A Louisiana School That Asked 'What If Feedback Was Instant?'—And It Changed Everything
- Last Updated August 7, 2025
A bell rings in rural Louisiana…
When Principal Valerie Williams took the helm at Many Junior High—a 5-8 campus tucked inside the 10-school, 4,100-student Sabine Parish School District—she inherited a coaching system that ran on clipboards, paper forms and good intentions. Teachers might wait an entire week for post-observation notes, and by then the teachable moment had often slipped away. “Wouldn’t it be nice,” she wondered aloud to her assistant principal, “if the minute we finished the walk-through, the feedback was already in the teacher’s inbox?”
That question led Many Junior High to pilot Education Walkthrough.
The first semester with the app felt different
- Day 1 – No more paper chase: Valerie, her A.P., and two instructional coaches loaded the app with custom templates—one for writing-across-the-curriculum, another laser-focused on special-education look-fors.
- Week 3 – Feedback in minutes, not days: “With the app it immediately sends an email right then, and the teachers really enjoy getting that feedback,” Valerie noted.
- Month 2 – Coaches on a cadence: While Valerie still squeezed in one-to-two visits per week, her coaches were in classrooms almost daily, using the ready-made templates to keep observations tight and purposeful.
A story of one “very, very green” teacher
Early in the year an emergency hire—straight from college with little preparation—struggled to establish routines. Frequent micro-walk-throughs plus same-day email summaries let the instructional coach scaffold bite-sized next steps. “She has turned into a different teacher,” Valerie recalls, crediting the short feedback loops for the transformation . Multiply that by two dozen classrooms and the culture of growth became visible.
Time reclaimed, energy refocused
Before | After one semester with Education Walkthrough |
3-7 days to return observation notes | Under 1 hour—often before the next class period |
Coaches spent 5-6 hrs/week building or sharing forms | ≈1 hr/week—templates live in the app |
Spotty visibility into who was being observed | Live dashboard shows frequency & coverage, even holding coaches accountable |
Why it worked
- Instant insight – Teachers fix small issues “right there in that moment” instead of waiting for the next PD day .
- Template agility – Math visit at 9 a.m., SPED look-for at 9:20; observers toggle in seconds, no new docs to build .
- Data-driven leadership – Valerie now spots gaps (e.g., a coach falling behind on observations) and adjusts schedules in real time .
Ripples across Sabine Parish
Sabine Parish, with its ten rural schools and roughly 4,100 students, sees potential in what happened at Many Junior High. District leaders are exploring a parish-wide rollout so every campus can trade paper for real-time growth cycles
Key takeaway
By collapsing the gap between observation and action—from days to minutes—Many Junior High converted everyday walk-throughs into powerful, ongoing coaching conversations. Teachers feel supported, leaders reclaim precious hours, and students—especially those who need it most—benefit from quicker instructional pivots. In Valerie Williams’ words, “It’s been so helpful.”