Notes on evaluation, coaching, and the practice of teaching well.
Practitioner essays, research notes, and product updates from the team building Swiftscore. Mostly for principals, instructional coaches, and the people who hire them.
How a Philadelphia Principal Cut Evaluation Writing from 30 Minutes to Three
Kelly Espinosa runs Fanny Jackson Coppin Elementary in Philadelphia. Four evaluations a week, 30 minutes each, plus coaching plans. Here is what changed when she stopped writing them from scratch.
Latest writing
15 articlesAbove the Line: Not a Level Playing Field
Johnson County Central has eighteen first graders. On a staffing sheet that looks like one class. Jon Rothers may still split it into two. When more than half a roster carries poverty, language, or special-education needs at once, 'small' stops meaning what the number says.
Above the Line: A Framework Too Big
Jason Kjos's problem with Marzano was not the ideas. It was the size. At Menahga, the framework can stay big, but the next step a teacher is asked to take cannot.
Above the Line: The Visit Has to Go Somewhere
DeSmet School in Montana was 638th out of 649 districts when Matt Driessen arrived. He rebuilt it from the board and community up, then made classroom visits the engine of feedback. His version of the walkthrough is plain enough to miss: one thing, try it, I'll come back.
Above the Line: Evidence-Backed Feedback
In a small Arkansas district, a leader trusts his read on classrooms. He also wants more behind it. Palestine-Wheatley is building a disciplined system where learning-walk notes, formal evaluations, value-added measures, and attendance converge so teacher support rests on evidence, not instinct.
Above the Line: Artificial Intelligence, Not Artificial Ignorance
Dr. Reza Namin, superintendent of Maine Indian Education, gave me a phrase for the AI he worries about in schools: artificial ignorance. The risk is not students cheating. It's adults using a tool before they have done enough of the thinking themselves. His test for any AI is simple: it has to help the adult see the child more clearly.
Above the Line: The Table She Asked For
A child cried at dinner because no one waited to eat together, the way her class does at lunch. At Alief Montessori, independence is taught by arranging the room so the habit gets practiced again and again.
Above the Line: Greensburg Lets Students Teach the Adults
I went to Greensburg, Indiana looking for teacher coaching. Superintendent Tom Hunter kept pointing at the children. The throughline: invest in students, then let their success teach the adults.
Above the Line: What Paperwork Can't Remember
Des Moines Municipal Schools in New Mexico beats the outcomes its context would predict. Superintendent Kodi Sumpter explains why: a teacher evaluation is a relationship, not a form. Someone has to come back and remember what the teacher was trying to become.
Above the Line: The Few in Front of You
Mumford ISD is beating the expectations its context would predict in third-grade reading. Superintendent Allen Reese and teacher Desiree Reese explain why: start early, tell the truth, and give the few in front of you more time than the job requires.
Above the Line: An Introduction
An interactive look at which schools outperform what their poverty rate would predict in third-grade reading. Each dot is a school; the schools above the line are doing something worth studying.
Mastery Charter leaders unify instructional language with Swiftscore
Simplifies evaluation cycles and supports equitable teacher growth across multiple campuses.
Network 9 drives cross-school instructional alignment with Swiftscore
AI-powered coaching plans and trend visibility for instructional leaders across multiple schools.
Assistant Principal expands his instructional lens and deepens coaching insight with Swiftscore
Swiftscore surfaces new observations and strengthens evaluation quality—beyond what he used to see.
Assistant Principal enhances clarity and professionalism in teacher evaluations with Swiftscore
Transforms informal notes into well-written, formal evaluations—while cutting evaluation time by over 90%.
Principal transforms feedback practice with a "thinking partner"
Delivers clearer, more actionable teacher feedback—while cutting coaching prep time by over 85%.
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Case Studies
How real principals, APs, and district leaders use Eval — in their own words.
Evaluation
Rubrics, frameworks, and what we measure when we measure teaching.
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How feedback becomes practice. Playbooks for principals and instructional coaches.
AI & Education
How we think about AI in schools — and where we draw the lines.