Pilot Lights: Giving Teachers Useful Feedback

December 07, 2011

Many schools hesitate to have conversations with teachers about how to improve. But Achievement Prep, an exceptional school in D.C., shows that when a school commits to regular feedback, teachers thrive – and students excel. 

Achievement Prep structures feedback around “quick hits”: small, manageable pieces of a teacher’s craft that could be easily improved. At least once every two weeks, all 18 teachers receive a short, 15-minute observation and a real-time follow-up email.

Between 2010 and 2011, Achievement Prep doubled the number of observations each teacher received each year, from 20 to nearly 40. That same year, every single teacher in the school reported that observations helped them improve student outcomes – a testament to the value of the bite-size, real-time feedback.

---