that may seem impossible today.

Key Resources by Cycle Stage

Recruiting a Team

Consider the following:

How many participants?

We recommend 2-3 team members in addition to you (4 total). The TLF funds a total of 4 participants per team (as research indicates 4-5 is the most effective number for a lesson study team), so if you intend to include more you will need to seek special permission to do so. We cannot guarantee funding for more than 5. Each team member receives a maximum of 25 extended hours for participation in team meetings. 

What category of team? Developmental Team vs Content Team vs Vertical Team

There are pros and cons to every choice. 

  • With a team that is grade-level based (example, a 2nd grade team), you can explore content you are all teaching and consider developmental implications for the work. However, you may not explore the vertical implications for the work.
  • With a team that is vertical (example, a 6-8 team), you can explore that content or pedagogical strand vertically and implications for teaching at each level, but all teachers may not find the actual lesson as applicable.
  • With a team that is content-based (high school science teachers), you can go deep in content but may not explore interdisciplinary implications.

Who Participates? Teachers, Support Staff, admin, TSAs

Again, pros and cons to every choice. 

You may decide only to include classroom teachers in your lesson study group. You may consider including paras, support staff, administrators or special teachers in your lesson study group. Based on your goals, your choices should follow. 

There are benefits to maintaining the same lesson study group to build momentum and deepen expertise over time. There are also benefits to bringing in new group members, to expand and generate deeper buy-in for the work.

If you are attempting to expand lesson study at your site, you may choose to separate people with the most experience and expertise onto different teams. 

Structure of your Lesson Study Meetings

Again, pros and cons to every choice. 

Meeting regularly (weekly) allows for continuity and greater productivity at meetings (as you don’t have to recap and attempt to remember what you did at the last meeting). This can make the process feel less manageable, however, if team members are cramming in regular meetings. It also may mean meetings are short and less is accomplished at each one.

Meeting less frequently (every other week, monthly, etc.) generally means you will need longer meeting times (1.5 or 2 hr blocks) in order to ensure productivity and stay within timelines.

You may also consider additional meeting times within your school day, such as lunch, preps, collaboration time, or school PD calendar (staff PD times) if your team and administrators are on board.

Tips for recruiting lesson study members at your site:

Offer an informational meeting at the beginning of the year (with snacks if possible!). Provide a short overview of the work and experience that people will have participating in the lesson study team.

Consider inviting your PLL coach or another team/staff member who has experience with lesson study to help field questions.

Read an article, book or watch a video on lesson study. Some introductory materials here.

Transform an existing group into a lesson study team (grade level, content or committee group).

Ask colleagues with whom you already have a positive relationship or naturally collaborate.

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Study- Vision for Student Success

Introduction

This tool is intended to launch your lesson study process by supporting the analysis of your (broad) vision for student success and narrowing it to your area of focus for your lesson study work this year. This flows directly into drafting your team’s research question (in the next tool). 

Seek out ways to center student voice and agency throughout the process.

Approach the Vision for Student Success as a living document—draft and iterate as you learn.

Recommendations: 

  • Narrow to a group of focal students to consider while utilizing this tool (rather than all students). Consider gender, race, language, socioeconomic status, and exceptional needs. 
  • Read articles to offer a more liberatory data framework: 3 Levels of Data & Street Data Article and empathy interviews. 
  • The facilitator should consider the interplay between systemic/structural challenges while focusing on areas over which this lesson study team has control.
  • The facilitator should adopt an asset-based mindset while leading this process: What are the students' strengths and assets from which to build? How will you ensure the conversation is not a deficit one, or one that blames students for the failings of the institution of school, for systemic oppression, or for the “education debt”? 

Here are several samples to spark (Jamboard, doc)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vEKtHwHYb8DEKHCTV6jcjo4obut9zSlqr4-se3NHRVE/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.a6nylgn1xflt

 

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Study- Designing a Research Question & Theory of Action

The Research Question is an authentic question our team explores together. The research question bridges to the “actual” from the “hopes” identified in the Vision for Student Success. What are we trying to improve? 

The Theory of Action states the approach our team will try to move students toward the goal and its impact on them. What changes will we make or actions will we take, and why? 

Metrics are the qualitative and quantitative data our team collects to assess the impact of Lesson Study on student experience and outcomes. To understand if and how Lesson Study improves outcomes for marginalized students, we must gather and analyze data that most accurately reflects our impact. Consider what data should be and agree in advance on how, when, and where to collect it to determine if a change or action led to improvement. 

Recommendations:

  • Let the process be iterative and action-oriented. Ask yourself, do we have enough to move forward? If you do, then move forward. Let new learning be your wordsmith. 
  • It is helpful to revisit your Research Question and Theory of Action throughout the lesson study process, making sure that, as you research and plan, you remain aligned with your Research Question/Theory of Action and revise or update them as necessary. Your Research Question might stay the same for multiple cycles, while the TOA will likely change as you incorporate effective ideas into your practice. 

  • Use pages 2-6 to walk through the creation process: 

    https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TfFzU1n5aY1bbbpgO9x4IxHSG0Ga6Ozj-WvLH7Htz5Y/edit?tab=t.0

     

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Study- Research

Study Standards, Curriculum, and Research Materials

The point of the Lesson Study cycle is not simply to produce a lesson but to study the topic and student thinking in depth. lessonresearch.net

More information on types of research and ways to engage: https://lessonresearch.net/study-step/study-materials/

Reading on purpose of research: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/0B6aHXdsv5BP7X2R0RkhEbFdQclk?resourcekey=0-HLg0L-KCe65iOLT0RCKLGw

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Teach

  1. Pre Lesson Discussion: Observers are key to successful Research Lessons. This section provides guidelines for observers and an agenda for the pre-lesson discussion.

    https://lessonresearch.net/teach-step/conduct-pre-lesson-discussion/

     

  2. Teach and Observe the Lesson: Team members and observers collect the planned data, while taking care not to interfere with instruction.

    https://lessonresearch.net/teach-step/teach-the-lesson/

 

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Reflect
  1. Review Data: Review notes and student work to highlight key data for the discussion

  2. Conduct Post Lesson Discussion: The post lesson discussion is an opportunity for team members to solidify their learning

    Sample Post-Lesson Discussion Protocol 
    1The Instructor’s Reflections (5 min) – The instructor restates the aims for today’s lesson and comments on what was learned related to the lesson aims and plan–for example, did the lesson flow as expected, or was there anything unexpected? 
    2Sharing Observational Data (15 min) – Lesson study team members, followed by other observers, present data from the lesson, focused on the questions laid out by the team and the observation points noted in the Teaching-Learning Plan. Depending on the number of observers, observations may be presented in small groups, each of which share out several key observations. 
    3

    General Discussion (15 min) – A moderator is recommended if outside observers attend. Discussion should focus on the questions laid out by the team, or other questions such as those below. Avoid “point-volley” exchanges and serial disconnected commented. For example, if someone makes a claim, invite others to concur or disagree by sharing supporting or conflicting data.

    • What was learned about the questions posed by the team?
    • What was learned about the students’ progress on the lesson, unit and long-term goals?
    • What are the implications for future instruction? For example, what are the implications for the next lesson for these students, or for instruction more broadly?
    		 
    4Final Commentary (15 – 20 min) – An invited outside commentator discusses the lesson’s relation to key issues in the teaching and learning of this subject matter. 
    5Appreciations & Close (5 min) 
  3. Final Commentary: A Knowledgeable Other can greatly boost the teams learning
  4. End of Cycle Reflection: Synthesize what you've learned and plan for future learning
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This page was last updated on August 6, 2026