An Old Fashioned Approach For A High Tech Purpose

SAINT PETERSBURG, Fla. - Nov. 6, 2013 - PRLog -- St. Petersburg, FL- Selling cookies as a fundraiser may conjure up old-fashioned images, but at Tulsa Lighthouse Charter Academy (http://www.lighthouse-academies.org/schools/tlcs), it helps them stay cutting edge. After an incredibly successful first year which administrators attribute to their accomplished and driven staff, Tulsa Lighthouse has identified the need to further encourage staff growth and development. To help make this vision a reality, they have selected observe4success, (http://www.observe4success.com/) an online teacher observation (http://www.observe4success.com/) tool.

With budgets tight, administrators looked for a creative way to raise money to purchase observe4success.  Teachers and students alike will sell cookies to raise the money needed to cover the cost of the software.

“Having a strong, flexible tool to observe and encourage (http://www.observe4success.com/) our faculty will help increase achievement for the whole school as well as to promote our positive school culture,” states Nickia Greene, Director of Teacher Leadership. “This is truly something that will benefit the entire school, faculty and staff.  While selling cookies may seem old fashioned; it is the best way for the entire school community to participate in an investment this valuable.“

Greene adds, “observe4success has streamlined our observation process, saving us valuable time while making collecting and organizing observation data even easier. The data that is collected allows school leaders to review graphs and assign relevant professional development based on teacher, grade level, and school-wide strengths and weaknesses.”

Developed by educators for educators, observe4success captures and systemically reports the essence of classroom culture and instructional practice so that administrators and peer observers could easily grasp classroom characteristics. With observation data collected over time, stored, and sorted, administrators and teachers work together to identify strengths to be highlighted and weaknesses to be supported. Current research encourages continuous improvement to support instructional practices (http://www.observe4success.com/) while implementing exemplary teaching practices; observe4success offers the tools to make these efforts seamless.

“It is schools like Tulsa Lighthouse Charter Academy (http://www.lighthouse-academies.org/schools/tlcs) that make us love what we do.  Supporting innovative, committed administrators in their mission of creating school environments that inspire learning and offer professional growth opportunities for teachers is at the heart of observe4success,” states Erin Antonius, Director of Sales and Product Strategy at observe4success.  She continues, “Leadership at Tulsa Lighthouse wasted no time digging in, starting observations the day they implemented our platform. This is why we created observ4success – to ease the load of administrators and to create an environment of collaboration. And while we encourage buy-in at all levels of schools adoption the system, this is literally buy-in at a level we’ve never seen before! It’s fantastic!”

For more about Tulsa Lighthouse Charter Academy please visit: http://www.lighthouse-academies.org/schools/tlcs

To learn more about observe4success or to schedule a demonstration please visit: http://www.observe4success.com

About observe4success

observe4success offers a practical, easy-to-use, web based teacher evaluation and observation platform. With the foundational belief that no two schools’ needs are the same, observe4success affords users the ability to customize forms through a simple user-interface and generate individualized graphic reports to display their data in meaningful ways. The prompt and honest feedback opens lines of communication and creates a common language to discuss teaching strengths and areas in need of improvement resulting in improved teacher performance. Compatible with all web-enabled devices, Administrators use the tool to observe, encourage, enhance, and sustain effective instructional practice and positive school culture.