Whetstone Education is an intuitive school management software that offers a comprehensive suite of features to help educational institutions efficiently manage their day-to-day operations. Founded in 2011, the company has served over 950 schools worldwide. This article will delve deeper into Whetstone Education by examining its key features, pricing models, clientele, growth journey, and more.
Overview of Whetstone Education
Whetstone Education provides K-12 schools with a centralized platform to digitally manage all aspects of teacher development, evaluation, and coaching. The software allows schools to store teacher observations, track action items, plan meetings, and provide real-time feedback all in one place. This eliminates the need to manage these processes using inefficient spreadsheets or paper-based systems.
Whetstone Education Main Modules
Some of the main modules offered by Whetstone Education include:
Teacher Observation
This robust module allows schools to conduct classroom walkthroughs and formal observations. Observers can take evidence-based notes on instructional practices in real time using an intuitive interface. Performance is rated against customizable rubrics aligned to teaching standards. All observation records, including timestamps, media attachments, and more, are digitally stored for easy access and analysis.
Coaching & Evaluation
Whetstone Education supports the complete coaching cycle from goal-setting to reviews. Teachers set professional development targets in conferences with coaches. Classroom observations provide actionable feedback to work towards goals. Post-observation discussions track progress. Annual reviews assess goal achievement. This comprehensive process promotes continuous growth.
Action Planning
After each observation, users can assign prioritized action items to teachers directly within the platform. Educators then update the status as items are completed. Coaches provide feedback and comments. This facilitates accountability and ongoing improvement based on observational insights.
Custom Forms
School administrators have complete control over the design of evaluation templates. Custom fields can be added to observation forms, conferences, reviews, and rubrics. This allows tailoring tools per a school’s unique frameworks, priorities, and workflows.
Analytics & Reporting
Comprehensive standard and custom reports provide a bird’s-eye view of teacher and school performance data trends. Administrators and coaches can analyze longitudinal metrics to pinpoint focus areas and assess the impact of professional development initiatives.
Communication Tools
Built-in messaging, file sharing, and calendar features facilitate real-time collaboration between teachers and coaches. Educators stay connected through an integrated platform for streamlined communication and resource organization.
Integrations
Whetstone Education seamlessly syncs with student information systems and learning management platforms using its API. This offers a unified view of all student, teacher, and school data for contextualized insights.
This all-in-one solution allows schools to streamline their coaching processes, provide targeted support to teachers, and enhance student learning outcomes.
Critical Benefits of Whetstone Education
Some of the top benefits that schools experience through Whetstone Education include:
Increased Instructional Quality
By identifying strengths and areas for growth through observations, the software helps coaches develop personalized support plans for teachers. Coaches can focus on instructional strategies most needed, such as differentiated learning or classroom management. Over time, with targeted coaching, teacher performance continually improves.
Actionable Insights
Whetstone Education provides detailed reports that analyze trends in observational notes, rubric ratings, and other metrics. These objective insights help administrators assess the effectiveness of teaching practices and curricula. Schools can also benchmark performance across grade levels or subjects. The actionable data fuels continuous upgrades to instructional programs.
Streamlined Processes
The digital platform replaces outdated paper systems for tracking observations, meetings, and action items. Teachers and coaches save time on manual tasks and gain quick access to complete histories. Searchable records keep stakeholders connected regardless of location. Streamlining evaluation workflows in this way creates efficiencies for more impactful work.
Customization Options
As every school has unique needs, Whetstone Education empowers the customization of forms, rubrics, and workflows. Administrators tailor tools precisely to match evaluation frameworks and priorities. The flexibility keeps the software aligned with a school’s evolving context for maximum utility and user adoption.
Real-time Collaboration
Built-in messaging, sharing, and calendar functions facilitate ongoing, meaningful dialogue beyond formal meetings. Coaches provide real-time guidance while observing lessons. Teachers quickly clarify expectations and next steps. Anytime, anywhere, collaboration strengthens relationships and support.
