AI-powered teacher evaluations
for New York educators.
Cut APPR documentation from hours to minutes. EvalScribe supports New York under both systems — the new STEPS framework (Education Law §3012-e), built on the seven New York State Teaching Standards, and the legacy §3012-d HEDI system — drafting standards-aligned observation write-ups in your plan's own language.
Saved per evaluation
NYS Teaching Standards, built in
STEPS & 3012-d supported
Evaluator-controlled ratings
Three evaluations free — no credit card · Individual plans from $100/year · School & district licensing available
Endorsed by educational leaders
Game changer. Absolute game changer for school admin.
Tobin Davidson · Assistant Superintendent · 40+ years in education
This is amazing. I would pay lots of money for this. I’m serious — it’s crazy good.
Kittie Brown · Assistant Principal
Also endorsed by Dr. Robert Stinson · Glenn Brown · Angie Brandt — read full quotes ↓
Built by a classroom teacher
Founded by a practicing K–12 educator with nearly 20 years in the field.
New York-specific
Both APPR systems built in — STEPS (the 7 NYS Teaching Standards) and 3012-d (HEDI).
Privacy-first
Transient processing on Microsoft Azure. Never used for AI training.
Built for workflow
Designed around the realities of being a New York evaluator.
New York's APPR is changing. EvalScribe supports both systems.
New York evaluates teachers through the Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR). Under Chapter 143 of the Laws of 2024, two systems now run side by side: the legacy Education Law §3012-d, with its single overall HEDI rating, and the new Education Law §3012-e — the Standards-based Educator Evaluation and Professional Support system, or STEPS. Districts may keep an approved §3012-d plan through the 2031–32 school year and must adopt a STEPS plan by June 30, 2032. EvalScribe supports both.
Which system does your district use?
Both systems are valid right now, and which one applies is a local decision. EvalScribe lets you pick the right one when you start an evaluation.
§3012-d Legacy · HEDI
The system in place since 2015. Combines observation with other measures into a single overall HEDI rating — Highly Effective, Effective, Developing, or Ineffective. Districts may continue using an approved §3012-d plan through the 2031–32 school year.
STEPS — §3012-e New
The new standards-based system. Built on the seven New York State Teaching Standards, it uses multiple locally selected measures — at least one of which must be observation. STEPS plans are locally designed and collectively bargained, then approved by NYSED.
The seven New York State Teaching Standards
Adopted by the Board of Regents in 2011, the seven New York State Teaching Standards form the backbone of every STEPS plan — each STEPS plan must address all of the state's Teaching Standards through its chosen measures. EvalScribe is built around these seven standards, mapping your observation evidence to the standard it supports and drafting standards-aligned feedback.
Seven standards.
Knowledge of Students and Student Learning
Knowledge of Content and Instructional Planning
Instructional Practice
Learning Environment
Assessment for Student Learning
Professional Responsibilities and Collaboration
Professional Growth
The HEDI scale — used under §3012-d, and a common convention under STEPS.
Highly Effective
Effective
Developing
Ineffective
How EvalScribe handles New York's two systems
For §3012-d, EvalScribe drafts observation ratings and comments against the HEDI scale your approved plan uses. For STEPS, EvalScribe is built around the seven New York State Teaching Standards — the authoritative backbone every STEPS plan must address — and uses the common HEDI-style labels above as a starting convention for the ratings. In both cases, you review, edit, and finalize every rating and comment.
An important local caveat for STEPS: under Education Law §3012-e, a STEPS plan's specific measures, their weighting, and its rating labels are set locally through collective bargaining between your district and its union, then approved by NYSED — they are not prescribed by the state. Your district's adopted scale may use HEDI-style labels, the state framework's Level 1–4 numbering, or its own negotiated descriptors. EvalScribe drafts the standards-aligned observation write-up; confirm your district's adopted rating scale and weighting and adjust the labels to match your approved plan. EvalScribe drafts the observation piece — it does not set or calculate your plan's overall weighting or summative rating. If it would help to see your district's specific adopted scale supported, email [email protected].
