Feedback to Feed Forward

31 Strategies to Lead Learning

Leading learning meets specificity! Tepper and Flynn take the most powerful strategy for change we know—feedback— and comprehensively break it down into themes that are well-grounded in theory and practice. Treat Feedback to Feed Forward as a master cookbook. Look for what you need and delve into it with a connoisseur’s appetite.

Teachers are starving for effective feedback – feedback they can actually use to take next steps in their teaching and their students’ learning.  Grounded in research and the authors’ years of experience, Feedback to Feed Forward provides an indispensable guide for instructional leaders in how to use an instructional framework, collect a variety of evidence, and analyze impact on student learning — all in the service of providing teachers with objective, growth-oriented, and actionable feedback.  Practical and accessible, the book combines a compelling vision for instructional leadership focused on student learning with authentic examples, data collection tools, and concrete strategies that anyone who supports teachers, regardless of the level expertise, can apply immediately to their own practice.

Feedback to Feed Forward: 31 Strategies to Lead Learning is a must-read for practicing school leaders whose roles have rapidly evolved over the past several years.  Tepper and Flynn have masterfully unpacked the essential elements of effective supervision and evaluation that supports teachers in improving their practice. In this practical guidebook, the authors focus on the practices of instructional leaders who have become leaders of learning in their schools. As the result of years of work supporting schools and districts who have struggled to implement new systems of educator evaluation, they have seen firsthand the need to support school leaders in developing a new set of core skills and strategies to confidently and effectively lead learning in their schools. In order for school leaders to feel comfortable immersing themselves in teaching and learning every day, they need on-going professional learning and support to develop the skills for effective observation and direct feedback that promotes growth, improves teacher practice, and results in student learning.

I love how versatile and practical the content of this book is! No matter what evaluation rubric or method you use – this process of data collection, connecting the data to the rubric, and setting a course of action leads to meaningful feedback that teachers can immediately implement in their classroom practice. Tepper and Flynn create a system of support to help administrators through every stage of the evaluation process. Whether you’re new to the process, or have been conducting evaluations for years, the reader connects to where they are and can easily determine next steps for themselves throughout every chapter. The authors provide guidance that supports leaders in fostering a climate that cultivates a collaborative and reflective approach to growth and development through the evaluation process.

Feedback to Feed Forward: 31 Strategies to Lead Learning gives me a whole new way to think about classroom observation by elevating this very common practice to a strategic, purposeful, and scientific professional development tool!  It is a book so full of strategies, information, guidance, and tips to improve my work that I will read, re-read, and study it continually as I hone my skills of observation and feedback to promote teacher growth. With regard to my work as an observer of classroom instruction, this book enabled me to answer the three highlighted questions, "Where am I going? How am I going?  Where to next?" Tepper and Flynn provide a clear, step-by-step way to think about and perform observations for the purpose of defining what I am actually looking for, seeking evidence of it while in the room and using that evidence to craft actionable feedback for a teacher.

One of the best books I have read regarding evaluation practices. In my almost 13 years as an administrator I have always known that feedback and discussion after the evaluation was important but now I have a better understanding of how to address very specific aspects. Looking at the big picture in a way that breaks it down into four categories was incredibly helpful. While it feels overwhelming to think about doing all of these things in one evaluation since it is a new approach for me, now that I know better, I must do better. I have been practicing some of my learning while reading the book with one of my teachers and the first time I went in, I didn't know who was more nervous, her or me! However, there was a sense of excitement knowing that I was gaining skills to be a better evaluator which in turn will produce better teachers and more engaged learners! This is a process that will take time but taking the first step has opened a whole new door for me in improving my evaluation process!

Tepper and Flynn, and the principles that they so comprehensively elaborate upon in this book, are most responsible for my professional growth as a teacher and leader. These tenets have built my leadership capacity on a myriad of levels: from effectively collecting evidence during a classroom observation to giving effective and actionable feedback to teachers. This text will quickly rise to the top and become a tour de force in the world of educational leadership.