Implement. Change in Education
Whether your goal is to scale up existing practices, sustain what’s working, remove what’s not, introduce a new practice, or navigate a transition, we explore how education leaders leverage implementation to get better results for students. Because implementation matters most during times of change.
Every month on the podcast we will feature:
- The audio version of our monthly blog post on implementation
- A conversation with an ambitious education leader who is leveraging implementation and change management to get bet results for students
Latest Episodes
My 9-year-old ran his first cross-country race of the season in 90-degree heat.
After the finish, he had three things to report:
- "I couldn't breathe; I was running so fast."
- "I placed 9th."
- "I made new friends."
Then came the line I haven't stopped thinking about:
"When I'm in the flow running, it feels so good; I can feel nature."
Nobody could fix the weather that day. But the course was built for kids his age. It's hard enough to be real, still within reach. So he found flow in conditions that should have taken it away.
Here's what Csikszentmihalyi's research tells us: flow lives in a narrow band where the challenge is real and your skill is just enough to meet it. Too hard brings anxiety. Too easy brings boredom. Add clear goals and immediate feedback, and you've set the conditions.
And here's what surprised me most: flow is contagious. His brother Aiden wasn't racing. He still moved faster than I've ever seen him move, just to cheer Owen on.
Researchers have seen this in classrooms too. Teachers in flow influence the students around them. Students in flow influence each other.
We can't hand anyone flow. Not our kids, not our students, not the adults we lead.
But we can set the course.
Try this with one lesson, PLC, or meeting this week:
1. Does everyone know what "done" looks like?
2. Will they know how it's going before the end?
3. Is it a stretch they can reach?
Fix the weakest of the three. That's it.
Show Notes:
This summer, I led a learning lab, "How to Implement (Just About) Anything," for about 250 Alabama CTE directors and career coaches at their CTE Summer PD Conference in Mobile.
Their state superintendent opened the morning with three words I keep coming back to: strategy, focus, and resources. And when I asked that room to turn and talk, the whole place came alive. Their implementation health quiz scores were some of the strongest I've ever seen.
Which raises the harder question this episode is about: what do you do when you're already on top?
In this episode, I share clips from that session and the moves I'd consider next, including the one tool I'd hand any leader on Monday morning: a plan on a page.
Thank you, TEAMTRI, for having me.
Want to know where your own implementation stands? Take the same quiz those directors took. The link is in the episode notes below.
Show notes:
- EdScale Implementation Health Quiz
In August, every strategic plan still looks possible.
The plan is on the wall. The team is in the room. Every person in it means it.
Then it’s October. The plan hasn’t failed; it just hasn’t come up in a while. Nobody decided to remove it. It quietly stopped showing up.
Plans rarely die from being wrong. They die from having nowhere to live.
So here’s the test: look at your recurring agendas, standing decisions, and the data you actually review. If your priority isn’t showing up there, it isn’t protected yet.
The fix is simple: put the whole year on the calendar now. Progress-monitoring meetings, data reviews, coaching cycles, straight through June.
The dates will move. That’s fine. A meeting that exists can be moved. A meeting that was never scheduled just never happens.
Right now there’s room on the calendar. By October, there isn’t.
To the district, state, and school teams doing the unglamorous work right now: thank you. It matters more than the launch did.
Listen to the latest episode for more. I put the five questions we use for a first 30-day check-in into a one-page agenda. Free, no form. Link below.
Show notes links:
- Use this agenda for your first 30-day check-in
"A principal looked at who wasn't showing up, found out why, and fixed that."
That is the sentence I keep coming back to from my conversation with Dr. Cheryl Dyson and Dr. Sarah Sirgo of Frederick County Public Schools.
Frederick cut chronic absenteeism from about 26% to 16.7% in three years. In its community schools, chronic absenteeism dropped 18 percentage points.
But the episode is not really about attendance as a metric. It is about what happens when a district narrows the work, protects the schoolhouse, and gives principals enough room to solve the actual problem in front of them.
Dr. Dyson talks about one school where students were not coming because they did not have clean clothes until a nonprofit brought in a truck full of washers and dryers. Dr. Sirgo talks about moving the conversation away from blame and toward support: "What support do we need to provide to get kids to come to school?"
In this episode of 𝑰𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑬𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, we unpack:
- How Frederick moved from 26 KPIs to 17
- Why strategic staffing matters for both teachers and principals
- How science of reading training, DIBELS, and intervention routines are showing up in early literacy
- Why math may require a different implementation playbook than literacy
Guests Episodes
This summer, I led a learning lab, "How to Implement (Just About) Anything," for about 250 Alabama CTE directors and career coaches at their CTE Summer PD Conference in Mobile.
Their state superintendent opened the morning with three words I keep coming back to: strategy, focus, and resources. And when I asked that room to turn and talk, the whole place came alive. Their implementation health quiz scores were some of the strongest I've ever seen.
Which raises the harder question this episode is about: what do you do when you're already on top?
In this episode, I share clips from that session and the moves I'd consider next, including the one tool I'd hand any leader on Monday morning: a plan on a page.
Thank you, TEAMTRI, for having me.
Want to know where your own implementation stands? Take the same quiz those directors took. The link is in the episode notes below.
Show notes:
- EdScale Implementation Health Quiz
"A principal looked at who wasn't showing up, found out why, and fixed that."
That is the sentence I keep coming back to from my conversation with Dr. Cheryl Dyson and Dr. Sarah Sirgo of Frederick County Public Schools.
Frederick cut chronic absenteeism from about 26% to 16.7% in three years. In its community schools, chronic absenteeism dropped 18 percentage points.
But the episode is not really about attendance as a metric. It is about what happens when a district narrows the work, protects the schoolhouse, and gives principals enough room to solve the actual problem in front of them.
Dr. Dyson talks about one school where students were not coming because they did not have clean clothes until a nonprofit brought in a truck full of washers and dryers. Dr. Sirgo talks about moving the conversation away from blame and toward support: "What support do we need to provide to get kids to come to school?"
In this episode of 𝑰𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑬𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, we unpack:
- How Frederick moved from 26 KPIs to 17
- Why strategic staffing matters for both teachers and principals
- How science of reading training, DIBELS, and intervention routines are showing up in early literacy
- Why math may require a different implementation playbook than literacy
In 2022, Anne Arundel County Public Schools had one National Merit semifinalist. They have nine now.
A record 15 schools earned five-star ratings, and 95% of schools earned three stars or better. Graduation rate up two straight years to 80.9%. Grades 3 to 8 ELA and math both above the state average and climbing four years running.
In this episode of 𝑰𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑬𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, Superintendent Dr. Mark Bedell, Dr. Shannon Pugh, and CFO Matt Stanski walk through the governance work behind those numbers.
Three things I keep coming back to:
1. One plan, not six. Bedell's opening question to Pugh was "tell me how I'm going to use the Blueprint to meet our goals." The strategic plan, Blueprint, and the ESSA consolidated grant now sit inside a single story instead of six offices assembling separate ones.
2. The career ladder as a staffing strategy. Pugh believes Anne Arundel is the only Maryland district that opted into the state's full optional list of identified schools. About two dozen nationally board-certified teachers have since moved into them, drawn by an additional $7,000. She does not call them low-performing schools. She calls them Blueprint schools.
3. Money attributed where it is actually earned. Stanski's team pushed fixed charges (health insurance, pension, Social Security) down to every school and department and hit their 75% target this year. The same third-grade classroom can cost roughly $63,000 or well north of $120,000, depending on who is standing in it. You cannot have an honest equity conversation without that math.
The moment that stayed with me was smaller. A community schools program manager called for permission to buy a student a second inhaler, because the family's insurance covered one and the child had to stay home without one to keep at school. He was back in class the next day. Multiply that by 48 community schools.
"We're not here to play school. We're here to have school." - Superintendent Dr. Mark Bedell
“DCPS 23, no more.” Dorchester County Public Schools (MD), a rural district of ~4,500 students, posted Maryland’s biggest 3rd-grade ELA jump: +22 points (27% → 49%) and climbed to 19th statewide in ELA in a single year.
In this episode of Implement Change in Education, Superintendent Dr. Jymil Thompson and Assistant Superintendent Dr. Jodi Colman share what actually changed inside the system.
Key takeaways:
- You can’t “intervene” your way out of a Tier 1 problem → they put instruction at the center
- Coaching > evaluation: "You can't evaluate people into better performance. You have to coach them."
- Remove barriers to instructional leadership (e.g., restructuring so admins can get back into classrooms)
Listen now (and feel free to share with a leader trying to move outcomes districtwide).
What does it really look like to lead a school district when your own children are learning inside that same system?
In this episode of "𝑰𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑬𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏", I’m joined by two extraordinary Maryland leaders: Dr. Maria Navarro, Superintendent of Charles County Public Schools, and Dr. Sonja Brookins-Santelises, CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools.
Together, we explore a side of educational leadership that rarely gets discussed: what it means to serve as both a superintendent and a parent within the same system.
A few moments that stood out:
- The “fishbowl” effect of leading in public while your children experience the system up close.
- The honest, real-time insight children can offer about what is working and what needs attention.
- The balance between being a district leader, being a parent, and knowing when to step in.
- The reminder that educators, counselors, coaches, and school communities show up for children with deep care every day.
At its heart, this conversation is about leadership, family, and the people who make public education work.
Whether you are a parent, educator, school system leader, or someone who simply cares about the schools where children learn and grow, this episode offers a thoughtful look at what it takes to lead complex systems with purpose, humility, and care.
And if you’d like to take a deeper dive into their previous podcast appearances, where we explore their work and accomplishments in greater detail, listen to episode #19 with Dr. Navarro and episode #6 with Dr. Brookins-Santelises. Listen here: https://buff.ly/bKWk70p
One of the biggest challenges I see across systems is the gap between a strong plan and real results.
In this episode of Implement Change in Education, I share an excerpt from a talk I gave at the Delaware Department of Labor’s Leadership Academy, a month-long development opportunity for promising managers of people and projects.
Through two powerful stories - one from healthcare and one from child nutrition work in Vietnam. I explore what it takes to move from strategy to execution.
