Instructional Expertise Module 3: Cohort 2, Arkansas Lead Pathway Designation FY26 by

Directions

AR_Lead — 2025-06-17 15:02:15 UTC

Click on the plus icon in the bottom right hand corner of the screen.
- On the pop-up, add your name, Q1, then record a connection to, the first quote and teacher leadership
- On a second pop-up, add your name, Q2, then record a connection to, the second quote and teacher leadership

Riley Jo Ray Q1

2025-07-15 16:07:29 UTC

I think this quote speaks to a "check the box" mindset. The quote speaks about how teachers focus too much on the activity rather than the outcome. As a teacher leader we must ensure that every action is tied to a clear impact on student learning rather than just the completion of a task. Teacher leaders must remember that the ultimate goal is always student learning and growth. Strong teacher leaders model how to reflect not just on what was done, but on why it was done and how well it worked. Purpose over process!

Riley Jo Ray Q2

2025-07-15 16:13:08 UTC

This quote describes how teacher leaders who regularly evaluate their practices (student data, teacher feedback, or classroom observations) are better at making informed decisions. This quote reinforces that evaluation is not an afterthought, it’s a core part of leadership. It is what drives further instruction in the classroom through reflective lenses.

Lesley Wiederspan Q1

2025-07-15 16:33:58 UTC

I think that this quote means that sometimes teachers are so focused on their content and how to teach it, they often are not looking at the end results to see if they were using best practices when teaching. As teacher leaders, we need to demonstrate to others how to reflect on our teaching and determine the best practices to achieve student success.

Lesley Wiederspan Q2

2025-07-15 16:36:43 UTC

This quote states that the focus should be on the results. This allows you to set clear expectations and learning goals. Students and the teacher know what is expected of them and what they must do to achieve those results.

Amanda Puryear- Q1

2025-07-15 16:38:12 UTC

I believe the first quote focuses more on the action rather than the outcome. I think it is important that teacher leaders remember the impact is just as important as the implementation. Effective teacher leaders should ask "what are we doing?" and "is it set up for student success?"

Amanda Puryear- Q2

2025-07-15 16:44:00 UTC

This quote made me think of "data-driven instruction." By focusing on the result upfront, the learning goals and expectations should be very clear for the students.

Jacob Tolman Q1

2025-07-15 16:46:57 UTC

As a coach this is easy to fall into. We tend to focus more on the practice and drills we want to run and making sure we are doing the drills correctly. When we should be making sure that we can function in the moment of competition.

Jacob Tolman Q2

2025-07-15 16:48:38 UTC

Constant evaluation is the key to developing lessons that adjust with the students and continue to challenge or build them up.

Kay Kinard Q1

2025-07-15 17:01:22 UTC

The 1st quote explains that we tend to focus on "what we want to get done"..the task. Instead we should focus on the results. How can we get those results? What results am I wanting out of this? Then plan your task to achieve those results. The results are the outcome we are working toward.

Cynthia Sparks, Q1

2025-07-15 17:03:11 UTC

This quote reminds me that educators, especially those who are "all in" tend to be ready to act - to get things done. We want to be able to say that we did something. However, as teacher leaders, we need to shift our mindsets to readily make time to analyze our outcomes from learning tasks and be ready to take next appropriate steps to make sure students are learning.

Kay Kinard Q2

2025-07-15 17:04:20 UTC

The 2nd quote talks about focusing on results. Your results (intended outcome of learning/objective you're trying to teach) is what should drive your instruction. If done correctly, the expectations will be clearer and the efforts aligned. I think to be able to do this, you need constant evaluation to ensure you're staying on task with your learning goal.

Cynthia Sparks, Q2

2025-07-15 17:09:16 UTC

In the second quote, I see definite connections to teacher leadership at its finest! When the quote mentions that teachers who use evaluation as a normal part of their craft, it gives the teacher "laser-like" focus on data measurements. Because teaching has so much distractions, one could be very busy and feel they are doing all the best things for their students, however, honing in on planning, delivering, and measuring will give us the greatest effect on learning.

