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Can Evaluations Actually
Improve Teacher Practice?

Too often, teacher evaluation is just a formality—lots of paperwork, but very little impact. 

It doesn't have to be that way.

In the Evidence-Driven Teacher Evaluation Certification Program, even the most experienced instructional leaders will gain systems and strategies for using the evaluation process to drive professional growth like never before.

The Evidence-Driven Teacher Evaluation Certification Program features our proprietary Perpetual Learning Community™ format, including:

  • On-demand modules, with video responses from fellow participants around the world—your PLC
  • Live cohorts with weekly support sessions
  • Free access to all future cohorts of this program

Who Should Register?

The Evidence-Driven Teacher Evaluation Certification Program is designed for:

  • School-based administrators who supervise and evaluate teachers.
  • District-level HR professionals involved in any aspect of teacher appraisal, including plans of improvement and conduct investigations
  • Superintendents, directors, and principal supervisors who set policies and develop procedures for teacher evaluation
  • Full-time teacher mentors and induction support providers
  • Aspiring administrators preparing for their first supervisory role

While this program focuses a great deal on supporting teachers in improving their practice, it is not designed for department heads, team leaders, or instructional coaches who aren't involved in the teacher evaluation process.

Learn At Your Own Pace—Lifetime Access

The Evidence-Driven Teacher Evaluation Certification Program includes timely live support throughout the year, as well as on-demand modules you can complete at your own pace. 



Your registration includes lifetime access to the entire program, including all future live support cohorts. 

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What You'll Learn in Each Module

Module 1

Goal-Setting for Teacher Growth

  • Process accountability vs. performance accountability, and which type to use for SMART goals
  • How to foster a growth mindset and create the safety teachers need to set ambitious goals—within your current district process
  • How to use the 5P Goal System to help teachers set the right kinds of goals
  • Three keys to intrinsic motivation, and how to foster them in the goal-setting process
  • The most common goal-setting mistake—and how to avoid short-circuiting teacher growth and accountability

Module 3

Evidence-Driven Formal Observations

  • How to gather plenty of evidence for every domain of practice, even if you only do one formal observation
  • Why low-inference scripting is better than observation forms
  • How to handle inter-rater reliability across your admin team or district
  • What to do when you don't have evidence for some evaluation criteria
  • Why teacher practice is like an iceberg, and how to get evidence of the 80% we can't see 

Module 5

Leveraging Time & Effort for Maximum Impact

  • Why it's crucial to prioritize evaluations based on risk, not just known performance issues
  • How to use the "Bucket Strategy" to re-use specific types writing for multiple teachers
  • Extreme Differentiation—why some evaluations take dramatically more time and effort, and how to free up this time
  • The 3 factors that place teachers at risk of unexpected performance issues
  •  How to handle performance issues that aren't resolved at the end of the school year 

Module 2

Instructional Frameworks as Growth Pathways

  • 4 indicators of teacher practices that will affect student learning the most
  • How to help already-good and already-great teachers keep growing
  • How to use your evaluation criteria to design a developmental pathway for teachers who aren't meeting expectations
  • The 3 elements of fluency, and how to help teachers attain proficiency in areas they're struggling with
  • How to tell if your expectations are high enough, and how to raise them if you need to

Module 4

Rating Teacher Performance & Writing Airtight Final Evaluations with GSIR

  • How to ensure that every teacher receives an accurate rating of their performance—and what to do if you're short on evidence
  • A proven format for writing final evaluations that will withstand even the closest scrutiny from HR, union reps, and attorneys
  • How to address performance concerns that will need to be a focus the following year
  • What to say about unmet SMART goals
  • How to use our Final Evaluation Builder's multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank templates

Bonuses

Further Tools & Training

  • How to write performance improvement plans (PIPs)
  • Using HR processes—outside of the formal evaluation process—to address misconduct
  • Evaluating non-teaching staff
  • Tools including our GSIR Final Evaluation Builder, Evaluation Organizer Spreadsheet, and Staff Risk Assessment worksheet
  • Mapping Professional Practice: How to Develop Instructional Frameworks to Support Teacher Growth (hardcopy book)
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Certification Program

The Evidence-Driven Teacher Evaluation Certification Program allows you to demonstrate your ability to provide effective instructional leadership through the formal evaluation process

You'll receive:

  • Individualized support and feedback on your work
  • Portfolio review and assessment
  • Signed certificate upon completion of certification requirements

Evidence-Driven Portfolio Tasks

To earn your Certification, you'll assemble a portfolio of evidence with artifacts from real-world performance tasks, including:

  • Teacher goal-setting and feedback
  • Teacher evaluation "bucket" spreadsheet
  • GSIR-format final evaluations

There's no deadline or expiration date—complete the portfolio whenever it's convenient for you.

