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Commitment to training Read More

Why Training Matters to Improve Classroom Observation

It’s summer. The grass is green, the pools are open, and our five Network for Educator Effectiveness trainers rack up the miles on the road for training. For educators, summer is a time for renewal and a time for growth. From our beginnings, NEE has looked at our summer training sessions through that lens: renewal

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Teacher Professional Development: 3 Activity Ideas for School Leaders

The beginning of a teacher professional development day or faculty meeting sets the tone for the learning to take place and the climate for the day. Get your time together off to a good start with a quick activity to get conversations and learning started. Here are three quick activity ideas for the beginning of

Leadership development Read More

Effective School Leadership in Every Building: How School Leadership Development Drives Positive Changes in the Classroom

The children in our classrooms deserve no less than our best effort to provide them with the highest quality of instruction every single day. Our best effort requires educators to routinely sharpen their skills, and that’s why it’s important that teachers and administrators alike participate regularly in professional development and leadership development training and activities.

Building trust in teacher evaluations Read More

Building Trust in Teacher Evaluations and the Confidence to Do Them Right

I still remember my first teacher evaluation experience late in the fall of my inaugural year. Although I was a young teacher, I was confident in my instructional abilities and wanted to make a good impression on the principal who had hired me. Looking back now, I can say my confidence was unwarranted, but it

Saying no to cut scores Read More

Saying No to ‘Cut Scores’ and Derogatory Labels in Teacher Evaluation

In the January 2019 District Trendline by the National Center on Teacher Quality, the focus concerned the language that was connected with teacher evaluation rubrics. In a quick report, NCTQ looked at the language of the evaluation rubrics used by 123 large school districts across the United States. Their findings suggest that teacher evaluation ratings

How to give effective feedback Read More

The 3 Golden Rules and 5-Step Guide to Giving Effective Feedback

How do you feel when you know you need to have a tough conversation about performance with a teacher? Anxious? Tense? Even if you’re feeling confident and comfortable, these conversations are not often thought of as enjoyable. In fact, the March 2019 issue of Educational Leadership framed addressing a teacher’s performance concerns as The Instructional