Samantha Gross Response #1

2025-07-15 17:10:35 UTC

I believe that the first quote talks about how people want an action done and follow the outline of what is needed. If a curriculum gives you a script then you need to read it word for word and do the exact process. As a teacher leader the fidelity is important and we do what to see an increase in the scores. However, we need to take the time and look at how this will impact student success outside the lesson and classroom.

Samantha Gross Response #2

2025-07-15 17:14:15 UTC

In this quote it describes how data should be a continuous method. That as we collect data we can make changes in grouping our students, differentiation process, and make sure that our expectations and objectives are defined clearer. It is a process of changing as we learn.

Erin Wagner, Q1

ewagner89 — 2025-07-15 17:24:46 UTC

This first quote made me think of "busy-work". With no focus on outcomes, the needs of the students and even our professional community can get disconnected. Determining best practices while focusing on outcomes strengthens student and teacher performance and growth.

Erin Wagner, Q2

ewagner89 — 2025-07-15 17:32:16 UTC

Effective teachers leaders will regularly evaluate their practices to pick up on areas of concern or potential issues and correct them in a timely manner. This helps to clarify expectations and gives opportunity to adjust practices to meet those learning goals.

Jan West Q 1

2025-07-15 17:38:44 UTC

Teacher leaders move the focus from just completing tasks to making sure those actions lead to meaningful student and teacher growth. They guide colleagues to prioritize student outcomes and instructional impact over routine or mandated time.

Jan West - Q 2

2025-07-15 17:39:42 UTC

Effective teacher leaders use data and evidence to reflect, adjust, and improve. They model a growth mindset, helping teams assess whether their efforts are producing intended results and leading meaningful change in practice.

Viviana Bustamante 1

2025-07-15 17:41:21 UTC

The first quote spoke about many being action oriented on what to do rather than the results they want to achive. This reminds me of my first year teaching untraditionaly. I was just thrown into a classroom and did not know how to access my students learning. It was very hard and I just focused on teaching. But I was doing my student a disservice because I was not accessing thier learning. You have to have a learning goal in mind and assess those achievements.

Viviana Bustamante Q2

2025-07-15 17:43:05 UTC

When we integrate evaluation into our planing and after our lesson it helps us be more prepared for the lesson. It also helps us to find solutions to learning gaps they students may have within the lesson.

Jennifer Lawson Q1

2025-07-15 17:46:42 UTC

I can connect with this quote because it's very typical to attend PD and learn the next new and exciting strategy to teach, but we never consider the end result. We should work backwards starting with the end result and then work our way up to the new strategy.

Addison Payne, Q1

2025-07-15 17:49:58 UTC

Without a clear goal, the work we do is ineffective. Goals keep us focused and help teams to work together. This quote emphasizes how some teachers forget the goal and only focus on the methods. It is important to keep the goal in mind so that our work is meaningful and impactful!

Jennifer Lawson Q2

2025-07-15 17:49:58 UTC

Teacher learners should help teachers plan ahead for what the end result should look like to be proficient. Plan ahead for misconceptions to be fully prepared to make decisions on how the learning should be delivered.

Sabrina Ketter Q1

2025-07-15 17:51:02 UTC

Whether we are teaching students, mentoring future teachers, or leading a team of colleagues, our sight always needs to be aimed at the goals we want to achieve. We need to be able to work to achieve them, but we can't lose sight of what we want for the outcome. I can connect to this quote, as I always want to check off my list of "things-to-do", but it helps me to see that I don't want to overlook the end results. For example, one of our main areas of focus in recent years has been to show growth. During the school year, it's easy to get bogged down with making sure we are covering the standards and checking those boxes rather than making sure we are reaching mastery and achieving the necessary growth of our students.

Addison Payne Q2

2025-07-15 17:54:42 UTC

One connection to this quote is integrating evaluation into our normative practice-not only do we need to evaluate student performance, but we also need to evaluate our own performance. A reflecting teacher is an effective teacher because we can pinpoint what we did well and continue to do that and pinpoint what needs to be changed to make the lesson better for next time. And, in contrast to the first quote, an effective teacher keeps the results and the goal in mind. This gives clarity to students as they are learning and clarity to ourselves and our teams as we are planning.

