1st Edition

Crafting the Feedback Teachers Need and Deserve A Guide for Leaders

By Thomas M. Van Soelen Copyright 2016
    214 Pages 16 B/W Illustrations
    by Eye On Education

    214 Pages 16 B/W Illustrations
    by Eye On Education

    214 Pages 16 B/W Illustrations
    by Eye On Education

    Crafting the Feedback Teachers Need and Deserve illuminates an often overlooked aspect of educational leadership: providing quality written feedback. This resource offers context, purpose, and techniques on how to capture and write beneficial feedback. Proven in school districts, Van Soelen’s strategies will accelerate improvement in classroom practice and result in teachers who crave feedback and use it to supervise themselves. Full of examples and complete with an assessment tool to gauge current practice, this book shares insights into providing effective observation and feedback within any teacher evaluation system.

    Contents

    Chapter One

    Shining the Light in the Dark

    Chapter Two

    Why We Should Measure Feedback Quality

    Chapter Three

    Building Your Descriptive Prowess

    Chapter Four

    Using Conditional Language to Ponder Changes

    Chapter Five

    Why Point of View is Significant

    Chapter Six

    Explicitly Owning and Raising Assumptions

    Chapter Seven

    The Trickiness of Co-Teaching Situations

    Chapter Eight

    Nurturing A Culture of Feedback

    Appendix

     

    Biography

    Thomas M. Van Soelen is the President of Van Soelen & Associates. As a former school district leader, he now provides professional development services to schools focusing on four areas of expertise: instructional strategies, SRI critical friendship, leadership development, and teacher evaluation.

     

    "In his book, Van Soelen outlines a practical approach for educational leaders to provide teachers with valuable feedback that leads to improved practice.  The tools provided in this book will help any principal, assistant principal, or instructional leader learn to develop and utilize teacher feedback for its intended purpose--improved student learning!"

    --Jared Cotton, Division Superintendent, Henry County Public Schools, VA

    "Quality feedback to teachers on instructional practice is the hinge upon which the true school improvement door opens. Van Soelen provides exceptional insight and strategies for providing that high-quality feedback. The specific strategies for individually crafting feedback that leads to reflection and growth are invaluable!"

    --Beth Brockman, Assistant Superintendent of Strategic Initiatives and Community Engagement, Lewisville ISD, TX

     

     

    "This thoughtful and practical book guides educators to move teacher evaluation past accountability and compliance and positions teacher evaluation as an essential tool for school improvement. Thomas Van Soelen focuses keenly on the importance of crafting written feedback for teachers, unlike most resources on this subject which attend to in-person feedback conversations. Crafting the Feedback Teachers Need and Deserve is an important resource for educators who are passionate about advancing the use of observations and actionable feedback to enhance teaching and learning for every student."

    --Debbi Laidley, Board Member, School Reform Initiative, Inc.