Getting to the How: Turning Evaluation into Improvement

Imagine this scenario. You finish a classroom observation and sit down to write your notes. The goals are clear. Students are compliant. The lesson is organized. But something is missing. Maybe the questions are almost entirely recall-based. Maybe students are attentive but not really thinking. Maybe there are missed opportunities for discussion or collaboration.

As an instructional leader, you can identify what you’d like to see improve. The problem is that knowing what needs to improve and giving teachers concrete strategies to make that improvement are two very different things.  

And that’s where many evaluation systems fall short.

Most teacher evaluation frameworks do a good job in helping us identify strengths and areas for growth. They support us in collecting evidence, organizing observations, and even conducting important professional conversations.

But the fundamental question that needs to be answered if evaluation is to make a difference is How? How do I help this teacher grow? What practical instructional techniques and strategies will give this teacher “the how” that’s needed to turn observation data into better classroom practice?

Helping school leaders and teachers get to the how of improvement is the goal of The 21: Powerful Instructional Tools for Enhancing Teacher Effectiveness and Promoting Growth. Developed through a partnership between the Thoughtful Classroom and Education Advanced, The 21 was designed to solve a problem so many school leaders have identified as their biggest challenge when it comes to teacher evaluation: how to turn observation data and feedback into meaningful instructional improvement.  

The idea is simple. If an observation reveals a need in questioning, teachers should have access to practical strategies that strengthen classroom questioning. If engagement is a concern, teachers should have access to proven engagement techniques. If assessment, differentiation, classroom management, or collaborative learning emerge as growth areas, teachers should be able to immediately access tools designed to help them improve in those specific areas.

And what, exactly, is the administrator recommending and the teacher accessing when using The 21 in this way?

Twenty-one of the highest-impact, research-based strategies, adapted from the award-winning professional learning series Tools for Today’s Educators, and turned into expert-led video tutorials. We call them “Tools in Twelve,” because each tutorial is roughly twelve minutes in length, and each is designed to give teachers everything they need to put the strategy into practice in their classrooms.

Best of all, these twenty-one strategies are built directly into the Education Advanced evaluation platform and aligned to whatever evaluation rubric your district is using, making it easy for the administrator find the most relevant instructional strategies and create a meaningful improvement path for every teacher.

Now, instead of stopping at feedback, we move to support. Instead of identifying a problem, we provide a solution. Instead of saying, “Here’s what needs improvement,” we can say, “Here’s a strategy that can help.” That’s a very different conversation—one that changes the role of evaluation. Evaluation becomes less about ratings and more about growth. Instead of documenting practice, we can focus on improving it.

Even better, The 21 allows schools to move beyond individual teacher growth and focus on what John Hattie and his team have identified as the single greatest factor affecting student achievement: collective teacher efficacy. School leaders can identify patterns across grade levels, departments, PLCs, or entire faculties and connect teams to common tools and strategies aligned to shared goals. That’s how cultures of improvement are built— by empowering school teams to strengthen the instructional practices that matter most.

About the Author

Harvey F. Silver, Ed.D., founder and president of Silver Strong & Associates and The Thoughtful Classroom, is one of education’s leading experts on instructional strategies and effective teaching. A dynamic speaker and author, Harvey helps schools and districts improve classroom instruction through practical, research-based approaches that increase student engagement, deepen learning, and strengthen teacher effectiveness.

Harvey is the author of numerous best-selling education books, including The Core Six, The Strategic Teacher, and Teaching for Deeper Learning (with Jay McTighe), recognized by BookAuthority as one of the “Best Teaching Books of All Time.” Harvey’s expertise in instructional strategies is the driving force behind the award-winning Tools for Today’s Educators series. He is also the lead developer of Thoughtful Classroom Teacher Effectiveness Framework, a comprehensive system for observing, evaluating, and refining instructional practice that is used by districts across the country.