When Leadership Teams Send Mixed Messages About Instruction

When I ask leaders what they're working to improve, I often hear many of the same answers.

Stronger instruction.  Higher levels of student learning.  More consistent classroom practices.  Greater implementation of district initiatives.

The goals are usually clear.  The challenge is that the messages teachers receive about those goals aren't necessarily as clear.

A teacher might receive feedback from multiple leaders over the course of a month and each conversation could emphasize something different. 

One administrator emphasizes student engagement.  Another focuses on pacing.  An instructional coach highlights questioning techniques.  A department leader encourages stronger checks for understanding.

None of this feedback is necessarily wrong.  In fact, each recommendation may be grounded in good instructional practice.  The problem is that teachers are left trying to determine which of these priorities matter most.

Over time, this creates one of the most common barriers to instructional improvement: mixed leadership messages.

Most schools don't struggle due to a lack of leader expertise or teacher effort. More often, it’s a school leadership alignment issue. Not because leaders disagree about what matters, but because they aren't always reinforcing the same instructional priorities in the same ways.

Leadership Alignment Is Often Assumed, Not Verified

Many schools believe they have a shared vision for instruction.

If asked, leaders can often describe what effective teaching should look like in their classrooms.

The challenge is that a shared vision and shared implementation are not always the same thing.

A leadership team may agree that instruction should be rigorous, engaging, and responsive to student needs.

But when leaders enter classrooms, what are they actually paying attention to?

• What evidence are they collecting?

• What feedback are they providing?

• What instructional practices are they consistently reinforcing?

The answers to those questions often vary more than leaders realize.

Principals, assistant principals, instructional coaches, department supervisors, and teacher leaders may all be working toward the same outcome while emphasizing different instructional priorities along the way.

If those priorities are never calibrated, teachers receive mixed signals.

The result is inconsistency—and inconsistency makes improvement much harder to sustain.

The Problem Isn't Resistance. It's Instructional Drift.

When instructional initiatives stall, it's easy to assume that teachers are resisting change.  In reality, something else is often happening.

Teachers are responding to the messages they receive from the system around them.

If one leader emphasizes engagement, another emphasizes pacing, and another focuses on questioning, teachers naturally begin trying to respond to all three.

Over time, classrooms start moving in different directions—not because anyone is intentionally working against the school's goals, but because the system is reinforcing multiple priorities simultaneously. 

This is when we start to see instructional drift.

Classroom implementation gradually becomes less consistent because leaders are unintentionally communicating different expectations.

This is one reason improvement efforts can feel successful in some classrooms while appearing stalled in others.

→ For a deeper look at how fragmented systems can weaken implementation over time, you may also find Why School Improvement Strategies Often Fail to Create Lasting Change helpful. 

Why More Walkthroughs Don't Solve the Problem

When leaders notice inconsistency across classrooms, a common response is to increase walkthroughs and observations.  The thinking makes sense.

If leaders spend more time in classrooms, they should have a better understanding of instruction and be able to provide more support.

But more observations don't automatically create greater alignment.

In fact, if leadership teams are not calibrated around common instructional priorities, increasing walkthrough frequency can actually amplify the problem.

Teachers simply receive more feedback about more things.

• One leader comments on engagement.

• Another comments on classroom routines.

• Another comments on lesson structure.

• Another comments on questioning.

The volume of feedback increases, but the clarity of expectations doesn’t.

So before increasing observation frequency, leadership teams should ask a different question:  Would we identify the same instructional strengths and needs if we walked into the same classroom together?

For many teams, that question reveals opportunities for greater alignment.

→ If you're thinking about how walkthroughs can better support instructional improvement, you may also find Classroom Walkthroughs: Turn Quick Visits into Real-Time Coaching helpful.

What School Leadership Alignment Looks Like in Practice

School leadership alignment doesn't mean every leader uses the same script or observation form.  

It doesn't mean eliminating professional judgment.  And it certainly doesn't mean reducing instruction to a checklist.

Instead, alignment means creating agreement around a small number of instructional priorities that matter most for improving student outcomes.

Those priorities become the lens through which leaders observe classrooms, provide feedback, plan professional learning, and support teachers.

For example, a school focused on improving skill clarity should intentionally reinforce practices such as:

• clearly communicating the learning target

• connecting activities to the target skill

• checking for student understanding throughout the lesson

• adjusting instruction based on evidence of learning

When leaders consistently reinforce those expectations, teachers receive a much clearer message about what strong implementation looks like.

The goal is not to look for everything. The goal is to reinforce the practices most likely to improve student learning. 

What Leaders Consistently Reinforce Becomes Instructional Priority

Schools communicate priorities in many ways—strategic plans, professional development sessions, faculty meetings, leadership presentations, district goals, etc.

All of these are important.  But teachers learn what truly matters by paying attention to what leaders consistently reinforce.

If leaders frequently discuss a particular instructional practice, teachers notice.

If walkthrough feedback consistently references a specific expectation, teachers notice.

If coaching conversations and professional learning reinforce the same priority, teachers notice.

And in time, those repeated messages shape instructional practice.  This is why school leadership alignment matters so much.

What leaders consistently look for becomes what teachers prioritize.  What leaders consistently discuss becomes what teachers focus on.

And what leaders consistently reinforce becomes part of the school's instructional culture.

How School Leadership Alignment Supports Sustainable Improvement

Most schools don't struggle because they lack initiatives. In fact, most schools have no shortage of programs, strategies, and improvement efforts.

The greater challenge is ensuring that the systems supporting those efforts are reinforcing the same instructional priorities.

When school leadership alignment exists around a shared set of instructional priorities, teachers gain greater clarity about what matters most.

Feedback becomes more actionable. Professional learning becomes more focused. Implementation becomes more consistent.  And improvement becomes much easier to sustain over time.

Because instructional consistency is not simply a classroom outcome. It is the result of effective instructional leadership. 

→ For a closer look at how leaders can use evidence and feedback to strengthen instructional practice, you may also find Using Data to Support Teacher Growth helpful. 

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