I break down two different implementation challenges:
- When we know the goal and the evidence-based moves, but execution is the barrier
- When we do not yet know the answer and need to find the bright spots already working in the field
This episode focuses on making change practical. Whether you are leading literacy improvement, strengthening workforce systems, improving access to benefits, or trying to move a complex organization toward better outcomes, the same question applies:
How do we make it easier for people to do the right thing?
If you are leading change, managing teams, or trying to close the gap between planning and results, this episode is worth a listen.
Show Note Links:
One of the clearest takeaways from my conversation with William Barnes, Superintendent of Howard County Public Schools:
“We’re not going to claim greatness until we’re great for all of our students.”
Superintendent Barnes leads one of Maryland’s most well-regarded districts, but what stood out most was his honesty about the students the system has not yet served well and his urgency around changing that.
In this episode of Implement. Change in Education, we talk about what it really looks like to implement Blueprint Pillar 4 in a high-performing district: aligning funding to student need, expanding special education supports, navigating redistricting, and treating the budget as a strategic tool for equity.
If you are thinking about resource allocation, equity, or change leadership, this one is worth a listen.
Show Note Links:
- Howard County Public School System
How do you turn an emergency declaration into a sustainable literacy system?
Delaware is showing us.
With only 39% of third graders proficient in reading, Governor Meyer declared a state of emergency. But what followed wasn’t just policy; it was an implementation strategy.
In this episode, Kathy Kelly and Sam Lougheed unpack the hard work of turning Science of Reading principles and high-quality instructional materials into daily classroom practice across an entire state.
What I LOVE about this conversation is the focus on the delivery chain from the state office to districts, schools, classrooms, and families. Kathy and Sam break down the four key drivers of their work:
- Strengthening Tier 1 instruction
- Job-embedded professional learning
- Strategic staffing
- Meaningful family engagement
They’re hiring literacy coaches, launching Bridge to Practice grants, and building an Early Literacy Playbook to help teachers move from adoption to skillful implementation.
This is change management at scale in a system that doesn’t always welcome change.
If you’re leading literacy improvement, improving instructional quality, or driving implementation in a complex system, this episode offers practical strategies and hard-earned lessons you can apply immediately.
In this episode, I’m joined by two Baltimore leaders advancing career readiness at scale, Brady Wheeler, Senior Program Manager for the Baltimore City Career Coach Initiative at the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development, and Eric Roberts, Director of Post-Secondary Success at Baltimore City Public Schools.
Together, we dive into Maryland Blueprint Pillar 3 (college & career readiness) and what it takes to implement career coaching for students in grades 6–12, including the state’s ambitious goal that 45% of graduates will complete a registered apprenticeship or earn an industry-recognized credential by 2030–2031.
Baltimore City’s approach has scaled quickly now supporting 115 schools with 46 career coaches, reaching 73% of middle schoolers and 55% of high school students. Last year, coaches facilitated 2,000+ events and engaged 500+ employer partners to expand access to real career exploration opportunities.
Top 3 Insights:
- Scaling fast takes trust + principal buy-in: The team shares how town halls, regular check-ins, and school-by-school support helped strengthen implementation.
- Career planning starts in middle school: Blueprint’s six-year plan sets the expectation that every student builds a pathway from middle school through graduation.
- It’s a team sport: Eric describes the “triangle offense” — career coaches, counselors, post-secondary advisors, and partners working together to support every student’s next steps.
We close with what’s next: stronger shared systems, aligned professional learning, and better data visibility so every team member can support students more seamlessly.
Kicking off the new year with highlights in our end-of-year podcast compilation featuring incredible education leaders and practitioners. 🎉
Throughout the second half of the year, we had the pleasure of recording conversations with leaders who are doing the hard, real work of implementing change across education systems—and this episode brings together some of the moments that resonated most with our listeners.
Key insights from this compilation include:
- Why early childhood (0–5) is one of the highest-impact public investments we can make
- How leaders scale systems with clarity—not complexity—and keep quality at the center
- What it really takes to support educators through strong workforce strategies and career pathways
- Why implementation succeeds when leaders invest in people, trust, and consistent execution
A huge thank you to Laura Weeldreyer, Derek Mitchell, Joanna Staib, Jon Wickert, and Dr. Maria Navarro for sharing their insights, experience, and leadership.
As we head into the new year, we’re grateful for these conversations—and excited to keep learning alongside leaders committed to improving outcomes for students, educators, and communities.
In this episode, I’m joined by two of Delaware’s workforce and CTE leaders — Joanna Staib, Statewide Coordinator of Delaware’s new Office of Workforce Development, and Dr. Jon Wickert, Director of Career & Technical Education at the Delaware Department of Education.
Together, they co-chair Delaware Pathways, a statewide strategy designed to ensure every learner has a clear, supported route to career and life success. Delaware Pathways has scaled fast — reaching 68% of Delaware high school students and 84% of middle school students — and the state is aiming even higher over the next few years.
Top 3 Insights:
- Scale with clarity, not complexity: Jon shares that the biggest driver of growth has been a simple, shared vision — with clear measures of success — and leadership that keeps partners aligned. Quality and trust come before speed.
- Career navigators start in 6th grade: A major next step is building a true advising pipeline beginning in middle school. Navigators will help students explore careers early, “toe-dip” into pathways, and switch within clusters without starting over — all to ensure a smooth transition into high school and beyond.
- This is a workforce strategy — full stop: Joanna explains why Pathways goes far beyond K-12. Delaware is pushing to grow immersive work-based learning from 15% to 45%, and expand registered apprenticeships from 2,000 students to 3,000, backed by stronger cross-agency coordination and new data systems.
We close with a powerful north star: not just helping students make a plan, but ensuring they “land successfully on day one” after graduation — in college, training, or a career with real economic mobility.
Links mentioned for show notes:
Delaware Pathways Website
Delaware Student Success Website
NEW EPISODE: Where High-Quality & Diverse Teachers Drive Student Success
My conversation with Dr. Maria Navarro, Superintendent of Charles County Public Schools, reveals a powerful blueprint for educational transformation in action.
Dr. Navarro's district has increased teacher diversity from 37.8% to 43.2% while dramatically expanding National Board Certification candidates from 8 to 117 teachers - showing how strategic leadership creates real change.
Top 3 Insights:
- Teacher-led growth scales: Piloting the 60/40 model (60% teaching, 40% teacher leadership) enables peer coaching and faster improvement.
- Mindsets before mechanics: Naming the idea that moving to high-needs schools can feel like a “demotion” opened honest, equity-centered conversations—and change.
- Regional pipelines win: Charles, Calvert, & St. Mary’s are partnering with higher ed to build sustainable teacher pathways.
The Blueprint reforms aren't just policy—they're changing how educators work together while keeping excellent teachers in classrooms through meaningful career advancement.
Making Reform Real: Lessons from Maryland’s Blueprint
Want to implement ambitious education reforms that actually stick? Maryland’s Blueprint shows us the stakes — and the lessons.
I recently joined the Blueprint Pillar 5 Advisory Committee to share insights on how communication and implementation strategies can make or break systemic reform. While Maryland is the case study, these lessons apply anywhere leaders are trying to drive meaningful change.
The takeaway? Policy sets the direction, but success is 90% about implementation. Clear roles, timely updates, and school-first communication are what build trust, accelerate learning, and scale what works.
Whether you’re in education leadership, policy, or school improvement, these strategies can help your initiatives gain traction.
Listen now to hear how we can align big reforms with everyday practice — and make communication the bridge between intent and reality.
EdScale's Founder Tom DeWire gave the closing keynote in July 2025 at the annual CACTE Summit in Colorado to talk about change management. It was an incredible gathering of over 400 educators in Colorado focused on career and technical education.
Since 1917, Colorado Association for Career and Technical Education (CACTE) has been the largest state organization supporting CTE educators in their efforts to prepare students for career and life success.
EdScale co-designed breakouts right after this session for their members to put the learnings from the conference into practice around four key questions relevant to educators in Colorado. It was a pleasure to work with such a committed group of educators!
Change is inevitable. But how we implement it—that’s the choice. At CACTE, I left the group with a few key takeaways:
- Get clear together before diving into details.
- Obsess over what’s working.
- Build feedback loops for course correction.
- And above all, stay consistent.
Because the real measure of leadership isn’t how fast you get to the finish line—it’s how many people cross it with you.
In this episode of Implement Change in Education, we’re joined by Laura Weeldreyer, Executive Director of the Maryland Family Network.
With decades of leadership in public and private education, including key roles at Johns Hopkins and Baltimore City Schools, Laura brings a clear-eyed, mission-driven perspective on what it takes to build a truly integrated early childhood system. Drawing on her years of work in classrooms, central offices, and policy spaces, she shares how Maryland is working to expand high-quality pre-K while preserving the fragile childcare ecosystem that families rely on.
“Investing in early childhood,” says Laura, “is one of the most impactful public investments we can make, benefiting two generations and shaping the future of our communities.”
We explore:
- Why the zero-to-five window is critical for equity, development, and family connection
- Maryland’s Blueprint for education and the promise—and complexities—of Pillar One
- The challenges and opportunities in expanding mixed-delivery pre-K
- The tension between rapid seat expansion and preserving infant-toddler care
- How local communities like Washington County are modeling collaborative, system-level change
If you care about the future of education, this is an episode you won’t want to miss—perfect for leaders, teachers, parents, policymakers, and advocates alike.
In this episode of Implement Change in Education, we’re joined by the visionary Dr. Derek Mitchell, CEO of Partners in School Innovation.
With deep roots as a district leader, researcher, and systems thinker, Dr. Mitchell shares a powerful perspective on what it really takes to improve outcomes in under-resourced schools. Drawing from decades of work across the country—and his own experience growing up on Chicago’s West Side—he offers a bold yet practical take on school transformation.
“Improvement,” says Dr. Mitchell, “is both an art and a science. The science is in the tools. The art is in how people show up in moments of challenge and stay in community to do the work together.”