How EvalScribe works with New York's APPR.
A five-step path from the back of the classroom to a finished, standards-aligned evaluation.
Observe the classroom
Formal observation or walkthrough — capture what you see the way you always have.
Enter notes your way
Type, dictate, or snap a photo of your handwritten notes. Smart Scan converts handwriting to text.
Map evidence to standards
EvalScribe identifies which of the seven NYS Teaching Standards each note supports (STEPS), or maps to your 3012-d plan.
Suggested ratings & comments
Get draft ratings and feedback language in the rubric's own voice, across the four-level scale.
Review & finalize
Edit anything you want, finalize the evaluation, and export a clean PDF for your records.
EvalScribe runs natively on iPhone, iPad, and Mac — work where you are.
Capture notes the way you already work.
No retraining required. Whatever your walkthrough style, EvalScribe accepts it.
Snap a photo
Photograph your handwritten notes mid-walkthrough. Smart Scan OCR converts handwriting to text — even messy handwriting, even pedagogical terms.
Dictate as you go
Speak observations directly into the app. Voice dictation captures what you saw without breaking your eye contact with the classroom.
Type directly
Prefer to type? Enter notes straight into the app — they flow into the same DC-aware drafting pipeline as scans and dictation.
Why generic AI falls short for New York's APPR.
Pasting your walkthrough notes into a general-purpose chatbot might produce a paragraph that sounds polished — but for APPR documentation, "sounds polished" isn't the bar. Defensible, standards-aligned evaluations are.
| Capability | Generic AI (ChatGPT, Claude, etc.) | EvalScribe |
|---|---|---|
| Framework awareness | ✕No concept of New York's APPR, the seven NYS Teaching Standards, STEPS, or 3012-d. Treats every prompt the same. | ✓Built around both APPR systems — the seven NYS Teaching Standards for STEPS, and the HEDI scale for 3012-d. |
| Standards mapping | ✕Invents standard names and rubric language that doesn't match the NYS Teaching Standards. | ✓Maps evidence to the seven authoritative NYS Teaching Standards that every STEPS plan must address. |
| STEPS vs. 3012-d | ✕No idea New York now runs two different APPR systems side by side. | ✓Supports both — you choose STEPS or 3012-d when you start an evaluation. |
| Local-design awareness | ✕Assumes a fixed statewide scale, missing that STEPS weighting and labels are locally bargained. | ✓Uses the authoritative standards plus HEDI labels as a starting convention, and flags that you confirm your district's adopted scale. |
| Rating labels | ✕Defaults to generic good-to-bad framing that doesn't match your plan's adopted labels. | ✓Drafts against HEDI (Highly Effective to Ineffective), adjustable to your district's negotiated STEPS scale. |
| Note input | ✕Requires you to retype everything before the AI can do anything with it. | ✓Accepts typed notes, dictation, or photos of handwritten notes via Smart Scan OCR. |
| Feedback language | ✕Vague, generic comments that could describe any teacher. | ✓Professional, evidence-anchored feedback written against the NYS Teaching Standards. |
| Data privacy | ✕Free tiers may use your inputs to train public models. | ✓Enterprise-grade Microsoft Azure. Transient processing. Zero retention. Never used for training. |
| Defensibility | ✕Output you can't trace back to evidence or rubric language. | ✓Every comment is tied to evidence pulled from your notes and the component it supports. |
How much New York evaluation time could you reclaim?
Tune the inputs to your reality. The numbers update as you go.
You could reclaim approximately
hours per year
Workdays reclaimed
Total evaluations
Based on early EvalScribe users saving an average of 35 minutes per evaluation. Individual results may vary based on your current workflow.
The best way to see it
is to watch it.
