Reviews for TeachBoost
Usage: As an instructional coach, I would use this tool for walk throughs and formal observations. I would use this tool to track the observations and to provide my teachers resources to better their instruction.
As a teacher, I would use it to track my professional goals and growth of my progression through our teacher progression framework.
Strengths: This product connects teacher frameworks to resources well. Often, teachers are told they need to improve in a specific area but not told how to. With this tool, instructional coaches can quickly give teachers tools to help them in this area.
Suggestions for Improvement: 1. Make it more visually appealing (color coded)
2. Allow schools to have access to other schools' resources (videos of teachers doing something well and connecting it to some type of teacher standard or framework)
3. Put in some type of "shout out" board where teachers can shout out other teachers for doing something well
Verdict: I would recommend this tool because it would allow instructional coaches to quickly provide specific feedback to teachers. In addition, it would lessen the "paper trail" and keep documents or evidence of observations in one spot. It would increase communication and transparency between teachers and administrators/instructional coaches.
Usage: We are currently looking into revising our PD system and having a Web based evaluation system could make the process more transparent for our admin and teaching staff. It would also allow us to track performance for LA, RI and PBIS.
Strengths: The amount t and type of data reports are useful. The Google ingle sign on works great for our district and it would make teacher evaluations more meaningful.
Suggestions for Improvement: If they could get support from the California Teachers Union that would be an amazIng help. Also more information about where the data is stored would help ease teaches' minds.
Verdict: We currently use a paper based system for evaluations and the pro essential is slow and not very informative to any department. With this tool we'd be able to collect meaningfull information and provide meaningfull feedback.
Usage: I would use this as an instructional coach to improve observation/debrief cycles. I would use the dashboard to determine who needed support in each area of need and would follow up with teachers using the qualitative data you can track and store in the system.
Strengths: The data breakdowns are great. The way you are able to see teacher progress based on evaluation is impressive.
Suggestions for Improvement: I am a little enamored with the product and feel I would have to play around with it before making this recommendation.
Verdict: This is a great platform to help my administrators give me feedback, and as a coach, for me to give feedback to other teachers. If I were head-of-school, I would absolutely use this platform. The data it data it gives is specific and targeted and meets an immediate need in the school.
Usage: Tracking PD progression for teachers
Tracking student progress in CTE work based learning goals
Collecting and analyzing data for admin use
Strengths: Easy interface
Great data capture and easy to use
Saves so much time that I use setting up evals for programs
Suggestions for Improvement: Make it cheaper and more flexible for uses by alternate campuses that provide PD for teachers across the district (e.g., I work with up to 500 teachers per year, connecting with each teacher 18 times per year.
Verdict: This would save me so much time and make my life so much easier!
Captures data in a way that is accessible and useful for evaluation of teacher, program, and for use in Perkins grant use.
Usage: For classroom observations, planning professional development for teachers, collecting data for my charter operator to use in respect to teacher performance
Strengths: Organization of teacher performance data
Resources aligned to instructional framework (teacher eval tool) for teacher to access on their own
Ability to sync with Google docs and Microsoft outlook to organize evaluation schedule
Suggestions for Improvement: I don't have any suggestions at this point. I plan to use it for the duration of this school year in preparation for next year.
Verdict: I am an administrator! It would help me to get organized and to be able to easily access data in regards to teacher performance at my school.
Usage: I would use it to provide feedback on peer to peer evaluations.
I would love for my administration to use it for my observations since it is so centralized!
Strengths: It allows for timestamps during the observation so that I can know what the observer is referring to!!!
It allows me to upload evidence just in case the observer popped in during a particularly weird part of the lesson!
Suggestions for Improvement: 1. Allow students to provide feedback
2. Allow teachers to provide feedback to students.
Verdict: This helps eliminate the paperwork. It helps centralize the feedback and keep me organized!
Usage: Teachboost appears to be the answer to every administrator's time issue- evaluations and documentation that support teacher growth.
Strengths: Love the way it interacts with other platforms allowing you to pull in information. It allows for a very systematic tracking process to keep one in front of timelines.
Suggestions for Improvement: Cost is my only concern.
Verdict: The system allows you to track all the evidence needed to support the teacher evaluation process.
Usage: I would recommend that we adopt this program for our PD and professional assessment process as our current processes are currently mashed together from various programs and strategies and not quite streamlined enough for what I see as the future of education and professional development.
Strengths: It solves the problem of having disparate folders all over the place for various teachers and allows more concrete evidence of teacher capability to flourish. Administrators will spend less time creating documents and finding files, teacher professional development will be more easily categorized and accessible.
Suggestions for Improvement: Adoption will be challenging due to professional and community culture regarding such centralized information. Cost may also be another issue. However, these issues are not due to issues inherent within the program but outside of the program's control.
Verdict: I would recommend this program because I see a need for our professional development to be centralized and that PD will be linked to our evaluation process which should be digitized and streamlined. In terms of negatives, teachers may see this as an intimidating tool when it is only designed to be helpful.
Usage: I would use this tool in conjunction with my mentee teachers. We currently have a lot of paper work and emails floating back and forth. It is very easy to get lost or confused. This program would provide one place to store and respond to feedback that is provded.
Strengths: organizes information
keeps it neat and presentable
stores information in central location
Suggestions for Improvement: I might change the layout slightly to be more appealing to teachers
provide PD for teachers to use the sight
Verdict: oranizational tool
-Easy to naviagte
useful for early Career teachers
Usage: In my position, I would not actually do the observation. Our principal would do that. I would come in to work with a teacher in a refinement area. Right now, I don't have access to scripting or specific information unless someone gives it to me. I would appreciate the immediate access to information.
Strengths: This gives a teacher a next step. If there is an area to be strengthened, start here.
Suggestions for Improvement: More in the library.
Verdict: We are already using a program that allows the evaluator to script and store that information.
What I like:
The transparency. As a coach, I would have the specifics I need to support teacher growth.
The library. I would have to have a resource bank to share with teachers to support refinement.
The detailed goal setting. This would keep us on track.