We explore:
- Why equity must start with adult learning and intentional culture
- The power of embedded, high-trust coaching in high-need schools
- Results-Oriented Cycles of Improvement (ROCI) as a strategy for change
- Leading through reflection, clarity of purpose, and community proximity
- Lessons from the Gates Foundation’s Networked Improvement Communities initiative
This conversation is a must-listen for anyone invested in the future of education—leaders, teachers, parents, and advocates alike.
In this episode, we’re joined by the inspiring Secretary of Education for Delaware, Cindy Marten. With decades of experience as a teacher, principal, and former Deputy Secretary of Education, Secretary Marten brings bold yet grounded insights to transforming public education systems. From her time leading San Diego Unified, where she helped drive graduation rates to 89% and close equity gaps, to her new role in Delaware, she shares a leadership style rooted in community voice, strategic coherence, and a relentless commitment to equity.
“Equity,” says Secretary Marten,“ is a school that knows its students and families by name, by strength, and by need—and builds systems to meet those needs in the right way at the right time.”
We discuss her lessons from scaling the Vision 2020 strategy in San Diego, what it means to center local context while building system-wide solutions, and how Delaware can align its many promising initiatives into a coherent roadmap for student success. These include an emphasis on equitable student funding, building strong bridges to kindergarten, addressing literacy across disciplines, expanding career pathways, and supporting and empowering educators.
Whether you’re a district leader, policy strategist, or classroom teacher, this conversation is a masterclass in implementation leadership.
In this episode, we’re joined by Dr. Sonja Brookins-Santelises, CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools, and Alison Perkins-Cohen, Chief of Staff. With nearly 30 years of experience, Dr. Santelises has led transformative change in Baltimore’s schools, driving historic academic gains and prioritizing equity.
To my knowledge, they are the longest standing CEO/CoS team in large urban schools across the country!
Together, they’ve implemented the Blueprint for Success, focusing on academics, leadership, and student well-being. In this conversation, they share insights on the challenges of educational reform, their leadership legacy, and what’s next for Baltimore’s schools. Don’t miss their perspective on the future of public education in Baltimore.
Today, we’re joined by Dr. Carey Wright, a nationally recognized education leader with over 50 years of experience. She led Mississippi’s historic rise in fourth-grade reading scores, proving that strategic, long-term reform can drive real student success. Now back in Maryland, she’s leading through one of the most ambitious education overhauls in a generation. In this episode, we discuss lessons from Mississippi, the future of Maryland’s Blueprint, and what it takes to create lasting change in public education.
Starting something new often comes with unexpected challenges, and launching a podcast with guest interviews is no different. Scheduling surprises are par for the course. As a result, we will be sharing the first guest episode in February.
But today I’m thrilled to share a rebroadcast of a conversation I had last year with Troy Mix from the University of Delaware Biden School on First State Insights. Troy and I explored the intricacies of implementing change in education, and I’m grateful to have his permission to share it with you today. Let’s dive in!
Blog Episodes
My 9-year-old ran his first cross-country race of the season in 90-degree heat.
After the finish, he had three things to report:
- "I couldn't breathe; I was running so fast."
- "I placed 9th."
- "I made new friends."
Then came the line I haven't stopped thinking about:
"When I'm in the flow running, it feels so good; I can feel nature."
Nobody could fix the weather that day. But the course was built for kids his age. It's hard enough to be real, still within reach. So he found flow in conditions that should have taken it away.
Here's what Csikszentmihalyi's research tells us: flow lives in a narrow band where the challenge is real and your skill is just enough to meet it. Too hard brings anxiety. Too easy brings boredom. Add clear goals and immediate feedback, and you've set the conditions.
And here's what surprised me most: flow is contagious. His brother Aiden wasn't racing. He still moved faster than I've ever seen him move, just to cheer Owen on.
Researchers have seen this in classrooms too. Teachers in flow influence the students around them. Students in flow influence each other.
We can't hand anyone flow. Not our kids, not our students, not the adults we lead.
But we can set the course.
Try this with one lesson, PLC, or meeting this week:
1. Does everyone know what "done" looks like?
2. Will they know how it's going before the end?
3. Is it a stretch they can reach?
Fix the weakest of the three. That's it.
Show Notes:
In August, every strategic plan still looks possible.
The plan is on the wall. The team is in the room. Every person in it means it.
Then it’s October. The plan hasn’t failed; it just hasn’t come up in a while. Nobody decided to remove it. It quietly stopped showing up.
Plans rarely die from being wrong. They die from having nowhere to live.
So here’s the test: look at your recurring agendas, standing decisions, and the data you actually review. If your priority isn’t showing up there, it isn’t protected yet.
The fix is simple: put the whole year on the calendar now. Progress-monitoring meetings, data reviews, coaching cycles, straight through June.
The dates will move. That’s fine. A meeting that exists can be moved. A meeting that was never scheduled just never happens.
Right now there’s room on the calendar. By October, there isn’t.
To the district, state, and school teams doing the unglamorous work right now: thank you. It matters more than the launch did.
Listen to the latest episode for more. I put the five questions we use for a first 30-day check-in into a one-page agenda. Free, no form. Link below.
Show notes links:
- Use this agenda for your first 30-day check-in
A basketball coach once spent two hours explaining a decision that took him four seconds.
A timeout. A play drawn up. The star waved off. The ball placed in a teammate’s hands.
On tape, it looked like instinct. In reality, the decision had been made weeks earlier in hallway conversations, locker-room moments, and small exchanges that built enough trust for the hard call to feel clear when the pressure arrived.
That story captures an essential lesson for education leaders: the best decisions often look effortless because of the preparation, relationships, and routines built long before the crisis.
In our latest blog post and podcast episode, we explore five lessons education leaders can learn from elite coaches, including:
- Why the real decision happens in the “before”
- How to identify the vital few signals amid a flood of data
- Why emotion regulation is a learnable leadership skill
- What makes a postmortem strengthen-or destroy-candor
- How successful organizations fall into the “success trap”
Strategy rarely fails on the whiteboard. It fails in the follow-through.
Where in your work are you using the calm moments to build the trust and clarity you’ll need when the hard calls arrive?
It's 7:12 on a Tuesday morning, and I'm not saying a word. My son works down the list taped to the fridge: teeth, bed, lunch, folder, shoes, then turns to his brother: "Owen, you didn't check off your folder." Two boys, one laminated card, and I've been written out of the scene I used to run.
Here's the counterintuitive part: a checklist looks like a constraint and acts like a release.
It's the same reason a 1935 Boeing crash gave us the pilot's checklist, and why Atul Gawande's one-page list cut deadly infections in ICUs. Structure doesn't box people in; the right structure frees them up for the decisions that actually need a human.
That's what fidelity of implementation really takes in schools: not exhorting people to try harder, but building coherent supports all the way down to small, clear, impossible-to-miss next actions that fit the local context.
Where in your work is a simple one-page list waiting to create more clarity, ownership, and momentum?
A pathologist’s autopsy report can tell you exactly how a patient died. But it tells you absolutely nothing about how to live a long, vibrant life.
For twenty years, K-12 education has been running an autopsy model. We call it "school turnaround."
Between 2010 and 2016, the federal School Improvement Grants program poured roughly $7 billion into turning around struggling schools. The result? Null impacts on math, reading, and graduation rates.
As Marcus Buckingham puts it: “Failure doesn't teach you anything about success.” Instead of spending all our energy auditing the bottom 5% and studying what broke, what if we systematically studied our "positive deviants"? What if we found the classrooms, schools, and districts that are already producing 5-star experiences with the exact same resources and engineered the conditions for those bright spots to spread?
In our latest blog post and podcast episode, we break down why the turnaround industry keeps missing the mark, and share 3 moves district and state leaders can make right now to shift their strategy from deficit remediation to scaling what works.
Maryland's $3.8B education bet had no scorecard — so we built one.
24 districts. 43 indicators. 685+ documents. The bright spots might surprise you.
Maryland's first official Blueprint evaluation publishes in December 2026. The earliest quantitative data comes a year later. But the Governor and legislature need to make major policy and funding decisions in the 2027 session — before the evidence is in.
The Education Trust Fund (casino revenues) runs out in FY2028.
**MarylandBlueprint.com reads every district's Blueprint implementation, scores it against a consistent rubric, and surfaces the bright spots — with source citations.**
Some highlights from the May 1, 2026 analysis:
Pillar 2 — NBC Teacher Pipeline Is a Statewide Flywheel
Baltimore County grew from 4 to 122 NBCTs (2,950%). Prince George's from 7 to 157 (2,143%). Newly certified NBCTs are being deployed as cohort coaches, creating a self-reinforcing talent pipeline. P2 is the only pillar where 9 districts already Exceed.
Pillar 4 — Community Schools Are Moving Both Attendance and Academics
Carroll County's community schools posted +24.1pp ELA and +26.9pp math gains in a single year. Somerset cut chronic absenteeism by 22.6pp while designating 100% of schools as community schools.
District Bright Spots:
- Montgomery County (76.8%) — The only district with zero pillars below "Meets." Most balanced profile statewide.
- Allegany County (74.4%, 4th overall) — A small rural district outperforming Howard, Baltimore County, and Baltimore City.
- Garrett County (69.6%) — All five pillars at "Meets." 100% of middle schoolers completing career assessments. Unlimited dual enrollment.
Built for district leaders. Essential for everyone tracking Blueprint implementation — legislators, advocates, educators, journalists, and researchers.
Register for the demo and launch on May 21st at 12noon EST: https://tidycal.com/tomdewire/blueprint-bright-spots-whats-working-across-marylands-24-districts
With tighter budgets, what do you actually protect?
Across the country, school and district leaders are facing tough choices for SY26–27 - shrinking funds, rising costs, and real pressure to cut. But the biggest risk isn’t the budget itself; it’s losing what’s already working.
In our latest blog post and podcast episode, we explore a simple but critical question:
How do you protect hard-won student gains when resources shrink? It comes down to three moves:
• Anchor decisions in research
• Assess implementation health
• Align your budget to your strategy, not the other way around
Because one misaligned budget cycle can undo years of progress.
Link to blog post
Organizations Change Differently Than Leaders Imagine
The superintendent exhaled. "We rolled this out eight months ago. Trained everyone. Built the dashboard. And half the schools are doing something completely different."