Sabrina Ketter Q2

2025-07-15 17:54:53 UTC

This quote reminds us that data-driven planning is essential to learning. Knowing where our students are help us to meet them and guide them toward the end goal. Continually checking in on student growth helps us to best plan our instruction and assessment. Sharing this with colleagues and modeling it for future teachers will help to impact more students than just our own.

Jamie Bond Response 1

2025-07-15 17:57:32 UTC

My connection is that so often teachers do get caught up in the process and loss site of the end result. As a teacher leader it is important to lead others to begin doing the opposite and planning from the results you desire to the process needed to get there and learning to look at data to do this.

Sheila Weisenfels #1

2025-07-15 17:57:43 UTC

I am about to start my 30th year as a teacher. For many years we focused on the actions of how can we make lessons fun and engaging for students to learn, rather than focusing on what the students need to learn and know and then build our lessons around that. Now we still try to make lessons fun and engaging but stick to the end goal in mind. I feel like having collaboratives and PLC has helped teachers to come together looking at data and finding the best practices to help the students reach the goals.

Melanie Day Q1

2025-07-15 17:58:59 UTC

The process of how to do something is important but we should not get caught up in the "checking of the boxes" to make sure that each step gets done. We need to be aware of what we are wanting as our end outcome and make sure that we are putting a focus on that.

Sheila Weisenfels #2

2025-07-15 18:03:19 UTC

Knowing where students are through data driven planning helps monitor and adjust what we need to do to get to the end goal in our lessons. The data helps us to see how the students are progressing and if there are any gaps we need to be working toward filling.

Melanie Day Q2

2025-07-15 18:03:46 UTC

We need to know where our students are when they come to us and where we want them to be when they leave us. Doing assessments (whether they consist of an observation, some sort of data tracker, or unit test) will help us to evaluate where those students are, any misconceptions they may have and how we can help them to achieve the end goal.

Christy Canfield Q1

2025-07-15 18:05:04 UTC

Teachers more often then not tend to focus on how to teach something or problems rather than the outcomes. They tend to check off the standards as having taught them then move on to the next one. They fail to make a connection between the two. We can improve the process by looking at the results.

Christy Canfield Q2

2025-07-15 18:08:05 UTC

Teacher leaders make the connection between how analyzing results or assessment data can help make decisions easier. Using this information, teachers can make adjustments to improve outcomes for all students.

Holly Click Q1

2025-07-15 18:08:13 UTC

This quote describes how we should not just focus on what to do/the action. We should focus on the results and outcomes we want to achieve by our teaching/actions. We should have learning goals and objectives that are continually being monitored and assessed.

Louise Galloway: Q1

gallowayl5 — 2025-07-15 18:11:45 UTC

Teacher leadership should be guiding others to become leaders. It should be about getting to the end goal of student achievement and teacher improvement. Just as the quote states, we sometimes get lost in the how-to aspect and then we lose sight of the intended outcome. The action steps become more important than what we were meant to achieve. If we focus on the process more than the results it can hinder the effectiveness of the process.

Holly Click Q2

2025-07-15 18:12:48 UTC

The role of evaluation is crucial in professional learning. Incorporating evaluation allows us to focus on clearly defined outcomes by analyzing data, reflecting, and collaborating. Data driven planning and assessments are essential.

Jamie Bond Response #2

2025-07-15 18:13:26 UTC

This quote is all about teacher using the desired end result to drive their instruction. By knowing the goal we are able to lead students and others on how to meet the goals. Data evaluation on a regular basis keeps teachers and students focused and able to dive deeper in areas of weakness when needed.

Araceli Hernandez, Q2

2025-07-15 18:13:27 UTC

The second quote ties to teacher leadership, because they are using the AR Tess Teacher Domains as well as Teacher Leader Model Standards.

Lindsay Harp-Q1

2025-07-15 18:16:16 UTC

This quote is an easy practice to fall into and I think that has to do with lack of time and outside pressures in education. Teachers will often fall into getting through the content or making sure they have completed the to-do list and miss the mark of seeing if the work they are doing is impacting learning.

