A classic school meets a modern blind spot

Washington Latin Public Charter School is famous for its Socratic seminars and Latin mottos, but the day-to-day reality spans two growing campuses and roughly forty teachers. Assistant Principal for Academics Bill Clausen knew that thoughtful coaching starts with simply being in the room—yet he kept discovering, weeks too late, that some teachers had gone unobserved while others saw him twice in the same month.

“We decided we had to do a better job tracking how many observations we were doing.” — Bill Clausen

Spreadsheets helped—until they didn’t. Sorting columns after each visit stole precious minutes, and sharing version-controlled files across five instructional leaders was a headache. Worse, no one noticed lopsided coverage until the quarter was almost over.

When a friend tipped him off to Education Walkthrough, Bill tried a different tack

Instead of deploying every bell-and-whistle feature on day one, the team used the app as a coverage dashboard—a live tally of who had been seen and who hadn’t. The impact was immediate:

“The record-keeping element helped most. At a school our size, we finally knew which teachers we were watching and how often.” — Bill Clausen

What got better once every visit counted

When Bill switched from after-the-fact spreadsheets to a live dashboard, the coaching model snapped into sharper focus almost overnight.

1. Real-time leadership vision

A single glance now replaces a weekly scavenger hunt. Red blocks on the dashboard flag any teacher who hasn’t had a pop-in within the two-week goal. Because gaps surface instantly, Bill and the coaching team can adjust their routes the very next day rather than discover the oversight at quarter’s end.

“Before, we thought we were equitable. The heat-map showed us where the blind spots really were.” — Bill Clausen

2. Equity for teachers—and for students

• No silent struggle – Quiet classrooms no longer slip off the radar; first-year teachers who need the most feedback get it on schedule.
• Universal coaching – Veteran rock stars receive the same cadence of visits, reinforcing that feedback is a privilege, not a penalty.
• Faster intervention – Early identification means academic or management issues are addressed while the unit is still in motion, not after grades are posted.

3. Coaching minutes reclaimed

Leadership huddles used to begin with, “Who hasn’t been observed lately?” Now that answer lives on the dashboard, meetings open with instructional strategy instead of calendar math. Those saved minutes are redirected to deeper coaching conversations and lesson planning.

4. Trust that fuels receptivity

Predictable, evenly distributed walk-throughs soften the “gotcha” effect. Teachers can anticipate when a coach might arrive and receive an email receipt within minutes—proof that the visit was logged and feedback is forthcoming. Transparency turns post-observation chats into genuine back-and-forth (“Let’s unpack that questioning sequence”) rather than defensive explanations.

5. Smarter, data-driven planning

Live coverage metrics flow straight into PD agendas and budget proposals:

• If sixth-grade math shows the fewest touch points, that department moves to the front of the next coaching cycle.
• When the CFO asks why the school needs an extra coaching period, Bill exports the visit log—hard numbers, not anecdotes.

6. Early signals of student impact

Classrooms receiving bi-weekly pop-ins tightened routines within a month; hallway referrals dropped, and mid-unit reteach decisions lifted quiz mastery scores before the marking period closed. It’s an early but promising sign that equitable presence translates into quicker instructional pivots—and better outcomes for kids.

A common language, finally in one place

Enter Amy Bock, Washington Latin’s Director of Restorative Justice. She mentors twelve teachers—nine receive monthly observations, three are coached every other week—and credits the app with more than just coverage:

“Because we’re all using the exact same form in the app, teachers see the same words and same look-fors no matter who walks in. It’s a neutral playing field.” — Amy Bock

• Every observer—20 to 40 staff members in year one—logs visits with the identical template, preventing mixed messages.
• The moment an observer taps Submit, the teacher receives a PDF in her inbox, creating a searchable library of every walkthrough.
• Leaders can pull up a full history for any teacher in seconds, replacing sticky-note trails and scattered Google Docs.

Why uniformity matters

• Consistent voice across observers – Multiple coaches can support the same teacher without contradicting one another.
• Self-directed growth – Teachers scroll through PDFs, spot recurring praise or growth areas, and request targeted support.
• Shared jargon = faster coaching – Because everyone speaks the same rubric language, post-observation meetings jump straight to solutions.

A day in the new workflow

1. Open the dashboard at 7 a.m. Red blocks show two teachers with zero visits in the past 20 days.
2. Drag names onto the coverage calendar. Bill and a coach split the rooms before first period.
3. Conduct a 10-minute pop-in. Notes go straight into the phone; one tap sends a PDF to the teacher and updates the heat map.
4. Leadership check-in at 3 p.m. Green everywhere—coverage balanced for the week, and every teacher has fresh, uniform feedback in hand.

Beyond counting: the runway ahead

Washington Latin’s leadership now plans to layer its home-grown “Best Practices” rubric onto the same platform. Once configured, the dashboard will surface not only how often each teacher is seen but also which instructional moves appear consistently or need support. Next up: opening access for peer observations, turning the coverage engine into a community learning loop.

Key takeaway—coverage as a catalyst

Real-time feedback is powerful, but Washington Latin discovered a more foundational insight: teachers can’t grow from feedback they never receive, and that feedback resonates only when everyone speaks the same language. By using Education Walkthrough first as a coverage counter and second as a common-language hub, the school guaranteed that every educator—from new hires to master teachers—received timely, coherent, and actionable attention. The dashboard replaced spreadsheet guesswork with instant equity, freeing leaders to spend their energy on coaching quality, not calendar math. For Bill, Amy, and their team, the simple act of seeing everyone—and speaking to everyone in the same terms—became the super-power that unlocks every other part of instructional improvement.