I've heard some version of that in almost every system I've worked in. The plan was clear, the training solid, and yet what happened on the ground looked nothing like what anyone had drawn up.
There's a line from Bob Sutton, Stanford professor, that captures this perfectly:
"Organizations are flexible and imaginative, but rarely change just as any leader or group intends."
Sutton was paraphrasing James G. March, whose 1958 classic 𝘖𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 laid the foundation for modern organizational theory. March's central finding? Organizations are remarkably adaptive; they absorb new people, tools, and pressures all the time. But they move according to their own logic, not according to anyone's slide deck.
Here's what this means for leaders:
The gap between your intent and organizational reality isn't failure; it's where the real work lives. This is especially true for ambitious reforms like early literacy initiatives or state-level blueprints, where the distance between plan and practice determines whether you get results or just compliance theater.
A more realistic approach:
▪️ Expect drift, not perfect alignment
▪️ Look for small, local adaptations as signals of life
▪️ Treat change as a series of experiments, not a single plan
▪️ Honor the gap between what you intend and what people experience
Questions worth asking before your next change effort:
▪️ Where is the organization already adapting in useful ways?
▪️ What do local workarounds tell us about design misalignment?
▪️ What's the minimum consistency we actually need?
▪️ How will we learn quickly from early, messy implementation?
Organizations are always changing. The question is whether you'll pay attention when it does and be wise enough to work with it.
Show Note Links:
Bob Sutton - Stanford professor and organizational leadership researcher
James G. March - scholar of organizational theory
Organizations (1958) - James G. March & Herbert A. SimonEducation Innovation and Research (EIR) Program
Today I'm launching MarylandBlueprint.com — and opening it to just 25 education leaders.
The Blueprint for Maryland's Future is buried in 5,000+ pages of AIB reports, district plans, and accountability decisions. MarylandBlueprint.com uses AI to turn that into something useful: district profiles, cross-district comparisons, pillar analyses, and an AI query tool where you can ask questions in plain language and get cited answers.
I'm looking for 25 Blueprint Coordinators, Pillar Leads, and education leaders to join as the founding group. What founding members get: → Founding Member status on the platform → Direct input into what gets analyzed next → A personalized district comparison report — your district vs. 3 peers of your choosing → A 30-minute strategy call with me to walk through your profile.
25 spots. They close Tuesday, Feb 17 at noon.
If you're responsible for Blueprint implementation at the district or state level, create your account at MarylandBlueprint.com.
Show Note Links:
How to Implement (just about) Anything
Accountability and Implementation Board (AIB)
Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE)
State Board
Government for Good: Why Implementation Matters Now More Than Ever
I once sat in Baltimore City Hall watching Mayor O'Malley review data dashboards tracking everything from potholes to crime stats. "Show me your data," he'd demand of department heads. This wasn't political theater—it was government using evidence to serve people effectively.
As we face critical challenges in governance today, the question isn't about right vs. left politics. It's about whether we'll use evidence to lift all people, with targeted support for those who need it most.
At EdScale, we're committed to this vision in education—focusing on implementation, the critical space between plans and results. We help leaders ask: What are our priorities? What does evidence say works? How do we track progress and course correct?
The stakes are our children's futures. The choice is between evidence-based governance that serves all people or power-based governance that serves itself.
Show Note Links:
- Bill of Rights Institute – Founders’ quotes (Madison “elective despotism”)
- Moneyball for Government” book (Nussle & Orszag)
- James Madison quote (“The people are the only legitimate fountain of power”)
Go See the Work: What Delaware's Early Literacy Site Visits Revealed
Delaware is tackling early literacy with purpose and precision. In this episode, we explore what happened when Secretary of Education Cindy Marten and her team visited the work in action across five schools.
The visits revealed powerful insights:
• When schools commit to core practices and use data effectively, students thrive
• Teachers using explicit, systematic instruction are seeing results
• Consistent implementation of science-based reading practices makes the difference
Governor Meyer has declared an early literacy emergency "not as a slogan, but because our students deserve better." Secretary Marten is focusing on "keeping the main thing the main thing" - strong daily K-3 reading instruction.
Delaware is betting on core classroom instruction, not supplemental programs, to move the needle on early literacy. They're backing this commitment with resources, including the Bridge to Practice grant and support for classroom materials.
The ultimate test? Today's kindergartners. When they reach third grade, their reading success will be the truest measure of this collective work.
Links mentioned for show notes:
- Blog
- Read more about the Rehoboth visit
- Watch the opening keynote
- The Delaware Early Literacy Playbook
- Delaware is investing up to $7.2M through the Bridge to Practice grant, focused specifically on early literacy preparation and development (learn more here). They are also providing up to $750 per approved project in additional resources directly to teachers through DonorsChoose.org (learn more here).
For Father's Day, I was given a family-friendly cooking class from my wife and boys (3rd and 6th grade). The experience reminded me of how cooking and education have quite a bit in common. Including cuts and burns!
Chefs know that success in the kitchen doesn’t happen by accident—it’s built through *mise-en-place* (“everything in its place”). Leaders face the same challenge: prepare well, or get lost in the rush. In this episode, we discuss how the chef's discipline of *mise-en-place* ("everything in its place") offers powerful lessons for education leaders seeking deeper focus:
- Preparation before action
- Clear tools and workflows
- Mindset of readiness
- Economy of motion
- Continuous improvement Leadership, like cooking, is an art built on discipline.
Links mentioned for show notes:
- Blog: https://edscalellc.com/five-lesson-from-chefs-for-education-leaders/
- James Beard award-winning Baltimore chef Cindy Wolf talks about leadership in the kitchen
Finding Our Stride in Times of Change!
Change is hard — but when we embrace it, it opens the door to possibilities we never saw before. Driving back from CACTE through the Rockies, I was reminded that change often feels like stepping into the unknown, but those paths can lead to powerful growth.
As William Bridges writes in Managing Transitions, change is like a marathon. Leadership isn’t about sprinting ahead; it’s about ensuring everyone crosses the finish line together. The real measure of leadership isn’t speed — it’s how many people finish the race with you.
In this episode, we discuss 4 keys to leading change well:
- Get clear on the vision
- Scale what’s already working
- Build feedback loops
- Stay consistent
Links mentioned for show notes:
- Blog: CACTE Closing Keynote Leveraging Change for Students (overview)
- Colorado Association for Career and Technical Education (CACTE)
- You can listen to my full talk here (on my podcast)
- Book reference: Managing Transitions by William Bridges
- Synergy Stick
What does it take to build and retain a strong, more diverse educator workforce? This episode spotlights Delaware’s bold approach to strengthening the teacher pipeline, and how one state is turning strategy into sustainable, statewide impact.
Inside the episode:
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How Delaware is tackling teacher shortages with short- and long-term strategies
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Why partnerships, pathways, and pipelines are reshaping the educator workforce
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What it means to build capacity through systems, not just programs
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How the Delaware DOE is creating a national model for teacher recruitment and retention
Learn how EdExcel and CTE leaders are turning vision into action—with support from EdScale—and how the sold-out Teacher Pathways Showcase captured the momentum underway. Stay tuned for more updates and insights!
Links mentioned for show notes:
What will it take to turn Maryland’s historic Blueprint into lasting change? Our latest blog unpacks why coordination is breaking down and what it will take to turn visionary policy into real impact for schools, students, and communities.
Inside the post:
- Why implementation has become “everything, everywhere, all at once
- What districts are doing well — and why we’re not learning from them
- How missing communication, unclear roles, and untracked progress are stalling change
- What a healthy Blueprint implementation ecosystem could look like
Links mentioned for show notes:
- Blog: The Blueprint is in trouble: Aligned, coherent implementation remains elusive
- #4 Guest: Dr. Carey Wright, Maryland State Superintendent of Schools
- MACO podcasts on education and funding
- Blueprint for Maryland’s Future – Accountability and Implementation Board (AIB)
- Book: Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change by William Bridges
What does it take to lead a team of superstars to the top—and keep them growing? In this episode, we explore the leadership mindset of Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, whose blend of tactical brilliance, emotional intelligence, and unshakable calm has guided one of the most dominant NBA teams in history.
From his “criticism is an opportunity” mantra to flying across the world to support a benched Jayson Tatum during the Olympics, Mazzulla shows us what it looks like to lead with humility, adaptability, and relentless care for people. Whether you're managing teams or shaping systems, this conversation unpacks what it really means to challenge the status quo, stay hungry at the top, and continuously improve.
Inspired by a blog post that resonated far beyond basketball, this episode asks: Where do you need to grow? What needs to change?
In this episode, we dive into the J-A-T Theory — a simple but powerful framework for building trust, deepening relationships, and encouraging meaningful feedback. Inspired by a recent EdScale blog post, we explore how curiosity and the habit of Just Asking Them can shift conversations and unlock progress in management, coaching, and collaboration. Whether you're leading a team or working cross-functionally, this episode offers practical insights for increasing clarity and connection.
Key Insights:
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Feedback is one of the greatest gifts for growth — but only when it's grounded in trust.
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The J-A-T Theory encourages direct, curious conversations by simply asking the questions we often hesitate to.
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Building trust requires credibility, reliability, intimacy, and low self-orientation, as outlined in The Trusted Advisor.
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Using J-A-T can help move through uncertainty and hesitation, improving communication and outcomes.
Links referenced in podcast:
Navigating leadership transitions can be challenging, but with the right strategies, they become opportunities for growth. Our latest blog post shares five key tactics—rooted in research and practical frameworks—to help leaders and organizations adapt and thrive during change. From building strong relationships to scenario planning, these actionable insights drive better results.
Change involves navigating uncertainty but is also fundamentally about loss - even when changing something you don't like, you are losing something familiar. Understanding both the emotional and strategic components is key to successfully managing transitions.
Links referenced in podcast
This blog post reflects on a visit to the Baltimore Ravens stadium and the valuable lessons learned about teamwork and core values. It explores how the Ravens emphasize their mantra "What’s Important Now" (W.I.N.) and "The Team, The Team, The Team" to foster a culture of unity and excellence. I connect these insights to our work at EdScale, highlighting the importance of building cohesive teams and implementing effective leadership strategies.