Reading about how EvalScribe drafts an APPR evaluation isn't the same as watching it happen. The demo walks through a real observation — capture, mapping, scoring, and final export — start to finish.
The draft review screen — every comment, rating, and piece of mapped evidence is fully editable before export.
See an example EvalScribe report.
A real EvalScribe-generated evaluation, formatted exactly as it exports from the app. The workflow is the same across frameworks — useful to share with district stakeholders.
Download sample PDFWhat educational leaders are saying.
Real feedback from administrators across roles — from academic coaches to assistant superintendents.
EvalScribe is a tool that every public school principal should use. This resource literally makes multiple people out of administrators, allowing them to focus their energies on precise observation analysis and quality feedback while leaving EvalScribe to handle the mechanics. This tool will remove virtually all of the drudgery from the classroom evaluation process and would represent an excellent use of school funds.
Dr. Robert Stinson
Principal
After seeing a detailed demonstration of EvalScribe, I came away very impressed with both the concept and the execution. The platform provides administrators with a practical way to quickly capture classroom observations and generate high-quality, customized feedback that remains aligned to their evaluation framework and local expectations. What stood out most was the balance between efficiency and quality. EvalScribe has the potential to reduce administrative workload while helping school leaders provide more timely and meaningful feedback to teachers — a tool with considerable promise for schools and districts.
Glenn Brown
Director of Student Services
Game changer. Absolute game changer for school admin.
Tobin Davidson
Assistant Superintendent · 40+ years in education
This is amazing. I would pay lots of money for this. I’m serious — it’s crazy good. I look forward to using it on a regular basis next year.
Kittie Brown
Assistant Principal
Evaluators spend an inordinate amount of time recording and documenting evaluations. This app is easy to use, affordable, and incredibly efficient. It cuts the time spent recording and documenting evaluations down significantly and frees us up to handle other aspects of the job. Plus, the conference suggestions save on prep time when a conference is warranted.
Angie Brandt
Academic Coach
Built by educators, for educators.
EvalScribe was co-founded by a practicing classroom teacher and his wife — a husband-and-wife team with thirty years of combined classroom and business experience.
Anthony Neely, Ph.D.
Co-founder · Product
A tenured K–12 classroom teacher and Professional Learning Lead. District Teacher of the Year, with nearly 20 years in education and three published books.
Andrea Neely, Ph.D.
Co-founder · Business
Associate Professor of Management. Research and teaching in organizational management.
Your evaluation data stays yours.
Observation notes are processed transiently on Microsoft Azure and are not retained on our servers. Your evaluation records live locally on your device. Notes and evaluations are never used to train public AI models. For districts needing a Data Processing Agreement or FERPA attestation, those are available on request.
Simple, transparent pricing.
Try EvalScribe with three free evaluations. When you're ready to keep going, pick the plan that fits your role.
Individual
For a single evaluator on their own device.
Billed annually per user
- Unlimited evaluations
- All supported frameworks, including STEPS & 3012-d
- iOS & macOS access
- 3 free evaluations to start
School-wide
For a school with multiple evaluators.
3+ evaluators
- Everything in Individual
- 10% volume discount
- Unique access code issued to your school
- Easy distribution to your evaluators
District-wide
For districts deploying across every evaluator.
Best value for full deployments
- Everything in School-wide
- 20% volume discount
- Single access code for the entire district
- Direct support contact for rollout
All pricing shown is introductory and may change. For school and district plans, EvalScribe issues a unique access code that the buyer distributes to their evaluators.
New York's APPR & EvalScribe — common questions.
Does EvalScribe support both STEPS and 3012-d?
Yes. New York now runs two APPR systems side by side, and EvalScribe supports both. When you set up an evaluation, you choose the system your district uses — the new STEPS framework (Education Law §3012-e), built around the seven NYS Teaching Standards, or the legacy §3012-d system with its HEDI rating. EvalScribe maps your evidence and drafts standards-aligned ratings and comments either way.
