This speaks highly to reflection. Knowing what we do is important, but knowing the why is doubly so. Not only collecting, but using data is key!

Using results to drive the instruction makes for a more effective teacher with more success for their students. I believe that when there isn't a "laser-focus" like the quote says that the students will never know what the objective is or how to reach it because the teacher is all over the place.

"many who work in professional learning are action oriented"

Teacher leaders are willing to take risks and assume responsibility. They are people in your building that will get things done!

I can say from personal experience that as an executor, I am guilty of this! I find joy in the process of accomplishing things, which can sometimes cause me to lose sight of the bigger picture at hand. Keeping those results at the forefront of our minds when planning and delivering, whether in PLC or independent in our classrooms, is key to ensuring student growth.

"When results are the driver, expectations are clearer and efforts are more aligned."

Teacher leaders are focused on studnet learning and achievement. If the school has common goals they are working toward, then teachers can rally and support one another to push all students to achieve the goal or at least make growth on their level and maybe even exceed expectations.

I think this is really important for PLCs to keep in mind when meeting. Our school has the 4 PLC questions posted on the wall in the room where we meet for our formal weekly data discussions, and it is a good reminder of where the focus should be: results. When we know very clearly where we are going, it is much easier to get there!

"tend to focus on what to do rather than what they want to achieve."

I struggle to keep the big picture in mind. It's important to focus on the overall goal as you are taking the steps to get there.

It is important to evaluate student learning so that we can be more effective teachers, and the overall goal (mentioned in the first quote) can be obtained. Our efforts as a team can be better aligned when we all have a clear picture of where we are headed.

the steps or the process rather than the outcome.

As a former coach and college athlete, this was an interesting quote for me. Process and results are equally important to me. The process matters because it makes the results so much more SWEET when you get to it. I think in education we don't focus on the results because the process does take so much time. I hope educators can take a step back and enjoy the results that they worked so hard to get to with their students.

Again, this stands out so much as a former coach and college athlete. Regularly self-evaluation is what this quote is all about. When you make self-evaluating a normal practice, you will be better at everything. We have to continually be striving to be better. Lead by example. Our students and colleagues are looking to us to set the standard. If we can't humbly say, yeah I need to do better at this or I messed up here, then we can't expect our students or peers to do that.

"When results are the driver, expectations are clearer and efforts are more aligned."

Backwards plan. Devise your assessments for mastery. Pay attention to formative assessments and adjust your approach to meet the needs of the student (and the teacher, if coaching).

Leaders who regularly check their blind spots make better choices, fix problems faster, and stay focused on the end goal. When results guide the work, everyone knows what to expect, and the work becomes more impactful for both teachers and students.

To me this drives home the importance of being purposely reflective, which in the day to day “rat race” can often fall to the wayside, and as an executor I am guilty of this. MUST be intentional!

This screams being data driven!  All decisions are based on the data.

• A teacher leader needs to be able to explain their process and thinking to collaborate and support other teachers. Just showing results doesn't help.

• If there isn't an evaluation, how do you know learning has occurred? Knowing the expected outcome is a must for collaboration and communication.

As a participant, sometimes those are "nice to know" things, but don't have the full impact or carry over to daily practice that it could have had if the results were part of the planning and design.

This quote reminds me of the Executing-based leadership domain and the Adaptive Leadership model. The Executing leadership approach is action-oriented and thrives on achieving tasks. Teachers wear many hats and are constantly working on various lists. Leaders who utilize the Adaptive Leadership model have no real established goals and work more towards solving problems as they arise rather than long-term goals aligned with the team’s mission and vision. As leaders, we need to ensure our team remains focused on the team’s established goals and not get bogged down by mundane tasks.

This quote reminds me of the Strategic Thinking domain and the various leadership models that have predetermined goals aligned with a shared mission and vision, such as the Shared Leadership model. As a leader, in order to ensure student success, clear and concise goals need to be established along with data-based decisions to guide instruction. If an effective system is in place, the team can adapt seamlessly as challenges arise.

The connection that I made was to not mistake the doing part of teaching for the achieving part and I need to make sure I am tying my instruction to a measurable goal-the focus is on student growth.

When you stay data focused, you keep the end goal in mind. When you focus on exactly what the students need to know and keep refereeing back to it, it keeps the actions inline. Asking yourself, "How will this practice improve student learning?”

Collaborative teams with clear common goals work more intentionally which contributes to all students' growth. Solving problems proactively together relating to student learning gaps before it hinders student progress is critical within a PLC.

Sometimes the big picture is too much to accomplish. The big picture needs to be broken up into smaller clearer acheivement. I need to keep that in mind more.

Reflecting on results of data are key. "keep {ing} a laser-like focus" will keep you and your students growing. I also believe it is important to not let excuses get in the way. Stay focused on what is in your control, make adjustments and keep moving forward. Part of being a lead teacher is not placing blame, but finding research based solutions when a hiccup happens.

I have a student read the learning targets for each subject daily and have the class repeat after them. The clear learning targets help them and me keep focused. This has really helpled me when I work with my professional community.