Key Insights:
- The Ravens’ focus on "What’s Important Now" (W.I.N.) and prioritizing the team above all else.
- Leadership and team development lessons drawn from the Ravens’ culture.
- Application of these principles to EdScale’s mission to support partners in achieving ambitious goals.
Links referenced in podcast:
In this episode, we explore five powerful lessons learned from coaching a 4th grade basketball team that directly apply to education leadership. Through experiences of victories, setbacks, and a nail-biting championship game, these insights demonstrate the parallels between sports coaching and implementing change in education systems. The key lessons include:
- Elevate voices and listen to stakeholder insights
- Maintain consistency with proven strategies despite setbacks
- Foster a positive mindset while staying resilient
- Lead with support rather than strict accountability
- Trust in the process and celebrate progress, even when results aren't perfect
Special Episodes
In this special episode, I celebrate the two-year anniversary of my book How to Implement (Just About) Anything, now available as an audiobook on Audible!
I share reflections on what has changed and what still holds true about implementation since the book’s release, and introduce a short excerpt from one of the book’s most practical insights for leaders driving change in real-world systems.
Links mentioned from show notes:
Listen to the audiobook: How to Implement (Just About) Anything – Audible
Explore all episodes: EdScale Podcast
In this special highlight compilation, we bring you powerful moments from conversations with some of the most influential education leaders. These short clips capture the insight, urgency, and vision driving change in schools today.
You'll hear from:
- Dr. Carey M. Wright, Maryland State Superintendent, on building teacher capacity and transforming reading instruction statewide.
- Dr. Sonja Brookins Santelises, CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools, and Alison Perkins-Cohen, Chief of Staff, on system-wide trust-building, curriculum reform, and instructional leadership.
- Secretary Cindy Marten, Delaware State Superintendent, on local equity, strategic budgeting, and leadership through change.
- Plus a snippet from our very first episode with Troy Mix, reflecting on implementation and what it takes to move big systems.
Whether you're a policymaker, educator, or lifelong learner, this episode offers a quick yet meaningful listen into how bold, student-centered leadership is shaping the future of public education.
Introducing our new podcast, Implement. Change in Education. Full episodes starting in January 2025!
All Episodes
My 9-year-old ran his first cross-country race of the season in 90-degree heat.
After the finish, he had three things to report:
- "I couldn't breathe; I was running so fast."
- "I placed 9th."
- "I made new friends."
Then came the line I haven't stopped thinking about:
"When I'm in the flow running, it feels so good; I can feel nature."
Nobody could fix the weather that day. But the course was built for kids his age. It's hard enough to be real, still within reach. So he found flow in conditions that should have taken it away.
Here's what Csikszentmihalyi's research tells us: flow lives in a narrow band where the challenge is real and your skill is just enough to meet it. Too hard brings anxiety. Too easy brings boredom. Add clear goals and immediate feedback, and you've set the conditions.
And here's what surprised me most: flow is contagious. His brother Aiden wasn't racing. He still moved faster than I've ever seen him move, just to cheer Owen on.
Researchers have seen this in classrooms too. Teachers in flow influence the students around them. Students in flow influence each other.
We can't hand anyone flow. Not our kids, not our students, not the adults we lead.
But we can set the course.
Try this with one lesson, PLC, or meeting this week:
1. Does everyone know what "done" looks like?
2. Will they know how it's going before the end?
3. Is it a stretch they can reach?
Fix the weakest of the three. That's it.
Show Notes:
This summer, I led a learning lab, "How to Implement (Just About) Anything," for about 250 Alabama CTE directors and career coaches at their CTE Summer PD Conference in Mobile.
Their state superintendent opened the morning with three words I keep coming back to: strategy, focus, and resources. And when I asked that room to turn and talk, the whole place came alive. Their implementation health quiz scores were some of the strongest I've ever seen.
Which raises the harder question this episode is about: what do you do when you're already on top?
In this episode, I share clips from that session and the moves I'd consider next, including the one tool I'd hand any leader on Monday morning: a plan on a page.
Thank you, TEAMTRI, for having me.
Want to know where your own implementation stands? Take the same quiz those directors took. The link is in the episode notes below.
Show notes:
- EdScale Implementation Health Quiz
In August, every strategic plan still looks possible.
The plan is on the wall. The team is in the room. Every person in it means it.
Then it’s October. The plan hasn’t failed; it just hasn’t come up in a while. Nobody decided to remove it. It quietly stopped showing up.
Plans rarely die from being wrong. They die from having nowhere to live.
So here’s the test: look at your recurring agendas, standing decisions, and the data you actually review. If your priority isn’t showing up there, it isn’t protected yet.
The fix is simple: put the whole year on the calendar now. Progress-monitoring meetings, data reviews, coaching cycles, straight through June.
The dates will move. That’s fine. A meeting that exists can be moved. A meeting that was never scheduled just never happens.
Right now there’s room on the calendar. By October, there isn’t.
To the district, state, and school teams doing the unglamorous work right now: thank you. It matters more than the launch did.
Listen to the latest episode for more. I put the five questions we use for a first 30-day check-in into a one-page agenda. Free, no form. Link below.
Show notes links:
- Use this agenda for your first 30-day check-in
"A principal looked at who wasn't showing up, found out why, and fixed that."
That is the sentence I keep coming back to from my conversation with Dr. Cheryl Dyson and Dr. Sarah Sirgo of Frederick County Public Schools.
Frederick cut chronic absenteeism from about 26% to 16.7% in three years. In its community schools, chronic absenteeism dropped 18 percentage points.
But the episode is not really about attendance as a metric. It is about what happens when a district narrows the work, protects the schoolhouse, and gives principals enough room to solve the actual problem in front of them.
Dr. Dyson talks about one school where students were not coming because they did not have clean clothes until a nonprofit brought in a truck full of washers and dryers. Dr. Sirgo talks about moving the conversation away from blame and toward support: "What support do we need to provide to get kids to come to school?"
In this episode of 𝑰𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑬𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, we unpack:
- How Frederick moved from 26 KPIs to 17
- Why strategic staffing matters for both teachers and principals
- How science of reading training, DIBELS, and intervention routines are showing up in early literacy
- Why math may require a different implementation playbook than literacy
A basketball coach once spent two hours explaining a decision that took him four seconds.
A timeout. A play drawn up. The star waved off. The ball placed in a teammate’s hands.
On tape, it looked like instinct. In reality, the decision had been made weeks earlier in hallway conversations, locker-room moments, and small exchanges that built enough trust for the hard call to feel clear when the pressure arrived.
That story captures an essential lesson for education leaders: the best decisions often look effortless because of the preparation, relationships, and routines built long before the crisis.
In our latest blog post and podcast episode, we explore five lessons education leaders can learn from elite coaches, including:
- Why the real decision happens in the “before”
- How to identify the vital few signals amid a flood of data
- Why emotion regulation is a learnable leadership skill
- What makes a postmortem strengthen-or destroy-candor
- How successful organizations fall into the “success trap”
Strategy rarely fails on the whiteboard. It fails in the follow-through.
Where in your work are you using the calm moments to build the trust and clarity you’ll need when the hard calls arrive?
In 2022, Anne Arundel County Public Schools had one National Merit semifinalist. They have nine now.
A record 15 schools earned five-star ratings, and 95% of schools earned three stars or better. Graduation rate up two straight years to 80.9%. Grades 3 to 8 ELA and math both above the state average and climbing four years running.
In this episode of 𝑰𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑬𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, Superintendent Dr. Mark Bedell, Dr. Shannon Pugh, and CFO Matt Stanski walk through the governance work behind those numbers.
Three things I keep coming back to:
1. One plan, not six. Bedell's opening question to Pugh was "tell me how I'm going to use the Blueprint to meet our goals." The strategic plan, Blueprint, and the ESSA consolidated grant now sit inside a single story instead of six offices assembling separate ones.
2. The career ladder as a staffing strategy. Pugh believes Anne Arundel is the only Maryland district that opted into the state's full optional list of identified schools. About two dozen nationally board-certified teachers have since moved into them, drawn by an additional $7,000. She does not call them low-performing schools. She calls them Blueprint schools.
3. Money attributed where it is actually earned. Stanski's team pushed fixed charges (health insurance, pension, Social Security) down to every school and department and hit their 75% target this year. The same third-grade classroom can cost roughly $63,000 or well north of $120,000, depending on who is standing in it. You cannot have an honest equity conversation without that math.
The moment that stayed with me was smaller. A community schools program manager called for permission to buy a student a second inhaler, because the family's insurance covered one and the child had to stay home without one to keep at school. He was back in class the next day. Multiply that by 48 community schools.
"We're not here to play school. We're here to have school." - Superintendent Dr. Mark Bedell
It's 7:12 on a Tuesday morning, and I'm not saying a word. My son works down the list taped to the fridge: teeth, bed, lunch, folder, shoes, then turns to his brother: "Owen, you didn't check off your folder." Two boys, one laminated card, and I've been written out of the scene I used to run.
Here's the counterintuitive part: a checklist looks like a constraint and acts like a release.
It's the same reason a 1935 Boeing crash gave us the pilot's checklist, and why Atul Gawande's one-page list cut deadly infections in ICUs. Structure doesn't box people in; the right structure frees them up for the decisions that actually need a human.
That's what fidelity of implementation really takes in schools: not exhorting people to try harder, but building coherent supports all the way down to small, clear, impossible-to-miss next actions that fit the local context.
Where in your work is a simple one-page list waiting to create more clarity, ownership, and momentum?
“DCPS 23, no more.” Dorchester County Public Schools (MD), a rural district of ~4,500 students, posted Maryland’s biggest 3rd-grade ELA jump: +22 points (27% → 49%) and climbed to 19th statewide in ELA in a single year.
In this episode of Implement Change in Education, Superintendent Dr. Jymil Thompson and Assistant Superintendent Dr. Jodi Colman share what actually changed inside the system.
Key takeaways:
- You can’t “intervene” your way out of a Tier 1 problem → they put instruction at the center
- Coaching > evaluation: "You can't evaluate people into better performance. You have to coach them."
