Sustainability

Integrating Educator Well-Being, Growth, and Evaluation: Four Foundations for Leaders by Lori Cohen and Elizabeth Denevi
Eye On Education, July 30, 2025

In Integrating Educator Well-Being, Growth, and Evaluation, Lori Cohen and Elizabeth Denevi offer a transformative vision for how schools can support educators. Framing professional learning as an interconnected ecosystem, they invite leaders to rethink evaluation as a collaborative, continuous practice that strengthens school culture and sustains educator growth. By tending to this ecosystem, schools can retain talented educators and cultivate thriving, supportive communities. The authors outline four interdependent foundations: equity, well-being, growth, and evaluation. Equity ensures fair access to resources and opportunities, while fostering inclusive conditions in which all educators and students can thrive. Well-being emphasizes resilience, reflection, and sustainable work. Growth focuses on continuous learning through coaching, mentoring, and structured feedback. Evaluation is reframed as a human-centered, ecosystem-oriented process that nurtures growth and well-being, rather than serving solely as a compliance or accountability measure. Cohen and Denevi pair these frameworks with research-based tools such as the Teacher–Student Relationship Quality (TSRQ) Matrix and the Integrated Classroom Practices for Equity (ICPE) rubric, offering concrete ways to assess instruction, classroom culture, and relational practices while embedding equity and well-being into feedback systems. Together, these ideas provide school leaders with a practical roadmap for designing evaluation and professional learning systems that are collaborative, supportive, and aligned to promote sustainable educator growth and positive student outcomes.