Data-driven Decisions
Whetstone Education provides administrators with objective metrics over time. Trend analysis reveals what coaching approaches and curriculum adjustments improve teacher practices and student achievement. Data shows which instructors to retain based on growth. It also highlights joint development needs across subject areas or campuses to focus school-wide professional learning strategically. Impactful, budget-conscious decisions can be made with confidence.
Mobile Access
Teachers and coaches stay actively engaged with key features accessible through mobile apps. Educators can complete observations, provide real-time feedback, and respond to messages anytime, anywhere via iOS and Android devices. Even on busy schedules, collaboration is seamless with on-the-go access, keeping all stakeholders connected.
Scalability
As a cloud-based platform, Whetstone Education easily accommodates the unique needs of small charter schools to large urban districts. The flexible system scales to support any number of users without infrastructure investments. All features remain fully functional for organizations of varying sizes. Configuration options further ensure a customized experience.
Affordability
Understanding different budget capacities, Whetstone Education offers free-forever basic plans and low-cost professional subscriptions. Pricing is calculated simply per user to maximize value. No long-term contracts are required, allowing easy adjustment as needs change. The affordability makes the solution viable for nearly any K-12 institution seeking to streamline processes and leverage data.
The software transforms how schools approach teacher growth by streamlining processes, facilitating collaboration, and continuously leveraging data to improve instructional quality.
Growth of Whetstone Education
Founded in 2011, Whetstone Education has come a long way in becoming one of the leading educational software providers in the US. Here are some key milestones in the company’s growth journey:
2011: The company was launched by three educators – Katherine Lewis, Jenna Theall, and Aimee Ryan – to address issues with traditional evaluation systems.
2014: Whetstone expanded operations to serve schools nationally after gaining initial traction in Louisiana.
2016: It received $1.2 million in Series A funding from New Schools Venture Fund to support product development.
2018: The customer base grew to over 500 schools across 30 states serving 500,000 students.
2019: Whetstone Education was named among the fastest-growing education technology companies.
2020: It partnered with Schoology to integrate within the popular LMS platform.
2021: In a significant development, Whetstone Education was acquired by SchoolMint, a leader in enrollment management software.
2022: Today, the combined entity serves over 11 million students across 18,000 schools in the US and Canada.
This organic growth is a testament to Whetstone Education’s focus on building a highly usable and affordable solution trusted by K-12 institutions nationwide. The acquisition by SchoolMint also paved the way for broader synergies and offerings.
Competitive Landscape
The main competitors in the teacher evaluation software space include:
Bloomboard:
As a seasoned player, it offers robust analytics capabilities to track longitudinal trends. Bloomboard also focuses on personalized coaching by recommending resources aligned with educator needs. Their platform facilitates multi-year development planning.
Teachboost:
Known for its strength in supporting the complete evaluation workflow, Teachboost provides tools for classroom observations, post-conference forms, surveys, and analytics. Feedback is streamlined and data-driven. The platform integrates well with student information systems.
Educator’s Handbook:
As an all-in-one solution, it covers the gamut of teacher evaluation needs within a single interface. Features include observations, conferences, professional growth tracking, and reporting. Customization is robust to suit any district requirements.
My Learning Plan:
Comprehensive and widely adopted, it excels at long-term credential and evaluation tracking. Robust reporting gives insights into co-curricular training’s impacts on teaching quality. Integrations with human resource systems offer synergies.
Teacher Toolkit:
An affordable option for schools on tighter budgets, it offers core observations, surveys, and analytics functionality. Regular updates ensure continued competitiveness. Pricing makes it viable for any district.
While these platforms provide similar functionality, Whetstone Education differentiates through its intuitive interface, flexible customization, affordable pricing, and dedicated focus on the K-12 segment. The acquisition by SchoolMint has also expanded its capabilities and reach.
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Take Away
Whetstone Education has established itself as a leading teacher evaluation and coaching software provider through its user-friendly and comprehensive platform. By streamlining processes, facilitating collaboration, and leveraging data-driven insights, the solution helps K-12 schools enhance instructional quality continuously. Whetstone Education maintains its strong value proposition as educational needs evolve rapidly through regular product innovations and partnership synergies. The company is well-positioned to expand its customer base further and consolidate its leadership position in this high-growth market segment.
