Turning Evaluations Into Growth: The Power of Actionable Feedback with Evidence-First™

Teacher evaluations shouldn’t feel like the end of the road. They should feel like a launchpad. Every observation, every comment, every score—these elements have the potential to spark meaningful professional growth when designed with clarity, purpose, and support in mind. That’s where the LoTi® Teacher Evaluation with Evidence-First™ scoring changes the game.

Instead of relying on vague feedback or generic scoring rubrics, the Evidence-First scoring approach begins with what matters most: observable, specific classroom practices. Evaluators check off clearly defined evidence markers that align directly to pedagogical indicators. These markers aren’t subjective interpretations—they’re concrete behaviors that show up in real classroom moments.

From Score to Strategy

Take, for example, LoTi Teacher Evaluation category 4-A Articulating Learning Expectations. The rubric evaluates teachers on their ability to ensure that students clearly understand the lesson objective. Think about the last time you observed a lesson objective being shared during a classroom observation. How did the teacher share the learning objective with students? Did they post it on the board or on a worksheet? Did they read it aloud? Did they have students read it aloud? Did students participate in a Turn-and-Talk to discuss their understanding of the objective? 

Using a traditional rubric-only scoring approach, evaluators have to decide whether the method the teacher chose to share the objective was Partially Effective, Effective, or Highly Effective. Using the Evidence-First approach, the evaluator uses the Evidence-First scoring form to select evidence markers that describe what they observed such as:

Once all evidence has been recorded, the Evidence-First system aligns the selected markers with the appropriate LoTi Teacher Evaluation rubric domain, assigns a rating score—Effective, and records the rubric-aligned evidence under category 4-A Articulating Learning Expectations. But the process doesn’t end there. The system also provides a database of rubric-aligned, targeted, research-backed supervisory suggestions to deepen instructional clarity and support student ownership of learning (Figure 1). In this example, the teacher shared the learning objective aloud with students and had them repeat it, which is an Effective practice. For the teacher to achieve Highly Effective on their next evaluation, the evaluator might suggest more unique and interactive ways for the teacher to deepen students' understanding of the learning objective by activating prior learning connections.

Figure 1

In this model, the feedback isn’t just evaluative—it’s immediately useful, pointing teachers toward professional growth opportunities tailored to their current practice.

Moving From Defensive to Developmental

One of the most common pitfalls in traditional evaluations is the post-conference conversation. Too often, it centers on debating the fairness of a score. But with Evidence-First, that dynamic shifts. Because every score is grounded in specific, observable evidence, the conversation becomes less about why and more about what’s next.

When teachers and administrators can focus on actionable next steps instead of defending subjective interpretations, professional growth becomes the natural outcome. There’s no guessing, no ambiguity—just clarity.

Useful. Personalized. Growth-Oriented.

At its core, a strong evaluation system should do more than assess performance. It should provide educators with feedback that is:

• Timely: Delivered while the lesson is still fresh

• Specific: Linked directly to observable actions and evidence

• Actionable: Paired with suggestions for professional learning

• Personalized: Tailored to the teacher’s current level and goals

The LoTi Teacher Evaluation uses the Evidence-First approach to check all these boxes. It turns classroom observations into clear, supportive feedback cycles that help teachers not only see where they are, but also where they can go next.