Our Story
In March 2015, the New York State Council of School Superintendents (NYSCOSS) hosted its annual Mid-Winter Institute and unveiled a new superintendent evaluation rubric, The Council’s Superintendent Model Evaluation.
Since then, many organizations have published high-quality evaluation instruments, but superintendents and school boards faced challenges utilizing a PDF document effectively and efficiently in the evaluation process. PLS 3rd Learning identified this problem of practice and started the development of SuperEval.
At first, SuperEval was conceived exclusively as a superintendent evaluation platform. However, the early feedback from superintendents was so overwhelmingly positive that they welcomed having a similar evaluation process for their own leadership teams, administrators, and staff that included a methodology of goal attainment, reflective practice, self-assessment, and exhibiting evidence, all leading to meaningful conversations. The evaluation methodology transcends an event of compliance to a process of greater meaning and value. Thereafter, SuperEval expanded to include the entire leadership team.
With the expansion of leadership roles, SuperEval acquired permission to use valid, reliable, and well-established evaluation instruments and rubrics within the field. Thus, the methodology and process are agnostic to the leadership standards or professional practices as the basis for the evaluation.
Finally, a school board self-evaluation was added, allowing school board members to reflect on the professional practices of highly effective boards.
Our Vision for SuperEval
In September of 2023, The SuperEval Team co-created Our Vision for SuperEval -The Product in addition to Our Vision for SuperEval – The Team.
The Product: At Our Very Best
SuperEval’s vision is to become synonymous with K-12 leadership evaluations by delivering the best customer service, effectively implementing client-driven customization, and fostering strong and authentic partnerships with education leaders. We strive to play an essential role in K-12 educational growth, improve education quality through accountability, and inspire positive, lasting change within school districts.
SuperEval is centered on a well-defined, evidence-based evaluation process that encourages collaboration and self-reflection while focusing on goal attainment and leadership development. It aims to empower individuals to be intentional in advancing district goals by aligning personal goals with district objectives. In the future, data analytics will provide leaders with valuable insights across the organization, highlighting growth opportunities.
SuperEval strives to be viewed as an invaluable and culturally significant tool for the districts it serves, functioning as an accountability tool, a learning tool, and a progressive force in education.
The Team: At Our Very Best
Our vision for the SuperEval Team is to inspire positive and lasting change within the education sector, positioning ourselves as thought leaders who drive innovation and progress. We aspire to be dependable and consistent with both our products and our team’s performance. We are committed to being innovative and proactive, continuously seeking ways to improve, adapt to the changing educational landscape, and effectively manage challenges and opportunities.
The Framework for Reflection and Growth serves as an internal guide documenting the team’s shared values. Our success is contingent on leadership’s dedication to recruiting individuals who possess necessary skills and align with the organization’s core values of integrity, authenticity, resilience, collaboration, and receptiveness to new ideas. These values are the foundation of our team’s identity, fostering a sense of belonging and alignment among us.
A central goal of our team is creating and maintaining highly efficient operational best practices, a system of checks and balances, and auditing processes to drive continuous improvement. This dedication to efficiency instills confidence in our ability to deliver effective results.
Shared values, respect, open communication, and cross-functional team collaboration all allow us to create solutions for our partners and bring about positive and lasting change in the education sector.
PLS 3rd Learning
PLS 3rd Learning brings four decades of experience in partnering with innovative educational organizations. We provide a range of education services, including custom software development, professional development solutions, and instructional design services for K–12 and higher education institutions.
Other Projects
PLS 3rd Learning (PLS), the parent company of SuperEval, helps educators and schools reach their full potential through web-based systems and professional learning opportunities.
- NY Learns: NYLearns is a standards-based system that offers learning standards, curriculum management tools, and instructional resources to every school district in New York State.
- PLS Classes: PLS Classes offers graduate-level courses for educators through partnerships with colleges and universities. Our online, on-site, and facilitated self-paced courses are taught by experienced instructors. Participants can earn CE credit or work toward their master’s degree.
- Steve Barkley Consulting: Steve Barkley is an internationally renowned educator, author, and motivational speaker. With over 35 years of experience working in classrooms, schools, and universities all over the world, Mr. Barkley tailors workshops to address the unique needs of his audience. His podcast Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud and weekly blog offers insight on important educational topics and explores educational best practices.
- AAIE Institute for International School Leadership: The AAIE Institute offers online courses for seasoned or aspiring school leaders. Participants can earn certificates, become an AAIE Fellow, and earn credit towards their master’s or doctorate degree.
- Academy for Educators: The Academy for Educators delivers professional development and micro-credential programs for teachers and educational leaders.
If you are interested in learning more about our PLS projects, please contact us at info@PLS3rdLearning.com