Josh Kessler Quote 1

2025-07-15 18:17:52 UTC

Teachers often feel pressure to "cover the standards" and thus fail to ensure genuine student learning. This is demonstrated by declined student performance. Teachers who fail to evaluate their instructional effectiveness may in reality cover more material than their colleagues but will likely yield far less genuine learning from their students.

Elouise Shorter Q1

2025-07-15 18:18:15 UTC

Sometimes we are more focused on checking off the boxes than stopping to see if we are getting the actual results desired. Yes we completed all tasks, but did the learners gain any knowledge. For example, as lead teacher you allow another teacher to observe you teach a lesson which is a great tasks, but did you have a reflective discussion with them after the lesson.

Lindsay Harp-Q2

2025-07-15 18:19:06 UTC

This quote connected to the "work smarter, not harder" phrase for me in that when you are reflective and focused on how effective the instruction is, the natural outcome is for a more responsive approach. Consistently monitoring student learning and the impact of instruction allows teachers to stay focused on results and best practices.

Josh Kessler Quote 2

2025-07-15 18:21:34 UTC

Ongoing formative and summative assessment is crucial to ensure student learning. To borrow from my daughters' softball experiences, a batting coach recognizes nuisances in the hitter's stance or swing and then promptly corrects those deficits. The same is true of a teacher who uses data to inform instructional decision making.

Elaina Weaver, Q1

2025-07-15 18:23:16 UTC

This quote highlights why teacher leaders must stay results-focused. It's not just about trying new strategies. It's about knowing WHY we're using them and whether they lead to real student growth.

Tricia Dykes, Q1

2025-07-15 18:23:53 UTC

As a teacher we often focus on what activity we want to do to achieve the objective, when we should focus on data driven goals to reach the results that are needed.

Elaina Weaver Q2

2025-07-15 18:24:08 UTC

This quote reinforces that strong teacher leaders use results to guide their work. By regularly evaluating impact, they can adjust quickly, set clear expectations, and keep teams aligned toward meaningful student outcomes - not just activity for activity's sake.

Louise Galloway: Q2

gallowayl5 — 2025-07-15 18:28:29 UTC

Teacher leadership should be based on the outcome you'd like to see. This quote highlights that if our approach is backed by what results we want and we continuously evaluate progress then the outcome will be more successful. This is crucial for both professional learning and teacher leadership.

Tricia Dykes, Q2

2025-07-15 18:28:35 UTC

This quote is more data driven. It evaluates the practice, which allows quick and accurate feedback. That allows teachers to adjust the focus and guide what is needed to reach the objective. This allowing it to be more data driven than activity driven.

Adam Bumsted, Q1

adambumsted — 2025-07-15 18:30:28 UTC

Too often in education, we simply just try something new, just to say that we did something. It is alright at times to not know what the actual results will be but we must always have a goal in mind. Jumping straight into action does not always recognize the actual problem, nor does it give a chance for the cohort to actually identify it. A true teacher leader must always be willing to challenge those around them if they disagree with the action being taken. It is typically easier to go along with the flow, but it takes a true leader to want to swim up stream.

Elouise Shorter Q2

2025-07-15 18:33:35 UTC

Evaluation must be done on a regular basis. When we analyze the data whether it's quantitative or qualitative, our goals should be focused on the area/topics that the data shows needs improvement. We can eliminate areas that already show success and use the results to guide where we need to go. This will lead to a higher impact on learning and assist with maximizing our delivery plan within the allotted time. With our data analysis we will already know where the problem exists before we encounter it and can plan out our strategy to overcome it. We will be focused on the areas where there is a need and not blindly planning based on a topic.

Adam Bumsted, Q2

adambumsted — 2025-07-15 18:35:23 UTC

Too often in the education game, we do not take the time to truly analyze our results. We rarely get past the initial evaluation of did we like that or not. We must as teacher leaders be willing to quickly switch gears and change a policy that does not work. Last school year my principal changed my entire teaching schedule at Halloween. A colleague of mine was teaching Geometry and honestly could not do the job adequately. My principal gave me his schedule and told me he needed me to step up and teach those classes for the sake of the school and our "grade". I did not want to give up my seniors, but he asked me to help and I did. No one forced him to make this change but he saw that it was going to be in the best interest of the school to put me in that new position. I truly respected him for that.

