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Four Things to Remember about Classroom Observations

Throughout my time working with the Network for Educator Effectiveness, I have had many conversations with teachers and administrators about classroom observations. Some of these have been in offices, some in classrooms, some over dinner with friends. A lot of these conversations have been about dispelling myths and helping teachers and administrators unlearn past classroom

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NEE Data Tool How-Tos, Common Questions and Solutions

If you’re managing NEE for your district, you often perform routine maintenance in the NEE Data Tool to keep your building and district data up-to-date. In this blog, we show you how to accomplish several of the tasks that NEE data managers are often in charge of. We’ll include common questions that arise, why issues

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Four NEE Data Tool Features to Help You Get the Most out of Your Evaluation Data

Compiling teacher evaluation data in an online teacher evaluation system saves administrators time and eliminates stress. If you’re still tracking evaluation data by hand or fumbling through a home-grown system that isn’t providing you with meaningful data, it’s time to consider an option that will make your job so much easier by eliminating the busywork

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Prescriptive Modules Now Available in EdHub

You’ve been asking for it, and we’re creating it! Principals often ask how they can assign EdHub modules to their teachers. Today, EdHub is one step closer to making your wish come true. We are working on a set of activities designed specifically for teachers based on their classroom observation scores. Here’s everything you need

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Best Practices for Writing and Implementing Teacher Performance Improvement Plans

When teachers repeatedly get less-than-effective ratings, it is time to implement a performance improvement plan, or PIP. In fact, 33 states – including Missouri and Nebraska – require performance improvement plans or performance assistance plans for teachers rated below effective. Although you might dread the exercise of creating a performance improvement plan, remember the reason

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Mission Possible: Strategies to Help You Accomplish Your Big Instructional Leadership Goals

“How can I possibly accomplish it all?” Have you found yourself asking that question in relation to your NEE implementation goals or your broader instructional leadership goals? Instructional leadership is the principal’s most important job, yet it’s also the most difficult. We get it. School administrators are wearing more and more hats, and day-to-day tasks

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Back to School Resources for Administrators, Teachers, and Mentors

Ah, the beginning of the school year. There’s no time of year quite like this. We know you have a lot on your plate. While we don’t want to add even more to your list, we do want to remind you of the resources available to help you check off some of those important to-do

Evaluation for new teachers Read More

Effective Evaluation Supports New Teachers and Helps Keep Them in the Profession

With a third of the nation’s beginning teachers leaving the profession during their first three years, it is more critical than ever to provide the support needed to keep teachers in the field. In Missouri, according to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, 42% leave within the same three-year time frame.  Administrators and mentors

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Dyslexia Legislation Update for Schools in Missouri and Nebraska

Starting in the 2018-19 school year, Missouri and Nebraska laws required public schools and charter schools to take new action on dyslexia. In each state, laws put an emphasis on screening and resources to help schools provide support to students. Because the Network for Educator Effectiveness supports schools in Missouri and Nebraska, we wrote this

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Data Helps School Administrators Lead Instructional Change Efforts

Educator evaluation is about much more than a score, and it goes far beyond the classroom walls. Effective evaluation means principals are accurately evaluating teachers, providing effective feedback, and implementing instructional change to support student learning. The Network for Educator Effectiveness aims to help principals become more accurate evaluators through our annual, recurring trainings. We’ve

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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

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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