- Remove barriers to instructional leadership (e.g., restructuring so admins can get back into classrooms)
Listen now (and feel free to share with a leader trying to move outcomes districtwide).
A pathologist’s autopsy report can tell you exactly how a patient died. But it tells you absolutely nothing about how to live a long, vibrant life.
For twenty years, K-12 education has been running an autopsy model. We call it "school turnaround."
Between 2010 and 2016, the federal School Improvement Grants program poured roughly $7 billion into turning around struggling schools. The result? Null impacts on math, reading, and graduation rates.
As Marcus Buckingham puts it: “Failure doesn't teach you anything about success.” Instead of spending all our energy auditing the bottom 5% and studying what broke, what if we systematically studied our "positive deviants"? What if we found the classrooms, schools, and districts that are already producing 5-star experiences with the exact same resources and engineered the conditions for those bright spots to spread?
In our latest blog post and podcast episode, we break down why the turnaround industry keeps missing the mark, and share 3 moves district and state leaders can make right now to shift their strategy from deficit remediation to scaling what works.
What does it really look like to lead a school district when your own children are learning inside that same system?
In this episode of "𝑰𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑬𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏", I’m joined by two extraordinary Maryland leaders: Dr. Maria Navarro, Superintendent of Charles County Public Schools, and Dr. Sonja Brookins-Santelises, CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools.
Together, we explore a side of educational leadership that rarely gets discussed: what it means to serve as both a superintendent and a parent within the same system.
A few moments that stood out:
- The “fishbowl” effect of leading in public while your children experience the system up close.
- The honest, real-time insight children can offer about what is working and what needs attention.
- The balance between being a district leader, being a parent, and knowing when to step in.
- The reminder that educators, counselors, coaches, and school communities show up for children with deep care every day.
At its heart, this conversation is about leadership, family, and the people who make public education work.
Whether you are a parent, educator, school system leader, or someone who simply cares about the schools where children learn and grow, this episode offers a thoughtful look at what it takes to lead complex systems with purpose, humility, and care.
And if you’d like to take a deeper dive into their previous podcast appearances, where we explore their work and accomplishments in greater detail, listen to episode #19 with Dr. Navarro and episode #6 with Dr. Brookins-Santelises. Listen here: https://buff.ly/bKWk70p
Maryland's $3.8B education bet had no scorecard — so we built one.
24 districts. 43 indicators. 685+ documents. The bright spots might surprise you.
Maryland's first official Blueprint evaluation publishes in December 2026. The earliest quantitative data comes a year later. But the Governor and legislature need to make major policy and funding decisions in the 2027 session — before the evidence is in.
The Education Trust Fund (casino revenues) runs out in FY2028.
**MarylandBlueprint.com reads every district's Blueprint implementation, scores it against a consistent rubric, and surfaces the bright spots — with source citations.**
Some highlights from the May 1, 2026 analysis:
Pillar 2 — NBC Teacher Pipeline Is a Statewide Flywheel
Baltimore County grew from 4 to 122 NBCTs (2,950%). Prince George's from 7 to 157 (2,143%). Newly certified NBCTs are being deployed as cohort coaches, creating a self-reinforcing talent pipeline. P2 is the only pillar where 9 districts already Exceed.
Pillar 4 — Community Schools Are Moving Both Attendance and Academics
Carroll County's community schools posted +24.1pp ELA and +26.9pp math gains in a single year. Somerset cut chronic absenteeism by 22.6pp while designating 100% of schools as community schools.
District Bright Spots:
- Montgomery County (76.8%) — The only district with zero pillars below "Meets." Most balanced profile statewide.
- Allegany County (74.4%, 4th overall) — A small rural district outperforming Howard, Baltimore County, and Baltimore City.
- Garrett County (69.6%) — All five pillars at "Meets." 100% of middle schoolers completing career assessments. Unlimited dual enrollment.
Built for district leaders. Essential for everyone tracking Blueprint implementation — legislators, advocates, educators, journalists, and researchers.
Register for the demo and launch on May 21st at 12noon EST: https://tidycal.com/tomdewire/blueprint-bright-spots-whats-working-across-marylands-24-districts
One of the biggest challenges I see across systems is the gap between a strong plan and real results.
In this episode of Implement Change in Education, I share an excerpt from a talk I gave at the Delaware Department of Labor’s Leadership Academy, a month-long development opportunity for promising managers of people and projects.
Through two powerful stories - one from healthcare and one from child nutrition work in Vietnam. I explore what it takes to move from strategy to execution.
I break down two different implementation challenges:
- When we know the goal and the evidence-based moves, but execution is the barrier
- When we do not yet know the answer and need to find the bright spots already working in the field
This episode focuses on making change practical. Whether you are leading literacy improvement, strengthening workforce systems, improving access to benefits, or trying to move a complex organization toward better outcomes, the same question applies:
How do we make it easier for people to do the right thing?
If you are leading change, managing teams, or trying to close the gap between planning and results, this episode is worth a listen.
Show Note Links:
With tighter budgets, what do you actually protect?
Across the country, school and district leaders are facing tough choices for SY26–27 - shrinking funds, rising costs, and real pressure to cut. But the biggest risk isn’t the budget itself; it’s losing what’s already working.
In our latest blog post and podcast episode, we explore a simple but critical question:
How do you protect hard-won student gains when resources shrink? It comes down to three moves:
• Anchor decisions in research
• Assess implementation health
• Align your budget to your strategy, not the other way around
Because one misaligned budget cycle can undo years of progress.
Link to blog post
One of the clearest takeaways from my conversation with William Barnes, Superintendent of Howard County Public Schools:
“We’re not going to claim greatness until we’re great for all of our students.”
Superintendent Barnes leads one of Maryland’s most well-regarded districts, but what stood out most was his honesty about the students the system has not yet served well and his urgency around changing that.
In this episode of Implement. Change in Education, we talk about what it really looks like to implement Blueprint Pillar 4 in a high-performing district: aligning funding to student need, expanding special education supports, navigating redistricting, and treating the budget as a strategic tool for equity.
If you are thinking about resource allocation, equity, or change leadership, this one is worth a listen.
Show Note Links:
- Howard County Public School System
Organizations Change Differently Than Leaders Imagine
The superintendent exhaled. "We rolled this out eight months ago. Trained everyone. Built the dashboard. And half the schools are doing something completely different."
I've heard some version of that in almost every system I've worked in. The plan was clear, the training solid, and yet what happened on the ground looked nothing like what anyone had drawn up.
There's a line from Bob Sutton, Stanford professor, that captures this perfectly:
"Organizations are flexible and imaginative, but rarely change just as any leader or group intends."
Sutton was paraphrasing James G. March, whose 1958 classic 𝘖𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 laid the foundation for modern organizational theory. March's central finding? Organizations are remarkably adaptive; they absorb new people, tools, and pressures all the time. But they move according to their own logic, not according to anyone's slide deck.
Here's what this means for leaders:
The gap between your intent and organizational reality isn't failure; it's where the real work lives. This is especially true for ambitious reforms like early literacy initiatives or state-level blueprints, where the distance between plan and practice determines whether you get results or just compliance theater.
A more realistic approach:
▪️ Expect drift, not perfect alignment
▪️ Look for small, local adaptations as signals of life
▪️ Treat change as a series of experiments, not a single plan
▪️ Honor the gap between what you intend and what people experience
Questions worth asking before your next change effort:
▪️ Where is the organization already adapting in useful ways?
▪️ What do local workarounds tell us about design misalignment?
▪️ What's the minimum consistency we actually need?
▪️ How will we learn quickly from early, messy implementation?
Organizations are always changing. The question is whether you'll pay attention when it does and be wise enough to work with it.
Show Note Links:
Bob Sutton - Stanford professor and organizational leadership researcher
James G. March - scholar of organizational theory
Organizations (1958) - James G. March & Herbert A. SimonEducation Innovation and Research (EIR) Program
How do you turn an emergency declaration into a sustainable literacy system?
Delaware is showing us.
With only 39% of third graders proficient in reading, Governor Meyer declared a state of emergency. But what followed wasn’t just policy; it was an implementation strategy.
In this episode, Kathy Kelly and Sam Lougheed unpack the hard work of turning Science of Reading principles and high-quality instructional materials into daily classroom practice across an entire state.
What I LOVE about this conversation is the focus on the delivery chain from the state office to districts, schools, classrooms, and families. Kathy and Sam break down the four key drivers of their work:
- Strengthening Tier 1 instruction
- Job-embedded professional learning
- Strategic staffing
- Meaningful family engagement
They’re hiring literacy coaches, launching Bridge to Practice grants, and building an Early Literacy Playbook to help teachers move from adoption to skillful implementation.
This is change management at scale in a system that doesn’t always welcome change.
If you’re leading literacy improvement, improving instructional quality, or driving implementation in a complex system, this episode offers practical strategies and hard-earned lessons you can apply immediately.
Today I'm launching MarylandBlueprint.com — and opening it to just 25 education leaders.
The Blueprint for Maryland's Future is buried in 5,000+ pages of AIB reports, district plans, and accountability decisions. MarylandBlueprint.com uses AI to turn that into something useful: district profiles, cross-district comparisons, pillar analyses, and an AI query tool where you can ask questions in plain language and get cited answers.
I'm looking for 25 Blueprint Coordinators, Pillar Leads, and education leaders to join as the founding group. What founding members get: → Founding Member status on the platform → Direct input into what gets analyzed next → A personalized district comparison report — your district vs. 3 peers of your choosing → A 30-minute strategy call with me to walk through your profile.
25 spots. They close Tuesday, Feb 17 at noon.
If you're responsible for Blueprint implementation at the district or state level, create your account at MarylandBlueprint.com.
Show Note Links:
How to Implement (just about) Anything
Accountability and Implementation Board (AIB)
Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE)
State Board
In this episode, I’m joined by two Baltimore leaders advancing career readiness at scale, Brady Wheeler, Senior Program Manager for the Baltimore City Career Coach Initiative at the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development, and Eric Roberts, Director of Post-Secondary Success at Baltimore City Public Schools.
Together, we dive into Maryland Blueprint Pillar 3 (college & career readiness) and what it takes to implement career coaching for students in grades 6–12, including the state’s ambitious goal that 45% of graduates will complete a registered apprenticeship or earn an industry-recognized credential by 2030–2031.
