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For Texas principals and assistant principals

T-TESS walkthroughs that follow the goal

Your teachers just set their T-TESS goals. Walk to them. Ten-minute visits tagged to the Domain 2 and 3 dimensions, feedback to the teacher before the bell, and an evidence trail that is ready for the end-of-year conference.

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Your first T-TESS walkthrough, today

1

Sign up free

No credit card. Every feature is open while you try it.

2

Add the T-TESS template

Pick it from the template library. Domains 2 and 3 are already built in.

3

Walk your first classroom

Open it on your phone, tap through the dimensions, and send the feedback to the teacher.

The T-TESS Walkthrough template in Education Walkthrough, showing dimension 2.1 Achieving Expectations with the five T-TESS levels, comments, and photo and video upload

Check your inbox. The template is on its way, with a link to open it in Education Walkthrough.

Enter your email and we'll send you the template, plus everything you need to get started.

A T-TESS walkthrough template, ready to use

  • One question for each Domain 2 and 3 dimension, using the five T-TESS levels your teachers already know
  • Add comments, photos and video to any dimension
  • Walk from your phone and send the feedback to the teacher before dismissal

Go deeper on T-TESS

The dimensions you can see in 10 minutes

Domains 1 and 4 happen outside the room. Domains 2 and 3 happen in front of you. These are the eight dimensions a short walkthrough can actually see, and what to look for in each.

Domain 2, Instruction

2.1 Achieving Expectations

Students can tell you what they are learning today. The work asks a lot of them, and they keep at it.

2.2 Content Knowledge and Expertise

Accurate content, connections to what students already know, and students thinking past the first right answer.

2.3 Communication

Clear directions, questions that make students think, and more student talk than teacher talk.

2.4 Differentiation

Flexible groups and scaffolds. Watch what the rest of the room is doing while the teacher runs a small group.

2.5 Monitor and Adjust

Quick checks for understanding, regrouping, and changing pace when students are stuck. Hard to catch in one formal. Easy to see across five walkthroughs.

Domain 3, Learning Environment

3.1 Classroom Environment, Routines and Procedures

Smooth transitions, materials ready, and routines students run on their own.

3.2 Managing Student Behavior

Clear expectations and calm, quick redirection that keeps learning moving.

3.3 Classroom Culture

Respect, students helping each other, and a room where kids want to take part. The easiest domain to celebrate.

From goal to walkthrough to conference

T-TESS calls itself a support system. Walkthroughs are the support part. Here is how the evidence builds across the year, so nothing gets reconstructed in May.

1

The goal is set

Each teacher writes a Goal-Setting and Professional Development plan tied to a dimension. On most campuses those conferences are done by mid October.

2

You walk to the goal

Short, frequent visits tagged to the dimension the teacher chose. Feedback goes to the teacher the same day, while there is still time to act on it.

3

The conference writes itself

By the end-of-year conference, you and the teacher are looking at months of real classroom evidence on their goal, not one lesson.

“It wasn't giving teachers good feedback or immediate feedback. We were just going through the motions. So I thought, we've got to find a better tool, one that's easier to use.”

Dalhart ISD, Texas

How Texas schools are organized

Texas has 20 regional Education Service Centers, created in 1967 to provide services to school districts across the state. They are service organizations, not regulatory arms of the Texas Education Agency, and districts take part in their services voluntarily.

Map of Texas showing the 20 Education Service Center regions: Region 1 Edinburg, Region 2 Corpus Christi, Region 3 Victoria, Region 4 Houston, Region 5 Beaumont, Region 6 Huntsville, Region 7 Kilgore, Region 8 Mount Pleasant, Region 9 Wichita Falls, Region 10 Richardson, Region 11 Fort Worth, Region 12 Waco, Region 13 Austin, Region 14 Abilene, Region 15 San Angelo, Region 16 Amarillo, Region 17 Lubbock, Region 18 Midland, Region 19 El Paso, and Region 20 San Antonio

Find your ESC

Built for every grade level

Elementary days run on routines and reading blocks. Many K-5 classrooms also have new state-approved reading and math materials this year. A walkthrough is the fastest way to see how they are landing in the room, and to tell teachers what is going well before the day ends.

Look-fors for your next K-2 reading block

  • Students move into small groups without losing time (3.1)
  • The rest of the room is working on its own while the teacher runs a group (2.4)
  • The teacher checks understanding and regroups when students are stuck (2.5)
  • The new materials are in use, and students know how to use them