Beyond the Snapshot: Why Great Evaluations Use Multiple Measures of Practice

Effective teaching can’t be captured in a single moment. Yet for too long, teacher evaluations have hinged on just that—a brief observation, a one-time score, a quick walkthrough. The LoTi® Teacher Evaluation with Evidence-First™ scoring challenges that approach by offering a more holistic, layered view of teacher performance.

Respecting the Complexity of Teaching

Teaching is complex, relational, and dynamic. That’s why the Evidence-First approach is built on multiple, complementary measures that reflect the many dimensions of instructional practice. Instead of relying solely on formal observations, the system combines:

• Full-length observations with detailed evidence markers,

• Rubric-aligned walkthroughs collected over time,

• Self-assessment data measuring pedagogical preferences

• Student Growth Objective (SGO) data, and

• Annual Professional Development (PD) plan progress.

This comprehensive model doesn’t just check boxes—it tells a story.

Context Matters: A Real-World Example

Imagine a teacher who demonstrates strong instructional strategies during a formal observation. The score is high, the evidence is clear. But over the course of several weeks, walkthrough data show that student engagement fluctuates. That inconsistency might go unnoticed without multiple measures, or the teacher might be unfairly judged based on one data point.

The LoTi Evaluation dashboard brings these trends together in one place. Administrators can see the full picture: instructional strengths, areas needing support, and patterns over time. This enables coaching that’s not just corrective, but constructive.

Balanced, Responsive, and Growth-Oriented

By layering diverse data points, the Evidence-First model creates comprehensive, context-rich, and fair evaluations. It’s not about catching teachers off guard—it’s about understanding their practice over time and using that insight to guide growth.

Teacher evaluation shouldn’t feel like a verdict—it should feel like a conversation. And that conversation starts when we stop treating teaching like a snapshot and start seeing it as a full-length film that captures the highs, challenges, evolving storylines, and consistent effort behind every lesson. When we view teaching this way, we shift the purpose of evaluation from judgment to growth, and that’s where real improvement begins.