Baltimore City’s approach has scaled quickly now supporting 115 schools with 46 career coaches, reaching 73% of middle schoolers and 55% of high school students. Last year, coaches facilitated 2,000+ events and engaged 500+ employer partners to expand access to real career exploration opportunities.
Top 3 Insights:
- Scaling fast takes trust + principal buy-in: The team shares how town halls, regular check-ins, and school-by-school support helped strengthen implementation.
- Career planning starts in middle school: Blueprint’s six-year plan sets the expectation that every student builds a pathway from middle school through graduation.
- It’s a team sport: Eric describes the “triangle offense” — career coaches, counselors, post-secondary advisors, and partners working together to support every student’s next steps.
We close with what’s next: stronger shared systems, aligned professional learning, and better data visibility so every team member can support students more seamlessly.
Government for Good: Why Implementation Matters Now More Than Ever
I once sat in Baltimore City Hall watching Mayor O'Malley review data dashboards tracking everything from potholes to crime stats. "Show me your data," he'd demand of department heads. This wasn't political theater—it was government using evidence to serve people effectively.
As we face critical challenges in governance today, the question isn't about right vs. left politics. It's about whether we'll use evidence to lift all people, with targeted support for those who need it most.
At EdScale, we're committed to this vision in education—focusing on implementation, the critical space between plans and results. We help leaders ask: What are our priorities? What does evidence say works? How do we track progress and course correct?
The stakes are our children's futures. The choice is between evidence-based governance that serves all people or power-based governance that serves itself.
Show Note Links:
- Bill of Rights Institute – Founders’ quotes (Madison “elective despotism”)
- Moneyball for Government” book (Nussle & Orszag)
- James Madison quote (“The people are the only legitimate fountain of power”)
Kicking off the new year with highlights in our end-of-year podcast compilation featuring incredible education leaders and practitioners. 🎉
Throughout the second half of the year, we had the pleasure of recording conversations with leaders who are doing the hard, real work of implementing change across education systems—and this episode brings together some of the moments that resonated most with our listeners.
Key insights from this compilation include:
- Why early childhood (0–5) is one of the highest-impact public investments we can make
- How leaders scale systems with clarity—not complexity—and keep quality at the center
- What it really takes to support educators through strong workforce strategies and career pathways
- Why implementation succeeds when leaders invest in people, trust, and consistent execution
A huge thank you to Laura Weeldreyer, Derek Mitchell, Joanna Staib, Jon Wickert, and Dr. Maria Navarro for sharing their insights, experience, and leadership.
As we head into the new year, we’re grateful for these conversations—and excited to keep learning alongside leaders committed to improving outcomes for students, educators, and communities.
In this episode, I’m joined by two of Delaware’s workforce and CTE leaders — Joanna Staib, Statewide Coordinator of Delaware’s new Office of Workforce Development, and Dr. Jon Wickert, Director of Career & Technical Education at the Delaware Department of Education.
Together, they co-chair Delaware Pathways, a statewide strategy designed to ensure every learner has a clear, supported route to career and life success. Delaware Pathways has scaled fast — reaching 68% of Delaware high school students and 84% of middle school students — and the state is aiming even higher over the next few years.
Top 3 Insights:
- Scale with clarity, not complexity: Jon shares that the biggest driver of growth has been a simple, shared vision — with clear measures of success — and leadership that keeps partners aligned. Quality and trust come before speed.
- Career navigators start in 6th grade: A major next step is building a true advising pipeline beginning in middle school. Navigators will help students explore careers early, “toe-dip” into pathways, and switch within clusters without starting over — all to ensure a smooth transition into high school and beyond.
- This is a workforce strategy — full stop: Joanna explains why Pathways goes far beyond K-12. Delaware is pushing to grow immersive work-based learning from 15% to 45%, and expand registered apprenticeships from 2,000 students to 3,000, backed by stronger cross-agency coordination and new data systems.
We close with a powerful north star: not just helping students make a plan, but ensuring they “land successfully on day one” after graduation — in college, training, or a career with real economic mobility.
Links mentioned for show notes:
Delaware Pathways Website
Delaware Student Success Website
In this special episode, I celebrate the two-year anniversary of my book How to Implement (Just About) Anything, now available as an audiobook on Audible!
I share reflections on what has changed and what still holds true about implementation since the book’s release, and introduce a short excerpt from one of the book’s most practical insights for leaders driving change in real-world systems.
Links mentioned from show notes:
Listen to the audiobook: How to Implement (Just About) Anything – Audible
Explore all episodes: EdScale Podcast
Go See the Work: What Delaware's Early Literacy Site Visits Revealed
Delaware is tackling early literacy with purpose and precision. In this episode, we explore what happened when Secretary of Education Cindy Marten and her team visited the work in action across five schools.
The visits revealed powerful insights:
• When schools commit to core practices and use data effectively, students thrive
• Teachers using explicit, systematic instruction are seeing results
• Consistent implementation of science-based reading practices makes the difference
Governor Meyer has declared an early literacy emergency "not as a slogan, but because our students deserve better." Secretary Marten is focusing on "keeping the main thing the main thing" - strong daily K-3 reading instruction.
Delaware is betting on core classroom instruction, not supplemental programs, to move the needle on early literacy. They're backing this commitment with resources, including the Bridge to Practice grant and support for classroom materials.
The ultimate test? Today's kindergartners. When they reach third grade, their reading success will be the truest measure of this collective work.
Links mentioned for show notes:
- Blog
- Read more about the Rehoboth visit
- Watch the opening keynote
- The Delaware Early Literacy Playbook
- Delaware is investing up to $7.2M through the Bridge to Practice grant, focused specifically on early literacy preparation and development (learn more here). They are also providing up to $750 per approved project in additional resources directly to teachers through DonorsChoose.org (learn more here).
NEW EPISODE: Where High-Quality & Diverse Teachers Drive Student Success
My conversation with Dr. Maria Navarro, Superintendent of Charles County Public Schools, reveals a powerful blueprint for educational transformation in action.
Dr. Navarro's district has increased teacher diversity from 37.8% to 43.2% while dramatically expanding National Board Certification candidates from 8 to 117 teachers - showing how strategic leadership creates real change.
Top 3 Insights:
- Teacher-led growth scales: Piloting the 60/40 model (60% teaching, 40% teacher leadership) enables peer coaching and faster improvement.
- Mindsets before mechanics: Naming the idea that moving to high-needs schools can feel like a “demotion” opened honest, equity-centered conversations—and change.
- Regional pipelines win: Charles, Calvert, & St. Mary’s are partnering with higher ed to build sustainable teacher pathways.
The Blueprint reforms aren't just policy—they're changing how educators work together while keeping excellent teachers in classrooms through meaningful career advancement.
For Father's Day, I was given a family-friendly cooking class from my wife and boys (3rd and 6th grade). The experience reminded me of how cooking and education have quite a bit in common. Including cuts and burns!
Chefs know that success in the kitchen doesn’t happen by accident—it’s built through *mise-en-place* (“everything in its place”). Leaders face the same challenge: prepare well, or get lost in the rush. In this episode, we discuss how the chef's discipline of *mise-en-place* ("everything in its place") offers powerful lessons for education leaders seeking deeper focus:
- Preparation before action
- Clear tools and workflows
- Mindset of readiness
- Economy of motion
- Continuous improvement Leadership, like cooking, is an art built on discipline.
Links mentioned for show notes:
- Blog: https://edscalellc.com/five-lesson-from-chefs-for-education-leaders/
- James Beard award-winning Baltimore chef Cindy Wolf talks about leadership in the kitchen
Making Reform Real: Lessons from Maryland’s Blueprint
Want to implement ambitious education reforms that actually stick? Maryland’s Blueprint shows us the stakes — and the lessons.
I recently joined the Blueprint Pillar 5 Advisory Committee to share insights on how communication and implementation strategies can make or break systemic reform. While Maryland is the case study, these lessons apply anywhere leaders are trying to drive meaningful change.
The takeaway? Policy sets the direction, but success is 90% about implementation. Clear roles, timely updates, and school-first communication are what build trust, accelerate learning, and scale what works.
Whether you’re in education leadership, policy, or school improvement, these strategies can help your initiatives gain traction.
Listen now to hear how we can align big reforms with everyday practice — and make communication the bridge between intent and reality.
Finding Our Stride in Times of Change!
Change is hard — but when we embrace it, it opens the door to possibilities we never saw before. Driving back from CACTE through the Rockies, I was reminded that change often feels like stepping into the unknown, but those paths can lead to powerful growth.
As William Bridges writes in Managing Transitions, change is like a marathon. Leadership isn’t about sprinting ahead; it’s about ensuring everyone crosses the finish line together. The real measure of leadership isn’t speed — it’s how many people finish the race with you.
In this episode, we discuss 4 keys to leading change well:
- Get clear on the vision
- Scale what’s already working
- Build feedback loops
- Stay consistent
Links mentioned for show notes:
- Blog: CACTE Closing Keynote Leveraging Change for Students (overview)
- Colorado Association for Career and Technical Education (CACTE)
- You can listen to my full talk here (on my podcast)
- Book reference: Managing Transitions by William Bridges
- Synergy Stick
EdScale's Founder Tom DeWire gave the closing keynote in July 2025 at the annual CACTE Summit in Colorado to talk about change management. It was an incredible gathering of over 400 educators in Colorado focused on career and technical education.
Since 1917, Colorado Association for Career and Technical Education (CACTE) has been the largest state organization supporting CTE educators in their efforts to prepare students for career and life success.
EdScale co-designed breakouts right after this session for their members to put the learnings from the conference into practice around four key questions relevant to educators in Colorado. It was a pleasure to work with such a committed group of educators!
Change is inevitable. But how we implement it—that’s the choice. At CACTE, I left the group with a few key takeaways:
- Get clear together before diving into details.
- Obsess over what’s working.
- Build feedback loops for course correction.
- And above all, stay consistent.
Because the real measure of leadership isn’t how fast you get to the finish line—it’s how many people cross it with you.