Jesse Wolf / Q1

2025-07-15 18:36:32 UTC

This quote hits on how teachers can get caught in a cycle of trying something new to say that we did. Even after one lesson they are onto the next and don't even bother looking at the results. The lack thereof is that the student growth might be stagnant or missed entirely. We must always be thinking of the end results and how it impacts student growth. Why are we using this strategy and what do we want to see from it. After the fact, what do I do with the information and data given to me.

Jesse Wolf / Q2

2025-07-15 18:39:20 UTC

This quote focuses on how teacher leaders who use the results as their driver see more success because they are able to adjust properly because they know what they want the end result to be. Using this strategy helps you and your team stay aligned in instruction and are able to see the student growth that comes from it.

Marily Garcia Q1

2025-07-15 18:58:18 UTC

This first quote by Killion made me relate it to everything we've been talking about today. Data-driven evidence and positive impact is what we should be focusing on. We should not be focusing so much on just "getting it done" but rather "beginning with the end in mind". By beginning with the end in mind, we can ensure that all the baby steps we need to make will be tied to the end goal. By knowing why we are taking those baby steps and how they relate to the end goal, students will always have a clear understanding of their "why".

Marily Garcia Q2

2025-07-15 19:03:00 UTC

This second quote by Killion helped me relate the importance of using assessments to give students high-quality feedback. When teachers are data-driven, they are able to focus on the goal and intervene when needed to help each child meet that goal.

Aubry Basiliere, Q1

2025-07-15 19:03:06 UTC

"Process becomes more important than results." I look at this two ways; The results are important but, so is the process. Teacher leaders must have a clear understanding of what the results are but must also take into account that the process is different for each student. Therefore, the action-oriented professional must do what it takes for each student to achieve the goal.

Presley Adkins Q1

2025-07-15 19:06:00 UTC

We can not become so focused on following a process that we forget to evaluate the outcomes of our processes. Times change and the needs of our learners will change. Becoming complacent could be dangerous. Instead, we should focus on adapting our processes to achieve the desired results.

Presley Adkins Q2

2025-07-15 19:08:56 UTC

Integrating evaluation helps in several aspects, but the fact that it helps make more informed decisions stood out to me. In my opinion, this just makes sense. We can teach much more efficiently and optimize our results if we will pause to evaluate our progress along the way.

Aubry Basiliere, Q2

2025-07-15 19:11:25 UTC

The second quote from Killian hones in on the importance of integrating evaluation results in the planning process, delivering instruction based on expectations, staying focused on the goal, and using the outcome data as the primary measure of success. Basically, if you plan a vacation without a destination in mind, you will likely get lost!

Natasha Click, Q1

2025-07-15 19:34:01 UTC

This quote highlights a common challenge faced by teachers and educational leaders: the tendency to prioritize implementation over intended outcomes. As teacher leaders, it is essential that we maintain a clear focus on the results we aim to achieve, rather than becoming overly concentrated on the processes or actions themselves.

Jeni McGee Q1

2025-07-15 19:36:27 UTC

This is something we reflect on often in our school. Up until we went through the Solution-Tree cohort, PLC was a lesson planning meeting answering the question "What are we teaching next?" Now we are data driven. We plan our unit based on the standard goals according to the proficiency scales. Then, we backwards plan CFAs that will step students up to meet the summative/ standard goals. Based on assessment data, we evaluate where we have met and fallen short of te goals. We evaluate how we got those numbers and respond by either eliminating ineffective lessons for the following year or adapting effective ones that are shown through student achievement on CFAs.

It's not about the process at that point, but now about who got the best results and how they got there, so it can be passed on to all students in the grade.

Abby Cortez #1

2025-07-15 19:37:25 UTC

Quote 1 is stating that it is very easy for teachers to focus on getting things done, checking a box, etc so they can say it was "covered." However, teachers should be focusing on what the goal of learning is and what it is going to take to get there.