What is STEPS, and how is it different from 3012-d?
STEPS — the Standards-based Educator Evaluation and Professional Support system — was established by Education Law §3012-e under Chapter 143 of the Laws of 2024. It replaces the state-prescribed structure of §3012-d with a locally designed, standards-based approach built around the seven NYS Teaching Standards, using multiple locally selected measures (at least one being observation). The older §3012-d system combined observation and other measures into a single overall HEDI rating under a more state-prescribed structure. Districts may keep an approved §3012-d plan through the 2031–32 school year and must adopt a STEPS plan by June 30, 2032.
Who sets a STEPS plan's rating labels and weighting?
Your district and its union do, through collective bargaining, with the plan then approved by NYSED — the specific measures, their weighting, and the rating labels are set locally, not prescribed by the state. Because of that, EvalScribe builds its STEPS support on the authoritative pieces every plan must address — the seven NYS Teaching Standards — and uses common HEDI-style labels (Highly Effective, Effective, Developing, Ineffective) as a starting convention. Your district's adopted scale may instead use the state framework's Level 1–4 numbering or its own negotiated descriptors, so confirm your plan's adopted scale and adjust the labels to match.
Is my 3012-d plan still valid?
Yes. Under Chapter 143 of the Laws of 2024, districts and BOCES may keep their currently approved Education Law §3012-d evaluation plans — and submit material changes to them — through the 2031–32 school year. All districts must adopt a STEPS plan by June 30, 2032. EvalScribe supports 3012-d today and STEPS today, so you can use whichever your district currently runs.
Does EvalScribe calculate my APPR summative rating?
No. EvalScribe drafts the standards-aligned observation write-up — the evidence, ratings, and feedback for the observation piece. The overall APPR summative rating combines observation with your plan's other measures according to the weighting your district adopted, and that combination happens in your district's system, not the app.
Does EvalScribe replace evaluator judgment?
No. EvalScribe drafts evidence-mapped evaluations and suggested ratings. The evaluator reviews, edits, and finalizes every document. The professional judgment is always yours — EvalScribe just removes the typing.
Can the generated evaluations be edited?
Yes, fully. Every comment, every rating, and every piece of mapped evidence inside a draft evaluation can be edited before you export the final PDF. You are always the last set of eyes on the document — which matters especially under STEPS, where you adjust the labels to your district's adopted scale.
Is observation data stored?
Your notes are processed transiently on Microsoft Azure and are not retained on EvalScribe's servers. Your evaluation records sit locally on your device under a local-first architecture. Your data is never used to train public AI models. For more detail, see our Privacy Policy.
How is EvalScribe different from ChatGPT or Claude?
Generic AI tools have no built-in understanding of New York's APPR, the seven NYS Teaching Standards, or the STEPS-versus-3012-d distinction. They invent standards that don't exist, assume a fixed statewide scale that STEPS doesn't have, and produce vague comments. EvalScribe is built around the authoritative standards and both systems — and the evaluator workflow that surrounds them — from capture through final export.
Where can I read the official STEPS and APPR sources?
The New York State Education Department maintains the primary sources: the NYS STEPS and New York State Evaluation System pages, the New York State Teaching Standards, and the statute itself — Education Law §3012-d and §3012-e, as amended by Chapter 143 of the Laws of 2024.
Which other frameworks are supported?
EvalScribe ships with frameworks from all 50 states and Washington D.C., plus general models such as Danielson, Marzano, Stronge, CEL 5D+, NIET, and Kim Marshall. The complete list is available at evalscribe.com/frameworks.
Don't see your question? Reach out via our contact page — we read every message personally.
Spend less time on paperwork.
Lead your building.
EvalScribe was built to help New York evaluators spend less time documenting evaluations and more time doing what matters: leading instruction, coaching teachers, and walking buildings.
Three evaluations free — no credit card · Available on iPhone, iPad, and Mac