If you don't know what you want to accomplish, then how do you know your processes will work. I've always worked backwards when preparing lessons/activities, with the end goal (results) at the forefront then completing the steps (processes) to ensure the goal is accomplished.

Integrating evaluation into your normal practice is key into making informed decisions and to ensure you are achieving your goals. However, when working in a school environment, we can become too obsessed with results and forget about the humanistic side of working with others. I believe it is important to have clear defined outcomes and to respond quickly to challenges, but not to forget that we are working with kids and sometimes we have to monitor and adjust our tactics along the way.

"Process becomes more important than results." I think teachers often go through the motions of plan, teach, assess, repeat. We often forget the vital component of reflecting on the "results" and responding to what those results tell us that should further guide our next steps.

This quote serves as an important reminder of the impact of continuous evaluation in professional learning to ensure that goals are clearly defined and progress is measurable.

Many times we can have a checklist and accomplish all of the things we need to do. We sometimes forget that we need to make sure that the students are all understanding the objectives. Sometimes that means re-teaching a lesson or taking extra time for review.

Teachers that do this will have very clear expectations for the students in each lesson. You will be aiming for mastery of the standards being presented. I big picture needs to stay on our radar even when all of the other things that come our way try to crowd it out.

Becoming results oriented helps you decide whether what you are doing is benefitting kids or not. Trying out new and engaging lessons is fun for staff and students, but we need to look at the data to see if we are getting the results we need from the lessons.

When we use data to drive instruction, our expectations are clearer. Being clear with our students is a kindness to them. Data-driven instruction helps us be more informed on what are students know and what they don't know.

While instructional strategies are important, they only matter if they lead to student learning and growth. Focusing on the results helps inspire a culture where learning, not just teaching, is the goal.

• Learning walks can be greatly beneficial if there is trust within your building.

• I've seen some of the best teaching strategies and received great feedback during learning walks, especially when we are using the TESS rubric to give feedback.

When planning I feel like we focus more on the process, and while we do plan for results, what do we do with it at the end? With following a curriculum, at times it feels hard to go back and re do lessons when we don't have a lot of time and we want to stay on schedule. But it's not always about pushing forward, we also need to go back and reflect and review. What actually needs to be done? What do these students need right now.

This quote makes me want to carry a TESS rubric around during planning and almost as an end of the day evaluation. When I become more acquainted with TESS and really dig into the Highly effective domain, I will start asking myself those questions during planning. And as a reflector during and after lessons.

It is so easy to focus on the process and the "how" of what we want students to do to learn content. As a good teacher leader, it is important for teachers to keep the end goal in mind, meaning we have to be able to document and determine if what we wanted them to learn is actually happening.

I think back to our planning and PLC meetings I have with teachers. We are a data-driven school, so our focus is on the planning, execution, assessment, and evaluation of all lessons to ensure student growth and learning.

Many focus more on how they will teach instead of what the results of the lesson need to be.

Quote 2: It does teachers no good to move along in lessons without evaluating student learning. Student data should cause us as teachers to be vulnerable.

The pressure on teachers to produce can lead them to hyper focus on what they are doing vs the student. A teacher leader gently reminds teachers to plan with the student and the desired results in mind. A teacher leader models how to place appropriate weight and accountability on the students. They also model how to have the students actively involved in clarifying the steps to the desired goal.Teacher leaders can guide their peer teachers in how to create clear standards and matching measurable goals.

Teacher leaders are continually reflecting. Teacher leaders model the continual collecting and reviewing of data such as evaluations in order to see if students are producing the desired results. As needed they adjust their actions and materials in order to lead the students closer to mastery of the clearly defined objective. As leaders, this might mean addressing concerns or needs to admin, PLC, etc.

Teacher leaders must go beyond instructional strategies. They must look at the big picture and work backwards and build the steps to make it to the big picture. The focus needs to be on the impact strategies will have on student learning. They cannot lose sight of their "Why."

The evidence/results is readily available when evaluation is integrated into a teachers practice and because of this, leaders of professional learning are able to make sure they are effective and purposeful in teaching, respond with feedback for improvement, and align with student outcomes.

Teacher leaders need to define clear result goals. If we just focus on what we are doing in the moment, we can get lost and never achieve the end goal.

School time is limited, and teacher/student/resource are limited, so keeping a sharp focus on the end goal and being strategic is extremely important for teacher leadership and mentoring.

Teachers must look at the entirity of the instructional process which ultimately includes the results and how effective the instruction and curriculum is, and how it was provided. Instruction and assessing the effectiveness of that instruction is a continuous cycle and both have to be applied and paid attention to. Instruction that only focuses on the task at hand and the process without a continuous review of results and assessments will not be effective.

There should be a clear linkage between evaluation, the defined outcomes, and what the end result is for students and teachers. As the quote indicates, when these are connected, it leads to a more efficient and clear expectation for all and improves the level of assessment and evaluation. It simply keeps everyone in step and moving in the right direciton with a clear goal in mind.