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Form USSOCOM Quality Assurance Class Observation Form
| Instructor: | Observer: |
| Location: | Language: |
| Date: | Week of Instruction: |
| Start/End Time: | Duration of Course: |
| Was an Official Visitor's Folder available? | Choose One |
| Has the instructor seen this form in advance? | Choose One |
| Instructor's affiliation | Choose One |
| If "Standard Not Met", "Approaching Standard", or "Standard Exceeded" are chosen, comments must follow. | |
| 1. Classroom Environment | Choose One |
| Students' success in language learning is influenced by the atmosphere in the classroom. It is important that the instructor maintain a positive, supportive, and motivating classroom environment. The instructor must also foster respect amongst students and encourage all students to participate openly and equally in class. | |
Comments
| 1a. Class Periods and Teaching Obligations | Choose One |
| Instructors are expected to start class on-time and run for the full assigned duration. Any changes to the defined schedule need to be approved in advance. | |
Comments
| 1b. Professional Image | Choose One |
| Instructors are to dress and behave in a manner that is conducive to learning, not distracting. | |
| Comments | |
| 2. Lesson Planning | Choose One |
| Instructors must develop daily lesson plans in support of the POI. Instructors must have these lesson plans in writing for each day of class. This plan should demonstrate clear goals, objectives, and outcomes, and the smooth, effective flow of class activities in pursuit of reaching these outcomes. Lesson plans should include a well-rounded variety of activities. Activities should be of high interest, authentic when possible, and relevant to the students. | |
Comments
| 2a. Goals, Objectives, and Outcomes | Choose One |
| Clear class goals, objectives, and outcomes must be evident and the instructor must have a realistic plan to assist students in meeting these expectations. The outcome(s) of each class meeting must be made clear and the students should see how meeting this/these outcome(s) will help them to reach other overall course goals and objectives. | |
Comments
| 2b. Balance and Variety | Choose One |
| Lessons must be balanced in order to promote fluency (speed), understandability, and accuracy. The four aspects of communicative competence (i.e., grammatical competence, discourse competence, sociocultural competence, and strategic competence) should all be observable. Lessons must have ample variety in order to maintain interest, encourage acquisition, and provide contextualization and application of materials. | |
Comments
| 2c. Contextualization and Meaningful Tasks | Choose One |
| The target language should be presented in a meaningful context, not via isolated examples. All class activities must have real-life applications that are meaningful, relevant, and useful to the students. The students should engage in tasks within a given context that require them to use the target language to accomplish realistic, concrete objectives. | |
Comments
| 2d. Critical Thinking Problem Solving | Choose One |
| The students should have to use critical, strategic thinking to negotiate use of the target language. The instructor must create learning activities which promote analysis, negotiation of meaning, synthesis, and problem solving. The students should then collaborate with each other during class to solve problems and carry out these activities. | |
Comments
| 2e. Materials | Choose One |
| The course materials must be sufficient and appropriate to the level and goals of the students and they must be utilized to promote acquisition. The materials must serve to support instruction, not stifle it. The students must be able to use materials to promote their learning. | |
Comments
| 3. Learner-centeredness | Choose One |
| When an instructor adapts his/her teaching style and approach to a student’s learning style, preferences, needs, and motivations, his/her class is considered learner-centered. Instructors must be able to gather information from individual learners in the process of learning, to analyze and interpret what they see, and, on that basis, to validate or rethink what they are doing in order to facilitate learning amongst each student. One can observe this ability in an instructor by looking to see that the students are actively engaged and motivated, classroom tasks are challenging but students are capable of accomplishing them with effort, and feel a sense accomplishment once completed. | |
Comments
| 3a. Feedback and Assessment | Choose One |
| Throughout each class meeting, the instructor must give the students supportive feedback as to how they are progressing towards meeting the lesson and course objectives. Assessment must be used throughout the course to provide constructive feedback to the students. | |
Comments
| 3b. Proficiency Level | Choose One |
| The instructor must have an understanding of the students’ current proficiency level and continually adjust his/her teaching to adapt to their ability, with knowledge of the next steps they need to take and how to direct them there in order to reach the course outcomes. The instructor must be able to break more difficult tasks into smaller parts in order to assist the students in achieving desired outcomes. | |
Comments
| 3c. Participation and Interaction in the Target Language | Choose One |
| It is essential that all students be active participants in every class and that no student dominate or be uninvolved. All students should be actively engaged in the task at hand at all times. In order to accomplish this goal, the instructor must act as a facilitator and guide in class activities so that the majority of class time is spent in production of the target language involving all students. The students should speak and produce the language more than the teacher. The class should be carried out primarily in the target language, including all routine instructional directions (i.e., “please repeat”, “your turn now”, etc.). The students should use the target language to communicate with the instructor and each other. | |
Comments
| 3d. Reflective Practices | Choose One |
| Instructors must reflect upon teaching practices, policies, and procedures in order to continually improve course. The class content must be current and applicable to students’ needs, abilities, and interests. | |
Comments
| 4. Homework | Choose One |
| The length and difficulty of homework assignments must be appropriate to the level of class. Homework assignments should guide students to synthesize and review what has been covered in class, prepare for the next class, and apply their knowledge to the course objectives. | |
Comments
| 5. Command of the Target Language | Choose One |
| The instructor’s command of the language must be appropriate for this class type and level. | |
| Comments | |
The Official Visitor's Folder should include:
| POI / Syllabus | Choose One |
| Lesson Plan | Choose One |
| Grade Book | Choose One |
| Attendance Records | Choose One |
| Homework Plan and Records | Choose One |
| Assessment Plan and Records | Choose One |
| SUMMARY: | |
| Standard Not Met | 0 |
| Approaching Standard | 0 |
| Standard Met | 0 |
| Standard Exceeded | 0 |
| Additional Comments: | | |
Instructions and Tips High quality, uniform language and culture instruction is critical to successful production and maintenance of sufficient capability requirements. One way in which SOF language managers at all levels shall ensure uniformly high instructor performance and continuous improvement is through regular class observations. Class observers can be component or unit language program managers, representatives from the SOF Language Office, or anyone designated by the aforementioned individuals. Designated observers may observe language training in person or via closed circuit recording, where permitted. Designated observers are to record their observations on the attached form and submit their findings to the SOF Language Office for review and incorporation into the class observation archive.
