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...

Schools are constantly implementing school improvement strategies. New programs are introduced. Professional development is planned. Curriculums are updated. School improvement plans are written with clear goals and timelines. And initially, the work often feels promising. There’s energy around the initiative. We see teachers engaged in the work, leaders focused on improving instruction, teams meeting regularly, and student data being analyzed. But then something shifts. Maybe staffing...

A key part of instructional planning is making sure it’s aligned to the standards students are expected to meet. But standards are intentionally broad—they’re not meant to define what we teach day-to-day. And we can’t teach a standard without teaching the skills that lead up to it. That step—unpacking the standard into those specific skills—is often the part that gets skipped. As a result, instruction can become focused on what students need to know, rather than what they need to be able to...