What does it take to build and retain a strong, more diverse educator workforce? This episode spotlights Delaware’s bold approach to strengthening the teacher pipeline, and how one state is turning strategy into sustainable, statewide impact.
Inside the episode:
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How Delaware is tackling teacher shortages with short- and long-term strategies
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Why partnerships, pathways, and pipelines are reshaping the educator workforce
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What it means to build capacity through systems, not just programs
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How the Delaware DOE is creating a national model for teacher recruitment and retention
Learn how EdExcel and CTE leaders are turning vision into action—with support from EdScale—and how the sold-out Teacher Pathways Showcase captured the momentum underway. Stay tuned for more updates and insights!
Links mentioned for show notes:
In this episode of Implement Change in Education, we’re joined by Laura Weeldreyer, Executive Director of the Maryland Family Network.
With decades of leadership in public and private education, including key roles at Johns Hopkins and Baltimore City Schools, Laura brings a clear-eyed, mission-driven perspective on what it takes to build a truly integrated early childhood system. Drawing on her years of work in classrooms, central offices, and policy spaces, she shares how Maryland is working to expand high-quality pre-K while preserving the fragile childcare ecosystem that families rely on.
“Investing in early childhood,” says Laura, “is one of the most impactful public investments we can make, benefiting two generations and shaping the future of our communities.”
We explore:
- Why the zero-to-five window is critical for equity, development, and family connection
- Maryland’s Blueprint for education and the promise—and complexities—of Pillar One
- The challenges and opportunities in expanding mixed-delivery pre-K
- The tension between rapid seat expansion and preserving infant-toddler care
- How local communities like Washington County are modeling collaborative, system-level change
If you care about the future of education, this is an episode you won’t want to miss—perfect for leaders, teachers, parents, policymakers, and advocates alike.
What will it take to turn Maryland’s historic Blueprint into lasting change? Our latest blog unpacks why coordination is breaking down and what it will take to turn visionary policy into real impact for schools, students, and communities.
Inside the post:
- Why implementation has become “everything, everywhere, all at once
- What districts are doing well — and why we’re not learning from them
- How missing communication, unclear roles, and untracked progress are stalling change
- What a healthy Blueprint implementation ecosystem could look like
Links mentioned for show notes:
- Blog: The Blueprint is in trouble: Aligned, coherent implementation remains elusive
- #4 Guest: Dr. Carey Wright, Maryland State Superintendent of Schools
- MACO podcasts on education and funding
- Blueprint for Maryland’s Future – Accountability and Implementation Board (AIB)
- Book: Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change by William Bridges
In this episode of Implement Change in Education, we’re joined by the visionary Dr. Derek Mitchell, CEO of Partners in School Innovation.
With deep roots as a district leader, researcher, and systems thinker, Dr. Mitchell shares a powerful perspective on what it really takes to improve outcomes in under-resourced schools. Drawing from decades of work across the country—and his own experience growing up on Chicago’s West Side—he offers a bold yet practical take on school transformation.
“Improvement,” says Dr. Mitchell, “is both an art and a science. The science is in the tools. The art is in how people show up in moments of challenge and stay in community to do the work together.”
We explore:
- Why equity must start with adult learning and intentional culture
- The power of embedded, high-trust coaching in high-need schools
- Results-Oriented Cycles of Improvement (ROCI) as a strategy for change
- Leading through reflection, clarity of purpose, and community proximity
- Lessons from the Gates Foundation’s Networked Improvement Communities initiative
This conversation is a must-listen for anyone invested in the future of education—leaders, teachers, parents, and advocates alike.
In this special highlight compilation, we bring you powerful moments from conversations with some of the most influential education leaders. These short clips capture the insight, urgency, and vision driving change in schools today.
You'll hear from:
- Dr. Carey M. Wright, Maryland State Superintendent, on building teacher capacity and transforming reading instruction statewide.
- Dr. Sonja Brookins Santelises, CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools, and Alison Perkins-Cohen, Chief of Staff, on system-wide trust-building, curriculum reform, and instructional leadership.
- Secretary Cindy Marten, Delaware State Superintendent, on local equity, strategic budgeting, and leadership through change.
- Plus a snippet from our very first episode with Troy Mix, reflecting on implementation and what it takes to move big systems.
Whether you're a policymaker, educator, or lifelong learner, this episode offers a quick yet meaningful listen into how bold, student-centered leadership is shaping the future of public education.
What does it take to lead a team of superstars to the top—and keep them growing? In this episode, we explore the leadership mindset of Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, whose blend of tactical brilliance, emotional intelligence, and unshakable calm has guided one of the most dominant NBA teams in history.
From his “criticism is an opportunity” mantra to flying across the world to support a benched Jayson Tatum during the Olympics, Mazzulla shows us what it looks like to lead with humility, adaptability, and relentless care for people. Whether you're managing teams or shaping systems, this conversation unpacks what it really means to challenge the status quo, stay hungry at the top, and continuously improve.
Inspired by a blog post that resonated far beyond basketball, this episode asks: Where do you need to grow? What needs to change?
In this episode, we’re joined by the inspiring Secretary of Education for Delaware, Cindy Marten. With decades of experience as a teacher, principal, and former Deputy Secretary of Education, Secretary Marten brings bold yet grounded insights to transforming public education systems. From her time leading San Diego Unified, where she helped drive graduation rates to 89% and close equity gaps, to her new role in Delaware, she shares a leadership style rooted in community voice, strategic coherence, and a relentless commitment to equity.
“Equity,” says Secretary Marten,“ is a school that knows its students and families by name, by strength, and by need—and builds systems to meet those needs in the right way at the right time.”
We discuss her lessons from scaling the Vision 2020 strategy in San Diego, what it means to center local context while building system-wide solutions, and how Delaware can align its many promising initiatives into a coherent roadmap for student success. These include an emphasis on equitable student funding, building strong bridges to kindergarten, addressing literacy across disciplines, expanding career pathways, and supporting and empowering educators.
Whether you’re a district leader, policy strategist, or classroom teacher, this conversation is a masterclass in implementation leadership.
In this episode, we dive into the J-A-T Theory — a simple but powerful framework for building trust, deepening relationships, and encouraging meaningful feedback. Inspired by a recent EdScale blog post, we explore how curiosity and the habit of Just Asking Them can shift conversations and unlock progress in management, coaching, and collaboration. Whether you're leading a team or working cross-functionally, this episode offers practical insights for increasing clarity and connection.
Key Insights:
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Feedback is one of the greatest gifts for growth — but only when it's grounded in trust.
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The J-A-T Theory encourages direct, curious conversations by simply asking the questions we often hesitate to.
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Building trust requires credibility, reliability, intimacy, and low self-orientation, as outlined in The Trusted Advisor.
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Using J-A-T can help move through uncertainty and hesitation, improving communication and outcomes.
Links referenced in podcast:
In this episode, we’re joined by Dr. Sonja Brookins-Santelises, CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools, and Alison Perkins-Cohen, Chief of Staff. With nearly 30 years of experience, Dr. Santelises has led transformative change in Baltimore’s schools, driving historic academic gains and prioritizing equity.
To my knowledge, they are the longest standing CEO/CoS team in large urban schools across the country!
Together, they’ve implemented the Blueprint for Success, focusing on academics, leadership, and student well-being. In this conversation, they share insights on the challenges of educational reform, their leadership legacy, and what’s next for Baltimore’s schools. Don’t miss their perspective on the future of public education in Baltimore.
Navigating leadership transitions can be challenging, but with the right strategies, they become opportunities for growth. Our latest blog post shares five key tactics—rooted in research and practical frameworks—to help leaders and organizations adapt and thrive during change. From building strong relationships to scenario planning, these actionable insights drive better results.
Change involves navigating uncertainty but is also fundamentally about loss - even when changing something you don't like, you are losing something familiar. Understanding both the emotional and strategic components is key to successfully managing transitions.
Links referenced in podcast
Today, we’re joined by Dr. Carey Wright, a nationally recognized education leader with over 50 years of experience. She led Mississippi’s historic rise in fourth-grade reading scores, proving that strategic, long-term reform can drive real student success. Now back in Maryland, she’s leading through one of the most ambitious education overhauls in a generation. In this episode, we discuss lessons from Mississippi, the future of Maryland’s Blueprint, and what it takes to create lasting change in public education.
This blog post reflects on a visit to the Baltimore Ravens stadium and the valuable lessons learned about teamwork and core values. It explores how the Ravens emphasize their mantra "What’s Important Now" (W.I.N.) and "The Team, The Team, The Team" to foster a culture of unity and excellence. I connect these insights to our work at EdScale, highlighting the importance of building cohesive teams and implementing effective leadership strategies.
Key Insights:
- The Ravens’ focus on "What’s Important Now" (W.I.N.) and prioritizing the team above all else.
- Leadership and team development lessons drawn from the Ravens’ culture.
- Application of these principles to EdScale’s mission to support partners in achieving ambitious goals.
Links referenced in podcast:
Starting something new often comes with unexpected challenges, and launching a podcast with guest interviews is no different. Scheduling surprises are par for the course. As a result, we will be sharing the first guest episode in February.
But today I’m thrilled to share a rebroadcast of a conversation I had last year with Troy Mix from the University of Delaware Biden School on First State Insights. Troy and I explored the intricacies of implementing change in education, and I’m grateful to have his permission to share it with you today. Let’s dive in!
In this episode, we explore five powerful lessons learned from coaching a 4th grade basketball team that directly apply to education leadership. Through experiences of victories, setbacks, and a nail-biting championship game, these insights demonstrate the parallels between sports coaching and implementing change in education systems. The key lessons include:
- Elevate voices and listen to stakeholder insights
- Maintain consistency with proven strategies despite setbacks
- Foster a positive mindset while staying resilient
- Lead with support rather than strict accountability
- Trust in the process and celebrate progress, even when results aren't perfect
Introducing our new podcast, Implement. Change in Education. Full episodes starting in January 2025!
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About EdScale
EdScale helps educators get better results through a relentless focus on effective implementation. We partner with schools, districts, states, and education-focused organizations to support strategic planning, progress monitoring, capacity building, and operations.
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