November 2026

Instructional leadership and educator evaluation are not separate responsibilities. When implemented intentionally, the Delaware Teacher Growth and Support System (DTGSS) provides a framework for leaders to observe instruction, engage in meaningful conversations about teaching and learning, and support professional growth through actionable feedback and follow-through.

Effective instructional leadership involves more than gathering classroom evidence. It requires leaders to examine instruction and student learning, build shared understanding of effective practice, guide instructional growth through meaningful feedback, and provide ongoing support while monitoring progress. DTGSS offers opportunities to connect these practices within a continuous cycle of improvement.

Recent statewide DTGSS data and conversations with Evaluation Leads highlight the importance of strengthening feedback quality and connecting evaluation practices to ongoing instructional improvement.

This month's Learning Leader Digest explores how collaboration, calibration, meaningful feedback, and intentional follow-through can strengthen instructional leadership and support teacher growth and student learning.

This work connects directly to the Delaware Department of Education's 2025–2028 Strategic Plan, particularly Building Block 2: Safe, Supportive Schools; Building Block 3: Great Teaching and Learning; and Building Block 4: Fair Opportunities for Every Learner. The plan's promise—Start with Students. Build for Impact. —reinforces the importance of using instructional evidence and professional learning to improve teaching and learning for every student.

Instructional leadership through DTGSS advances Building Block 2: Safe, Supportive Schools by strengthening instructional leadership and educator growth. It supports Building Block 3: Great Teaching and Learning by connecting classroom evidence, meaningful feedback, and professional learning to instructional improvement. It also advances Building Block 4: Fair Opportunities for Every Learner by helping leaders examine instructional practices and support equitable access to high-quality learning experiences.

Together, these priorities come to life when instructional leaders examine instruction and student learning, build shared understanding, guide instructional growth, and support, monitor, and adjust based on evidence.

Through these connected practices, DTGSS becomes more than an evaluation process—it becomes an integral part of instructional leadership focused on educator growth and student learning.

Delmar School District: Learning Together to Strengthen Instructional Feedback

A shout-out to the instructional leadership team at Delmar Middle/High School!

Through Learning Walks 2.0, Delmar's administrators and instructional leaders are partnering with colleagues from the Delaware Department of Education's Educator Excellence and Academic Excellence teams and Curriculum, Instruction, and Professional Learning teams to strengthen content-specific instructional feedback.

By bringing administrators and content experts together to observe classroom instruction, examine evidence of student learning, and engage in collaborative discussions, the team is deepening its understanding of effective content-specific instructional practices. These shared experiences create opportunities to calibrate expectations, strengthen the connection between instructional evidence and feedback, and build administrators' capacity to provide meaningful, actionable feedback to teachers.

This work reflects the purpose of Learning Walks 2.0: strengthening instructional leadership by connecting content expertise, observation, and feedback within a system of educator growth and support.

Thank you to the Delmar team and its partners for demonstrating the power of learning together to strengthen instructional leadership and support student learning!

Know an educator doing great work? Nominate them to be spotlighted in a future issue by completing this nomination form. 

What are Students Experiencing? 

Connecting Content-Specific Look-Fors to DTGSS

Effective instructional leadership requires looking beyond what teachers are doing to examine what students are experiencing, thinking, and learning.

Content-specific look-fors deepen leaders' understanding of effective instruction within a discipline, while the DTGSS Framework provides a shared language for examining evidence, identifying instructional strengths and growth areas, and providing meaningful feedback.

Consider these three lenses for examining student learning and strengthening instructional feedback.

The Instructional Leadership Connection

When leaders use content-specific look-fors alongside the DTGSS Framework, they can deepen their understanding of instructional practice, develop shared expectations through collaboration and calibration, and provide more precise, actionable feedback. The goal is not simply to identify what is happening in classrooms, but to use that evidence to guide professional growth, provide targeted support, and strengthen student learning.

Leadership Reflection: How might focusing on what students are experiencing change the evidence you collect, the conversations you have, and the feedback you provide?

Hypothetical Middle School Mathematics Observation

During a middle school mathematics lesson, 24 students worked in six groups to solve a grade-level problem. While all six groups were engaged in the task, only 8 of 24 students (33%) explained their mathematical reasoning when prompted. In four groups, one student completed most of the problem-solving while others watched or recorded answers.

Connecting to DTGSS

This evidence connects to Indicator 3.2 (Questioning and Discussion) and raises questions about Indicator 2.3 (Checks for Understanding and Feedback). How is the teacher determining what individual students understand? How are students being supported to explain and build on one another's reasoning?

Turning Evidence into Actionable Feedback

Claim | Indicator 3.2
The teacher provided opportunities for collaborative problem-solving; however, questioning and discussion did not consistently engage students in explaining and justifying their mathematical reasoning.

Evidence
In four of six groups, one student completed most of the problem-solving while peers watched or recorded answers. When prompted, 8 of 24 students explained their mathematical reasoning.

Impact
Consequently, 16 of 24 students (67%) did not demonstrate their mathematical reasoning when prompted, leaving limited evidence of their individual understanding.

Action Step
Over the next two weeks, implement a structured mathematical discourse routine during at least three lessons. Have every student independently develop and record a solution strategy before group discussion, then use purposeful questions such as "How do you know?" and "Can you build on that reasoning?" to elicit and extend student thinking. Collect individual written explanations to assess understanding, with a goal of at least 18 of 24 students (75%) independently explaining or justifying their reasoning.

The Instructional Leadership Connection

The administrator and teacher review the feedback together, identify opportunities to model or practice purposeful questioning, and plan a follow-up observation within two weeks. During the follow-up, they examine individual student explanations and participation in mathematical discussions to determine whether the instructional strategy is strengthening student reasoning.

The Leadership Shift: Moving beyond documenting student participation to using evidence of student thinking to guide instructional feedback, targeted support, and follow-through.

What Are Students Experiencing?

This month, use the three lenses from The Learning Leader during a classroom observation. Focus on gathering evidence of what students are experiencing, thinking, and learning.

1. Engaging in Meaningful Learning
Are students engaged in meaningful, grade-level learning?

2. Demonstrating Thinking and Understanding
Who is doing the cognitive work, and what evidence reveals student understanding?

3. Explaining and Building Understanding
How are students explaining, discussing, and building on one another's ideas?

Your Challenge: During one classroom observation, gather specific evidence related to each lens. Connect your observations to the relevant DTGSS indicators and identify one opportunity to strengthen instructional feedback.

Reflect: How did focusing on students' learning experiences influence the evidence you collected and the feedback you provided?