The team may also include members from higher education, district central offices, school committees, and other educational stakeholders. Because the visit focuses intensely on teaching and learning as the primary way to improve school and student performance, the majority of a team is made up of teachers and is chaired by a teacher called a SALT Fellow. All team members are from outside the host school district and go through a rigorous training program given by the Department of Education before going on a visit. During the four days that a team visits the school, it looks at student learning, teaching, and school climate and organization. These three focus areas are the same areas for which schools conduct their own self-study activities.
All visits follow the same schedule.
Through observation and conversation, the team member sees the school through the eyes of a student. On the second day, team members observe as many classroom lessons as possible to see what kinds of teaching are conducted throughout the school. On the third day, the team meets with teachers, parents, school and district administrators, students, and other important groups to get their understandings of the school's efforts to become a better place for students to learn. On the fourth day of the visit, the team writes the visit report. From the moment a team begins a visit, its members become aware of issues and patterns that seem to be important keys to understanding the quality of learning and teaching in the school.