Program Format

Interactive Video-Based Professional Learning

The Teacher Evaluation Certification uses our two-way interactive video technology, allowing participants to both learn and respond via video—with no need to attend live sessions or watch replays. You can watch and respond directly from your computer or mobile device.

A New Kind of PLC—the Perpetual Learning Community

Our interactive, on-demand format enables a new kind of cohort experience. Instead of learning alongside only your colleagues who are able to participate at the same time, you can share your learning with everyone in the program—regardless of schedule. You'll be able to see and hear others' responses to reflection prompts, contribute your voice, and challenge your thinking with diverse perspectives.

Interactive Checks for Understanding

The Teacher Evaluation Certification is organized into short, self-paced sections that allow you check your understanding in real time. 


Need more review? No re-watching needed—clarifications, extra examples, and alternative explanations are built in. 

Module Transcripts

To help you review your learning and find key concepts quickly, you'll get complete transcripts of all training modules. 


You can download, search, and even print these professionally formatted PDF transcripts for easy review without re-watching videos. 

Certification Portfolio

To earn the Certification, participants compile a portfolio of evidence including records of their goal-setting work with teachers, formal observations, and written artifacts to demonstrate their instructional leadership. 


While some components can only be completed while school is in session, the Portfolio can be submitted at any time; the program includes lifetime access. 

Audio Review

Prefer to listen, or want a quick review? You'll get a complete MP3 audio file for each module, so you can brush up on key concepts quickly, or pick up the learning again after a break. 


Everything is yours to keep, with lifetime, on-demand access and no expiration dates or deadlines.

Who Is This Program For?

Principals

  • Use the goal-setting and observation process to actually change teacher practice—not just for compliance
  • Use a risk-based approach to differentiating your supervision and support for each teacher
  • Give accurate ratings that teachers won't argue with, and will instead embrace as opportunities for growth
  • Dramatically cut the time you spend on paperwork for teachers who are doing well
  • Increase teachers' intrinsic motivation and ownership of their professional growth

Principal Supervisors & HR Pros

  • Give your principals a clear process for addressing both performance and conduct issues using the right tools for each
  • Reduce teacher grievances and complaints about formal evaluation ratings
  • Retain teachers by enhancing their status and autonomy as professionals
  • Align expectations for practice across the organization

Assistant Principals

  • Take your instructional leadership to the next level by conducting evidence-driven observations and evaluations
  • Build relationships with teachers via evidence-driven feedback conversations
  • Become a systems thinker by forging connections between individual teacher needs and your school-level improvement agenda
  • Align your expectations for teaching & learning as an admin team 
  • Deal with teacher conduct issues in a firm, respectful manner that demonstrates your readiness for the principalship

Aspiring Administrators

  • Learn how to become a welcome presence in classrooms—and a trusted thought partner to teachers
  • Develop productivity systems and habits for staying on top of the heavy admin workload, especially during evaluations
  • Articulate your impact on teacher practice and student learning, so you can ace your next interview
  • Prepare for your next level of impact as an instructional leader

About Your Instructor

The Evidence-Driven Teacher Evaluation Certification Program is led by Dr. Justin Baeder, Director of The Principal Center.

Dr. Baeder is author of Mapping Professional Practice: How to Develop Instructional Frameworks to Support Teacher Growth as well as Now We're Talking! 21 Days to High-Performance Instructional Leadership (both published by Solution Tree), and creator of the Instructional Leadership Challenge, which has helped more than 10,000 leaders in 50 countries make a daily habit of classroom visits.