Designated observers may use the following instructions as a guide during classroom observation.
| 1. Classroom Environment |
| How does the class get along? Do the instructor and the students respect one another? Do the more proficient students exclude or bully the weaker students? Does the instructor encourage the students to participate? Are your institution's classroom rules consistently enforced? |
| 1a. Class Periods and Teaching Obligations |
| If the instructor arrives late or dismisses the class early, note the exact time. |
| 1b. Professional Image |
| Describe any questionable clothing or behavior in detail. Do not use vague words like "inappropriate"; write down exactly what you saw and heard. |
| 2. Lesson Planning |
| Is the instructor following the approved POI? Does the instructor have a lesson plan in writing? Are the planned activities all interrelated? Do the planned activities support the lesson objectives? Does the instructor transition from activity to activitiy smoothly? |
| 2a. Goals or Objectives |
| Are the lesson goals or objectives clearly stated? Are they specific and realistic? Are they task-based? For example, "By the end of the lesson, you will be able to describe your daily routine and compare it with someone else's." Objectives such as "speaking activities", "OPI practice", "learn the past tense", or "practice the accusative case" are not acceptable lesson objectives. |
| 2b. Balance and Variety |
| Do the class activities focus on meaning as well as grammar? Do the class activities focus on developing fluency (speed) as well as grammar? Are the students encouraged to connect their sentences and thoughts into coherent conversations? Do the class activities include necessary cultural information? Are the students encouraged to work around weaknesses in their capability? |
| 2c. Contextualization and Meaningful Tasks |
| When the instructor presents a concept, what kind of examples does he/she use? Are they chosen because of their grammatical properties or are they all in context? Can the students apply what they are learning in a real-life situation? Do the students have to use the language to accomplish tasks similar to those which they will have to perform when deployed or on assignment? |
| 2d. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving |
| How many original utterances do the students produce? Utterances they repeat after the instructor or read out of the book or off the board do not count. Do the students have to use any strategy to make themselves understood? Do the students ever express their opinions or evaluate information in the target language? Are the students given tasks to complete in the target language? Remember, translation is not an appropriate task for a foreign language class until the students reach ILR level 1+. How much time is devoted to drills and memorization? |
| 2e. Materials |
| Are the materials communicative and level-appropriate? Do they support the course objectives? If you are unsure, do not hesitate to ask for assistance in rating them. |
| 3. Learner-centeredness |
| Are the students actively engaged? When an activity does not engage them, does the instructor adjust the lesson? Is the instructor's teaching style in line with the students' goals? Does the instructor tailor his/her activities and examples to the students' interests? Do the students have opportunities to choose conversation partners? Do the students have opportunities to choose what to say and when to say it? Does the instructor move around the room? |
| 3a. Feedback and Assessment |
| How does the instructor give feedback? Does the instructor interrupt the student to correct him/her? Does the instructor correct every mistake or does he/she ignore the minor ones? Does the instructor guide the students to correct their own mistakes or does he/she correct their mistakes for them? Does the instructor refer back to the lesson and course objectives? If there is a quiz or a test, request a copy. Does the quiz or test focus on meaning as well as grammar? Does it present the material in full sentences? Does it utilize translation? |
| 3b. Proficiency Level |
| How does the instructor react when students do not understand? If the class does a new type of activity or if an activity is complicated, how does the instructor model it? Do the activities in the class push the students toward higher proficiency (i.e., if they can make lists, are they pushed to make utterances; if they can make utterances, are they pushed to connect them)? Are the activities too easy, challenging, or too difficult? Does the instructor link past lessons with the current one? |
| 3c. Class Participation and Interaction in the Target Language |
| Is every student participating? How much are the students talking versus how much is the instructor talking? How much of what is said is said in the target language? The standard is 75% for IAT after 60 hours of class time and 90% or more for SET. Does the instructor allow group work? |
| 3d. Reflective Practices |
| Does the instructor make changes to his/her teaching based on feedback from the students and the observer? Does the instructor update his/her lesson plans? You cannot rate this on your first observation. |
| 4. Homework |
| Request copies of the instructor's homework plan and assigned homework activities. Are the activities relevant to the course objectives? Do they focus on meaning as well as grammar? The students should be required to spend no more than 1 hour on homework for every 3 hours of instruction. |
| 5. Command of the Target Language |
| You cannot rate this if you do not speak the target language. If you can speak the target language, remember that dialectical differences are not errors. Also, authentic language use is not always "grammatically correct". The students should have some exposure to slang and non-standard vocabulary and structures since they will encounter these aspects of the target language when they are downrange. The students will have to build rapport with their foreign counterparts, which will be difficult to do if they sound like they are reading out of textbooks. |
United States Special Operations Command