Jeni McGee Q2

2025-07-15 19:42:24 UTC

I feel like I already answered this in my previous response, but allowing data to drive instructional decisions based on CFAs or SAs, allows teachers to hone in on effective instructional methods that yield results, which increases student growth. Making data-driven conversations the center of a Collaborative Teaching Team shifts the focus from what activities I'm doing in class day-to-day to what the unit goal is and what step I'm teaching. Then I can align activities to that step or goal. Sometimes, after an assessment, students need me to take a day to respond with a reteach, clarification, or small groups focused on specific parts of the skill from the assessment. Data drives the lessons instead of my passions or desires as a teacher :)

Abby Cortez #2

2025-07-15 19:42:51 UTC

Results from evaluation play a critical role in guiding our instruction. Using this information helps teachers to adjust to meet areas of deficit, push higher level thinking, and plan for future lessons. If we regularly "check in" and evaluate, we can monitor student learning and focus on the outcome and what we need to do to get there.

Natasha Click, Q2

2025-07-15 20:00:14 UTC

By focusing on clear goals and letting results guide their actions, teacher leaders become more effective. When results drive the work, expectations are clearer, and it’s easier to make sure everyone is working toward the same outcome. Teacher leaders can make data-informed decisions, respond quickly to challenges, and stay focused on achieving specific goals.

Kellie Davis Q1

2025-07-15 20:25:22 UTC

Although most teacher leaders are action-oriented, we must also create a balance with focusing on our desired outcomes. We need to ensure that the actions that we take are strategically aligned with student learning. To be a strong teacher leader the focus needs to be on results-driven planning so that we can maximize student learning.

Kellie Davis Q2

2025-07-15 20:28:29 UTC

Data-driven decisions should drive our everyday work. As teachers, we should routinely assess student progress towards our clearly defined learning objectives. This is a more results-focused approach where teachers are proactive in adjusting their teaching based on student assessment.

Christine Cannon Q1

2025-07-15 20:48:29 UTC

The first quote explains that leadership should focus on how to achieve the results needed/intended and not just on the steps taken to teach the lesson. We need to focus on making sure that the expectations and learning goals are clear and plan a path using best practices to effectively get the results we are wanting.

Bo Lee Q1

2025-07-15 21:25:02 UTC

This quote speaks to a very common issue where educators forget the "why". This leads to actions taken in the classroom or PLCs that in the end don't produce the desired result. Educators become so focused on the action, what needs to get done, that they lose sight of the reason or why it needs to be done in the first place. Good teacher leaders resits simply checking boxes and never lose sight of their "why".

Bo Lee Q2

2025-07-15 21:30:44 UTC

The second quote is an excellent example of what teacher leadership should look like both in the classroom and out. Highly effective teacher leaders are going to be data driven, goal oriented and results based for the sake of improving student outcomes. This mentality will carry over from the classroom into the PLCs and the building as a whole.

Jacy Chronister Q1

2025-07-15 21:41:20 UTC

The first quote reminds me of how I was as a first year teacher. First year teachers tend to worry about having wonderful lessons, but don't worry as much about the outcome of those lessons. These teachers are just learning how to use data.

Jacy Chronister Q2

2025-07-15 21:43:21 UTC

The second quote is more of what a teacher should be doing and this is what a teacher leader should be helping other teachers with. We need to use data to help drive our instruction.

Christine Cannon Q2

2025-07-15 23:10:22 UTC

Teacher leaders driven by data use their students data to make evidence-based decisions and gain invaluable insight about instruction, curriculum, and school initiatives, identifying and addressing areas for improvement.

Jessie Beckham: Q1

2025-07-16 00:44:08 UTC

When I look at this quote as though I were a mentor teacher, I can see where it would be easy to focus on checking boxes according to what the official "duties" require of me. Meetings, observations, etc. But the focus should shift to what the end result is and not so much on the process to get there. How can I set up my mentee for success?

Jessie Beckham: Q2

2025-07-16 00:45:54 UTC

The last sentence stood out to me. "When results are the driver, expectations are clearer and efforts are more aligned." The focus as a teacher leader should be the success of my mentee/colleagues and that will drive my actions to help get them there.

Kimberly Cox Q2

2025-07-16 17:47:09 UTC

This quote places more focus on the results and the planning of how to achieve them. It says that evaluation is the key to developing lessons that include and challenge all your students.