Building a Coherent, Network-Wide Evaluation and Coaching System: Excel Academy Charter Schools and Hendy Avenue

Since 2024, Excel Academy Charter Schools (Excel) and Hendy Avenue Consulting (Hendy) have partnered to design and implement a comprehensive, coherent system for developing, supporting, and evaluating both teachers and leaders across the network.

What began as rubric refinement and committee work evolved into a holistic system that now includes:

• A comprehensive Teacher Observation and Feedback Tool
• A School-Leader Evaluation System, including a year-long Leader Development & Evaluation Framework (LEDF) pilot
• A codified, network-wide instructional coaching model
• Embedded leadership coaching for senior academic leaders

Together, this partnership moved Excel from tool design to system implementation — aligning evaluation, coaching, and leadership development under one shared theory of change.

The Goals of the Work

Across phases (October 2024–June 2026), the partnership between Hendy and Excel centered on three major goals.

1. Articulate a Clear Vision of Excellence 

Excel sought to define:

• What excellent teaching looks like.
• What excellent school leadership looks like.
• What excellent instructional coaching looks like.
• How all three connect in one coherent system.

Excel partnered with Hendy to design several tools and frameworks to codify these definitions. Together, Excel and Hendy created: 

• A comprehensive Teacher Evaluation Tool – The Excel Observation Rubric 
• A comprehensive School-Leader Evaluation System 
• A unified Leader Development & Evaluation Framework (LEDF) pilot for 2025–26

The goal was not just documentation — it was clarity. Leaders and teachers needed a shared understanding of excellence and growth. These frameworks provide that clarity. 

2. Operationalize the Vision Through Implementation

While quality tools that define excellence is a start, implementation of that definition with aligned support is what really changes practice. In 2025-26, Hendy and Excel’s work shifted explicitly toward operationalization of these frameworks. This work has included piloting the LEDF across the network. This pilot includes:

• Training for evaluators.
• Collecting feedback through surveys and focus groups.
• Refining guidebooks based on that feedback, and building supporting materials.

The work has also included executing on a coherent instructional coaching model across the network. Hendy has worked with Excel instructional coaches to:

• Train coaches and leaders on a defined coaching model.
• Conduct site visits at schools to support coaching and development around elements of the coaching model.
• Host recurring professional development and office hours to provide both proactive and responsive support for coaching.

3. Build Internal Leadership Capacity

Beyond tools, Excel wanted to refine leadership muscle. Over the two years of our partnership, Hendy has supported building Excel leadership capacity through leadership coaching for the Managing Director of Academic Leadership and the Director of Talent. Our work has also included ongoing weekly strategic check-ins with the Chief Schools Officer to ensure coherence and alignment across the work. And, Hendy has worked to develop internal facilitation capacity by creating training sessions that Excel leaders are supported to deliver directly to staff. The long-term goal of this support is to ensure that Excel can sustain excellence without the support of an external partner. 

The Partnership Model

The success of the partnership between Excel and Hendy is rooted not just in goals and deliverables, but in the nature of the partnership.

1. Strategic, Not Transactional

The weekly check-ins with senior leadership created a rhythm of decision-making, troubleshooting, prioritization and iteration. This work is not “deliver and disappear” consulting. It is embedded strategy work.

2. Co-Construction with Stakeholders

Committee structures were central in both teacher and leader system design. Excel leaders participated in design sessions; provide feedback; pilot components; and refine language and tools. Co-construction has created buy-in to the strategies, and helped to avoid change fatigue so common when new initiatives are implemented. 

3. Change Management Embedded Throughout

Each of Hendy’s scopes of work with Excel anticipate change-management challenges:

• Balance feedback with decisiveness.
• Avoid overwhelming stakeholders.
• Clarify messaging.
• Stage implementation in phases.

Communication drafts, surveys, focus groups, and steering committees are intentional levers — not afterthoughts.

Results to Date

Excel’s effort to define excellence and implement systems is ongoing. By mid-pilot (SY25–26), Excel has:

• An embedded and system-wide adopted Teacher Observation Rubric.
• A unified leader evaluation framework.
• A year-long pilot generating structured feedback on the LEDF.
• A structured coaching model with ongoing PD.
• Internal leaders trained to implement and refine systems.
• Clear alignment between coaching and evaluation.

The system now connects: Teacher Practice → Coaching → Leader Practice → Evaluation → Growth

Conclusion

Over two years, Hendy and Excel have moved from defining excellence to implementing excellence.

The work has shifted Excel from:

• Tools → Systems
• Isolated PD → Coherent development arc
• Informal coaching → Codified coaching model
• Static evaluation → Iterative pilot with feedback loops

The next phase (SY26–27) positions Excel for full implementation of a coherent, internally sustained development system. Hendy is thrilled to continue to partner with Excel in this critical work.

Interested in a partnership with Hendy? Reach out to Jess to schedule a call.