Evaluation Success Story: The Journey to Easier Staff Observations and Assessments

The Challenge

While operating across multiple states, Charter Schools USA's unique structural requirements made it difficult to meet CSUSA’s needs in terms of staff evaluations. This was a direct result of the organization’s reliance on a proprietary product that was developed on an antiquated programming language, not to mention inadequate customer support.

"We're in five different states, each with its unique demands, and many times, vendors promised their solutions would work for us, but they didn't understand the complexity of our structure."

Ross’ team struggled with an inflexible system and inadequate reporting when expanding into different states. What’s more, their procedure at the time for observations and evaluations was intricate and challenging to communicate to educators. As a result, the institution sought a streamlined, customizable, and intuitive solution for staff assessment, feedback, and improvement.

"We had around 72 indicators, but managing and evaluating them became overwhelming. State requirements were constantly changing, and it was difficult to keep up. We needed something that could handle our requirements while being more flexible and user-friendly."

Continuing with the old system was ultimately burdening school leadership with complexities and limited reporting. Because this hindered effective staff evaluation tracking and adaptability, the need for a unified approach became a key focus for Ross’ team.

The Solution

So, what exactly was Ross’ team looking for in an improved solution for staff evaluation? “We wanted something easy for leaders to use on a day-to-day basis. Plus, something that we could customize in the true sense of the word,” says Ross. “Because a lot of software will tell you that they're customizable when in reality they're configurable.”

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With this in mind, Ross and her team chose to move forward with a comprehensive solution to address their staff evaluation challenges and unique structural needs: the Evaluation software powered by Education Advanced. This solution equips school leaders to efficiently document every aspect of the staff evaluation process and streamline artifact upload, documentation, and observation types.

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A key feature of Evaluation that stood out to Ross’ team was its ability to accommodate a wide variety of rubrics and evaluation indicators. Plus, greater flexibility allowed the school to adapt the system to its intricate structural requirements. This ease of customization proved crucial in streamlining the evaluation process and creating a system that aligned with Charter Schools USA’s vision for success.

“What impressed us was their team's ability to make changes on the spot during our calls, which showed that they understood our unique needs. It made adding rubrics and making adjustments a breeze, and the reporting capabilities exceeded our expectations.”

Ross and her team at Charter Schools USA introduced the Evaluation software to improve the staff assessment process for efficiency and comprehensiveness and to elevate the quality of feedback provided to educators. This was intended to not only drive professional development but also boost the overall learning experience offered to students.

The Results

The impact of the Evaluation system at Charter Schools USA has been significant. “By the end of the year, we saw schools with considerably more documented classroom observations,” explains Ross.

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The schools’ Florida and Louisiana teams served as the first implementers of the system, surpassing their initial goals regarding the number of evaluations per teacher annually. While there was initial resistance to these increased expectations, the schools achieved their goals by the end of the year. For Ross’ team, this indicated a shift toward a more refined coaching cycle, which was enabled by the Evaluation software.

"With the new system, we can easily manage our evaluations, and it's more intuitive for our leaders. This not only saves time but also helps us provide targeted feedback for our teachers, so they’re able to focus on improving instruction."

Leaders within the schools also found the new system simple to use, especially as staff became more familiar with it. They found they could now monitor and manage the evaluation and coaching cycles more effectively while ultimately fostering a growth mindset for teacher development. Moreover, Evaluation facilitated the transition from a spreadsheet-based system to a more sophisticated performance assessment platform.

"Reporting on completed evaluations and observations was a very Excel-intensive process. So, on my end, it's just made the process of collecting and disseminating all of the data and reporting much easier. And, I've been able to give people more useful information to drive change."

The enhanced evaluation system ultimately led to more targeted reviews for teachers, and the system’s flexibility and user-friendliness helped drive adoption rates — with more observations and evaluations being conducted and documented annually. This is driving professional development and continuous improvement across the organization, which translates into better outcomes for learners at the end of the day.

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The Product

Evaluation is a tool built to increase the efficiency of the staff evaluation process and facilitate educator growth with data. With a collaborative, web-based performance portal that's tailored to meet each district's needs, school administrators can efficiently document every step of the staff evaluation process — including walk-throughs, self-evaluations, supporting evidence, reporting, and performance analytics.