He holds a PhD in Educational Leadership & Policy Studies from the University of Washington, and helps senior leaders in K-12 organizations build capacity for instructional leadership

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Bonuses

When you enroll in the program, we'll include even more to help you succeed:

1-Year Lifetime Instructional Leadership Association Membership ($2,256 value)

Our tools and trainings help you build capacity for instructional leadership, with new resources each month, plus Repertoire Content Creator, the professional writing app for instructional leaders™ 

Concierge Setup of Repertoire App

  • Staff import
  • Instructional framework import
  • Personal 1:1 training

Free Copy of Mapping Professional Practice: How to Develop Instructional Frameworks to Support Teacher Growth

You'll receive a signed hardcopy of Mapping Professional Practice: How to Develop Instructional Frameworks to Support Teacher Growth, by Heather Bell-Williams and Principal Center Director Justin Baeder.

The Instructional Vision Institute

You'll get instant access to the 2-part Instructional Vision Institute program, so you can develop your own instructional frameworks for professional practice. Like a teacher evaluation framework, an instructional framework breaks a practice into key components and levels of fluency, so you can provide teachers with a clear rubric outlining shared expectations.

The Inbox Overhaul

Is email keeping you out of classrooms? An out-of-control inbox can be stressful and overwhelming. If you're ready for an Inbox Overhaul, this program will help you get your inbox empty every day, so you can use email the way it was intended—as a powerful communication tool.

Working with Office Staff & Your Admin Team

Office staff and other administrators on your team are crucial to your success in getting into classrooms. In these two bonus trainings, you'll learn how to work as a team, so you can cover for and support each other, and still get into classrooms every day.

Money-Back Guarantee

The Evidence-Driven Teacher Evaluation Certification Program will dramatically strengthen your instructional leadership skills, and allow you to provide highly effective feedback to teachers at all skill levels.

We're fully confident that it's the most powerful professional development for instructional leaders anywhere—but don't take our word for it. Try the program for yourself, and experience the transformation that it brings to your leadership.

If you're not 100% satisfied with the our program for any reason, contact us within 30 days for a full refund.

Full Certification Program

The Evidence-Driven Teacher Evaluation Certification

  • Full Teacher Evaluation Course
  • Hardcopy of Mapping Professional Practice with custom book plate
  • 12-month Lifetime Instructional Leadership Association Membership ($2,256 value)
  • Concierge setup of Repertoire App
  • Portfolio Review
  • Signed Certificate (upon completion)

$1499

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Frequently Asked Questions

I'm paying out of pocket—do you offer payment plans?

Yes, we offer an interest-free payment plan for individuals paying out of pocket.


For schools, we accept one-time payments via credit card or check/purchase order. 

I have a team I'd like to register—do you offer group rates?

Yes, we offer a substantial discount for groups of two or more. See our registration form for pricing details.

How long do I have to complete the program? 

Your purchase includes lifetime access to the Evidence-Driven Teacher Evaluation Certification Program. 


You can go through the program as many times as you'd like, and complete the Certification component whenever you want. 

Is this approach compatible with our evaluation system?

Yes, this approach is compatible with any teacher evaluation system. Participants will have access to our Repertoire Content Creator app, which makes it easy to take evidence-rich notes using the specific vocabulary of a shared instructional framework. Our members use a wide range of frameworks, including:

  • Danielson
  • Marzano
  • Stronge
  • Marshall
  • T-TESS
  • AITSL

and many others.

What does the Certification mean?

The Evidence-Driven Teacher Evaluation Certification signifies a deep knowledge and demonstrated practice of effective teacher supervision and evaluation.


Prospective employers can be confident that candidates who hold the Certification will be instructional leaders who get into classrooms every day, have feedback conversations that change teacher practice, and have a deep understanding of their school's strengths and opportunities for improvement.

Do I have to attend live sessions at a certain time?

You are welcome to participate in live cohort sessions, but the program's core modules are delivered through interactive two-way video.


Everything is available on-demand, on your schedule, anywhere in the world. Live sessions will be recorded for future access.


You'll be able to see other people's responses, even if you aren't going through the program at the same time. It's an approach we call the Perpetual Learning Community.™ 


What is the Perpetual Learning Community?

This program uses our innovative, proprietary model of professional learning—a PLC for the future of professional development. In our Perpetual Learning Community™, you'll be able to interact with the ideas and thinking of other participants, even if they're completing the program on a different timeframe. 


Because your ideas are uploaded to the course, it gets better and better as more people complete it. On your second time through, you'll find new ways to sharpen your thinking and hone your practice.

Register for the Evidence-Driven
Teacher Evaluation
Certification Program