Learner-Focused Feedback for Massachusetts Educator Evaluators
Do you feel like all of your observation reports sound the same?
Are you worried that the feedback you give isn’t actionable—and doesn’t actually change teaching and learning?
You’re not alone.
Research suggests that teacher evaluation can influence instructional practice—but the quality of the observation and feedback matters.
In a RAND study, 73% of teachers who received feedback from formal observations said that feedback was helpful for improving their instructional practice. That means nearly 1 in 4 teachers did not find formal observation feedback helpful for improving their practice.
And while that 73% is encouraging, another finding raises an important question: Are our observation reports actually identifying what teachers most need to work on?
A large Institute of Education Sciences study found that only 26% of teachers using CLASS and 34% using the Framework for Teaching had the same lowest-rated area across four observations. In other words, observation scores did not always provide a consistent picture of the area where a teacher most needed to improve.
So what if the teacher evaluation process could be more than a system for documenting performance?
What if every observation could become an opportunity to better understand student learning, strengthen instructional practice, and help teachers identify their next step?
From Observation to Impact - $395
From Observation to Impact is a one-day, hands-on professional learning workshop designed for Massachusetts educators who observe and evaluate teachers—including principals, assistant principals, department heads, instructional coaches, and other school and district leaders.
Grounded in the work of Amy Tepper and Patrick Flynn, this workshop brings together ideas and strategies from Learner-Focused Feedback: 19 Strategies to Observe for Impact and Feedback to Feed Forward: 31 Strategies to Lead Learning.
Participants will explore what it means to shift the focus of an observation from simply documenting what a teacher does to examining the impact of instruction on learners.
Throughout the day, participants will have opportunities to:
• Examine authentic classroom evidence
• Practice collecting meaningful observation data
• Distinguish evidence from interpretation
• Analyze the relationship between teacher practice and student learning
• Connect evidence to the Massachusetts Educator Evaluation System
• Practice turning evidence into meaningful, actionable feedback
• Identify high-leverage areas for growth
• Engage in realistic observation scenarios and feedback conversations
And there is a Massachusetts connection.
A study of low-performing schools in Massachusetts found a statistically significant relationship between schoolwide instructional observation scores and student academic growth in both ELA and mathematics.
On a 7-point observation scale, a 1-point increase in schoolwide instructional observation scores was associated with 4.4 additional percentile points of ELA growth and 5.1 additional percentile points of math growth.
The study does not establish that stronger observation scores caused greater student growth. Student achievement and growth are influenced by many factors. But the finding reinforces an important idea:
What we look for in classrooms—and how thoughtfully we examine instructional practice—matters.
But the work doesn't stop with the observation.
The most important part of evaluation may happen after the classroom visit.
Participants will explore how to turn evidence into meaningful feedback—feedback that encourages reflection, identifies high-leverage areas for growth, and gives teachers a clear pathway forward.
Through realistic scenarios, collaborative activities, observation practice, and feedback conversations, participants will apply the strategies immediately rather than simply hear about them.
The goal is not to give evaluators more things to write down.
The goal is to help evaluators see more clearly, ask better questions, provide more useful feedback, and support teachers in moving their practice forward.
And because professional learning shouldn't end when the workshop does, every participant will receive both Tepper & Flynn books as part of registration.
These resources provide a foundation for continued reflection and application long after the workshop ends.
The goal isn't simply better observation reports.
It is better observation, better feedback, stronger instructional practice, and a clearer focus on student learning.
If you are responsible for evaluating teachers, From Observation to Impact is an opportunity to step back from the mechanics of evaluation and focus on the part that matters most: