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Hendy Avenue: The 2025 Year in Review
We always love a good end-of-year recap, and we’re here with our own “Best Of” list! 2025 was a phenomenal year of deep thinking, high-impact partnerships, and big news. So, queue up the celebratory playlist and let’s dive into the year that was for Hendy Avenue Consulting!
The Headliner List: Our All-Star Clients
Our clients are the reason we do what we do, and collectively, the organizations we supported in 2025 served over 850,000 kids nationwide. That is an incredible impact we are honored to share.
We were lucky enough to partner with outstanding organizations, including:
- AI for Equity
- Breakthrough Public Schools
- Chicago Public Schools
- Delaware Department of Education
- Excel Academy Charter Schools
- Foundation Academies
- Hebrew Public Schools
- NYS CTE Technical Assistance Center
- PAVE Schools
- Urban Community School
Want the full list? Check out the details of all our current and past client projects here!
Our Vibe Check: What We Had on Repeat
Our work spanned the full spectrum of academic and talent systems this year. If 2025 had a few core themes, they would be:
- The Power of “Basics”: Instructional improvement in math and ELA.
- Next-Level Leaders: Leadership coaching and support.
- Improvement Synced: Performance management strategy.
- The Future is Now: Implications, planning, and implementation of AI.
- Talent Blueprint: Talent policy and planning.
The Marathon Minutes: How Long We Rocked Out
We spent many, many minutes collaborating this year including:
- Client Check-ins: Clocking in at more than 37,000 minutes.
- School Site Visits: 9,600 minutes dedicated to being on the ground.
- Team Huddle: Our team check-ins totaled 2,400 minutes.
- Coaching & Cohorts: 5,300 minutes across cohort meetings and one-on-one coaching.
- Steering Committees: more than 1,000 minutes leading decision-making committees.
Big Drop of 2025
Every day is a “biggest working day” in its own way, but May 1st was our main event! We celebrated the legacy of our founder and President, Sarah Rosskamm, as she transitioned from her role, and officially welcomed Jess Wilson as our new President. What a day for Hendy!
Big Birthday: Level 12 Unlocked!
Hendy is officially 12 years old! We’re incredibly proud of the impact we’ve created in service of kids and the adults who support them.
Cheers to an even greater impact in 2026—let the next track begin! Want to join our playlist? Reach out to Jess or schedule a call!
Keep Your Best Talent: Implementing Stay Conversations
The winter break can be an opportunity to relax and refresh in preparation for a strong start to the second half of the school-year. But for some teachers and leaders, winter break can also be a time to consider their next professional move. That’s why we encourage leaders to engage in stay conversations with each of their teachers and team members. This informal, but highly cultivating conversation can be a meaningful tool in a leader’s retention toolbelt.
What is a “stay conversation”?
A stay conversation is just that: a brief conversation with an employee that provides a chance for the leader to clearly state that they value the person and want them to stay at their school or system for the following year. This conversation can be brief, 5-15 minutes, and can happen as a part of a standing check-in or in a separate meeting.
When should stay conversations happen?
Now! Ideally, stay conversations happen right before or right after a break, when teachers may be more likely to be thinking about a job change. But, it’s never too late – stay conversations can be just as meaningful in late winter and early spring.
What should I share in a stay conversation?
Be specific; communicate why the teacher or staff member is an important part of your team. Share examples of ways the teacher or staff member makes a difference to your school community. Be transparent about challenges the school or system is facing, and how valuable the team member is to being a part of addressing those challenges. Listen for motivation; ask for specific ideas from the teacher about what could be improved, and leave the lines of communication open.
A stay conversation is the lowest cost and one of the highest leverage retention strategies leaders have. Consider holding stay conversations with your staff members this winter! Check out our other posts on stay conversations here and here. Or reach out if you want to learn more about retention strategies, or talk about how Hendy can help!
A CASE STUDY FOR LONG-TERM PARTNERSHIP: URBAN COMMUNITY SCHOOL
BUILDING CAPACITY FOR SUSTAINABLE INSTRUCTIONAL EXCELLENCE
ABOUT URBAN COMMUNITY SCHOOL
Urban Community School (UCS), founded in Cleveland in 1968, strives to break social and economic barriers to success for Cleveland’s near west side children by providing an individualized, innovative, and challenging education. The school has served as an anchor of the community, serving a diverse student population from ages 6 weeks to 8th grade. Learn more about UCS by visiting their website: https://urbancommunityschool.org/.
THE OPPORTUNITY
In March 2021, Urban Community School (UCS) approached Hendy Avenue Consulting with an ambitious goal: identify strategies that would attract and retain excellent teachers while also building pathways for teaching assistants to grow into teacher roles. Through diagnostic work – analyzing UCS data, benchmarking neighboring schools, and engaging leaders and teachers in conversation – Hendy and UCS leaders recognized an even more fundamental opportunity. Before building talent systems focused around instructional excellence, UCS needed to more explicitly define what excellent instruction looked like in their context, build the leadership capacity to coach toward it, and create the systems to support and sustain it.
UCS leaders leaned into this reframe. Rather than implement a set of talent initiatives that might reward less defined expectations, UCS chose to invest in building the instructional foundation first. This decision – and their openness to letting the work evolve based on what they were learning – marked the beginning of a four-year partnership with Hendy that has fundamentally impacted the instructional core of the school.
THE HENDY VALUE PROPOSITION: PARTNERSHIP THAT BUILDS CAPACITY
Schools and school systems partner with Hendy Avenue when they have ambitious instructional goals and want to build the internal capacity to achieve and sustain them. Hendy’s approach is distinctive in several ways:
We start with what’s true. Hendy doesn’t deliver predetermined solutions. Instead, we partner with leaders to understand current reality, name what’s working and what needs to shift, and design strategies that fit the school’s specific context, culture, and capacity.
We build toward independence, not dependence. Every engagement includes an explicit strategy for transferring ownership. Hendy decides what to do “for,” “with,” and “through” client leaders based on current capacity, always with the goal of ensuring school sustainability of change with fewer support directly coming from Hendy over time.
We see the whole organization. While Hendy often starts a relationship with a specific project, we develop deep knowledge of the school’s systems, culture, and people. This allows us to spot connections, anticipate challenges, and support adjacent needs as they emerge.
We commit to the long game. Sustainable instructional improvement takes time. Hendy stays with schools through implementation challenges, leadership transitions, and the inevitable ups and downs of organizational change.
We balance push and support. Hendy brings high expectations alongside genuine partnership. We celebrate victories, share struggles, and maintain relationships where honest feedback and hard conversations happen with care and trust.
The UCS partnership demonstrates each of these principles in action.
THE PARTNERSHIP ARC: FROM “HENDY LEADS” TO “UCS SUSTAINS”
Over four years, the partnership moved through distinct phases, with Hendy intentionally shifting from a more direct role in carrying out the work to supporting UCS leaders as they took ownership, ultimately positioning them to sustain systems independently.
Phase 1: Building the Foundation (2021-2022)
In spring 2022, Hendy conducted a comprehensive diagnostic visit to understand UCS’s current instructional practices and to support the UCS team to identify priorities. With UCS leaders, the full Hendy team spent two days on campus observing classrooms, meeting with teachers and staff, and examining existing systems. This diagnostic revealed that while UCS leaders and staff had strong relationships and a commitment to students, there was room to align on common instructional language, shared schedules, and structures for observation and feedback.
Rather than just name the gaps, Hendy helped UCS leaders envision what was possible. They facilitated visits to high-performing schools in New York City with similar student demographics, allowing UCS leaders to see excellent instruction in action, and to envision what’s possible for kids. Then Hendy facilitated summer planning retreats where the team established clear instructional priorities and began building the systems to support them.
During this foundation-building phase, Hendy did significant direct work with UCS leaders: creating professional development materials, co-observing classrooms with leaders, and building frameworks and tools. This intensive support gave UCS leaders concrete examples of what excellent systems looked like and how to implement them.
Phase 2: Gradual Release (2022-2024)
As UCS added leadership capacity – hiring additional directors, creating a Chief Academic Officer role, and expanding the instructional team – Hendy began the intentional work of building up the capacity of UCS to lead more of the work directly. The focus shifted to working “through directors,” coaching leaders to implement and adapt the systems Hendy had modeled.
When UCS decided to adopt a new ELA curriculum in 2023-24, the school took a teacher-driven approach to the process. Hendy focused on building UCS leaders’ capacity to train and support their teachers through implementation of the curriculum. Hendy designed intellectual preparation structures and coached directors to lead those meetings effectively. The team built data collection and analysis systems, then gradually transferred ownership to UCS’s own data coordinator.
The work became increasingly collaborative. Hendy would model a practice, then co-facilitate with UCS leaders, then observe and provide feedback as leaders facilitated independently. This gradual release approach ensured UCS leaders gained both skill and confidence.
Phase 3: Sustaining Independence (2025-Present)
By the 2025-26 school year, UCS was driving their own teacher development and coaching with increasing independence. Directors lead intellectual preparation and observation cycles. The instructional leadership team uses shared language and structures. Teachers follow common schedules and assessment rhythms. A tier 2 intervention system identifies and supports students who need additional support.
Hendy’s role has evolved to strategic thought partnership: troubleshooting implementation challenges, analyzing data for patterns and insights, coaching directors, and coaching the CAO to manage and support director development. The relationship remains strong, but UCS leaders are in the driver’s seat.
RESPONSIVE PARTNERSHIP: EVOLVING AS NEEDS EMERGE
While instructional improvement formed the core of the work, the partnership repeatedly expanded when UCS identified adjacent needs – demonstrating Hendy’s responsiveness and ability to see and serve the whole organization.
Strategic Planning Support
When UCS’s Board of Directors engaged in strategic planning in 2024, UCS hired Hendy on a separate contract to support the academic team with their pillar of the strategic plan. This work allowed Hendy to help UCS document the significant instructional improvements the school had made and set clear, ambitious priorities for future growth – work that required both knowledge of where UCS had been and vision for where they could go.
Whole-Organization Partnership
Over time, leaders across UCS came to see Hendy as thought partners for challenges beyond the formal engagement scope. The Chief Operating Officer calls to problem-solve. The Chief Strategy Officer engaged Hendy to explore innovative school models and refine the school’s aftercare program. This reflects the trust that has developed – a belief that Hendy understands their organization deeply and has their best interests at heart.
THE RESULTS: SUSTAINABLE SYSTEMS AND MEASURABLE GROWTH
Four years into the partnership, the transformation is visible in both data and daily practice.
Student Achievement: UCS has seen consistent growth in student achievement, particularly in ELA following the curriculum adoption and implementation support. Students are meeting grade-level benchmarks at higher rates than in previous years.
Instructional Culture: Teachers have embraced the observation and feedback cycle. Instructional time is protected and used purposefully. Common schedules and assessment rhythms allow for meaningful collaboration across grade levels and departments.
Leadership Capacity: UCS has grown from three directors to a full instructional leadership team with clear, complementary roles and shared practices. Leaders are high capacity and have had a measurable impact on teaching and learning in their building. The systems are self-sustaining and improving.
Organizational Systems: UCS now has defined, systematic tier 1 and tier 2 academic intervention systems, data collection and analysis protocols, role clarity across all adult positions, and structures that ensure adults are strategically leveraged to support instruction. These systems persist through staff transitions because they’re embedded in how UCS operates.
What UCS Leaders Say About the Partnership
When asked what they value about working with Hendy, UCS leaders consistently mention three things: the thoughtfulness in how feedback is shared, the instructional vision and expertise Hendy brings, and the way Hendy pushes them to be better while remaining genuinely supportive.
WHY THIS PARTNERSHIP WORKS: THE CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESS
Hendy’s relationship with UCS feels like a true partnership. We celebrate their victories and share their struggles. The work is challenging but joyful, and our relationship is built on trust, mutual respect, and a shared vision for what could be.
The result is a school that is sustaining and continuing improving their instructional systems independently – proof that investing in capacity building, not just quick fixes, creates lasting change for students.
Professional Development That Actually Sticks: Research-Based Strategies from the Field
By Hendy Avenue Consulting
We’ve all been there: sitting through professional development that felt inspiring in the moment but completely forgotten by Monday morning. The binder sits on a shelf. The handouts get recycled. And teacher or leadership practice remains unchanged.
This isn’t just frustrating—it’s a significant investment of time and resources that yields minimal return. So what’s the problem? And more importantly, what actually works?
After years of designing and facilitating professional learning for leaders and educators across the country, our team at Hendy Avenue Consulting has identified several key strategies that make the difference between PD that fades and PD that transforms practice.
The Science of Adult Learning
Before diving into strategies, it’s essential to understand how adults learn. Malcolm Knowles’ theory of andragogy identifies several key principles:
- Adults are self-directed and relevancy-oriented. They want to understand why they’re learning something and how it connects to their immediate work. Top-down mandates without clear rationale breed resistance.
- Adults bring experience to learning. Effective PD acknowledges and builds on educators’ existing expertise rather than ignoring it.
- Adults are problem-solvers. They’re motivated to learn when they see it as a solution to real challenges they’re facing.
Additionally, cognitive science tells us that learning requires active processing, not passive reception. Research suggests adults retain only 5% of what they hear in a lecture, but 75% of what they practice and 90% of what they teach to others.
Seven Strategies for Effective PD
Strategy #1: Structure the Flow from “Why” to “How”
The Strategy: Build your PD narrative in a logical sequence that mirrors how adults process information.
Start with Why: Connect the topic to core principles or challenges educators face. Research shows that starting with purpose creates buy-in and meaning-making.
Move to What: Clearly define key concepts.
End with How: Provide actionable, concrete strategies for implementation. Adults need to see the bridge from theory to their classroom.
Why It Works: This structure aligns with how our brains naturally process information—from abstract to concrete, from conceptual to applied. It honors adult learners’ need for autonomy and relevance by establishing purpose before diving into tactics.
Strategy #2: Translate Theory to Practice with “Look-Fors”
The Strategy: For any standard, theory, or principle you introduce, provide specific, observable examples of what it looks like in practice.
If you’re teaching about student-centered instruction, don’t just define it—show video of a classroom where students are doing the cognitive heavy lifting. Identify the specific teacher moves and student behaviors that make it student-centered. Create a list of “look-fors” that educators can use to recognize quality practice.
Why It Works: Abstract concepts rarely translate to changed practice without concrete examples. The more specific and contextualized the examples, the more likely educators are to successfully implement. Brain science tells us we learn through pattern recognition—showing multiple examples of what something “looks like” helps educators recognize and replicate those patterns in their own practice.
Strategy #3: Use the OARRs Structure for Purposeful Design
The Strategy: Structure every PD session using OARRs:
- Objectives: What will participants know or be able to do?
- Agenda: What’s the sequence of activities?
- Roles: Who’s responsible for what?
- Rules: What norms guide our work?
If an activity doesn’t serve the objective, cut it.
Why It Works: Clear objectives align with adult learning theory’s emphasis on purposeful, goal-oriented learning. When participants see the connection from activity to objective, they understand why they’re engaging in each task, which increases motivation and retention.
Strategy #5: Include Work Time and Practice in the Session
The Strategy: Give educators time in the session to practice new skills or plan for implementation. Don’t send them away with good intentions but no concrete plan.
This might mean:
- Practicing a new discussion protocol
- Planning next week’s lesson using a new framework
- Creating a tool or resource they’ll use immediately
- Rehearsing a challenging instructional move
Why It Works: When educators leave PD with something they’ve already created or practiced, the barrier to implementation drops significantly. Research on implementation science shows that the gap between learning and doing is where most initiatives fail—work time closes that gap.
Strategy #6: Set a Vision of Excellence
The Strategy: Show, don’t just tell. Use video, live modeling, or high-quality examples so everyone can agree on what “it” looks like.
Show video of excellent execution. Share examples of student work at different performance levels. Create shared understanding through shared observation.
Why It Works: Without concrete examples, people develop wildly different interpretations of the same standard. Video and models create shared understanding of quality. People learn powerfully through observation—seeing expert performance helps educators develop mental models of success.
Strategy #7: Create Space for Contextual Application
The Strategy: After establishing a vision of excellence, ask educators to apply it to their specific context:
- “What will you steal?” (implement exactly as shown)
- “What will you adapt?” (modify for your context)
- “What questions does this raise?”
Give educators permission to make the practice their own.
Why It Works: Adults bring diverse experiences and contexts to learning. One-size-fits-all approaches ignore this reality. Educators are more likely to implement new practices when they have autonomy to adapt them thoughtfully. Contextual application also engages higher-order thinking—educators analyze, evaluate, and create rather than just receiving information.
Bringing It All Together: The Arc of Effective PD
When you combine these strategies, effective PD follows a clear arc:
- Establish Purpose (Why): Connect to educators’ real challenges and core values
- Build Understanding (What): Define concepts clearly with concrete examples
- Show Excellence: Model or view high-quality examples together
- Provide Tools (How): Give actionable strategies and resources
- Practice and Plan: Build work time into the session
- Apply to Context: Support educators in adapting to their specific situations
- Set Next Steps: Create accountability and follow-up structures
This arc honors how adults learn while maximizing the likelihood that new learning translates to changed practice.
The Bottom Line
By grounding PD design in tried-and-true best practices rooted in adult learning theory, we can create professional learning experiences that don’t just inspire in the moment—they transform practice for the long term.
CAO Cohort Alumni Spotlight: A Conversation with Efrat Kussell, CAO of Explore Schools of Brooklyn
The Chief Academic Officer role comes with unique challenges—balancing strategic vision with day-to-day execution, developing others while managing your own workload, and often feeling isolated in a position where few truly understand the complexity of the work. That’s exactly why Hendy Avenue Consulting created the CAO Cohort: to bring academic leaders together in a community of practice where they can learn from trusted colleagues facing similar challenges.
Hendy sat down with Efrat Kussell, Chief Academic Officer at Explore Schools of Brooklyn, to talk about her experience in the cohort and how it’s shaped her leadership. Efrat’s insights offer a candid look at what makes this professional learning community so valuable—and what prospective participants might miss if they don’t join.
Hendy: Let’s dive into your cohort experience. What was the most unexpected benefit you gained from participating?
The individual coaching and its relationship with the work we did in the cohort sessions were really well dovetailed. I was able to take the learning from the cohort sessions and apply it to our bigger picture organizational thinking during personalized coaching…I was even able to bring my drafted work back to the whole group for feedback and presentation practice.
Additionally, I was able to look at the models of strategic planning from our sessions and think, “That’s cool, that’s interesting—I want to use that,” or “That’s something I could save for future initiatives.” That integration was really powerful.
Hendy: That interplay between individual coaching and group learning sounds really valuable. What’s one strategy, resource, or approach you learned in the cohort that you’re still using today?
Time management, definitely. We did a great module on how CAOs spend their time. Coming into the work of a CAO assumes that you’re really good at managing your calendar—and you have to be because the job has so many technical and systematic elements. You also need to get on the ground, interact with people, present in various contexts… there’s so much personal time management that goes into it.
The cohort gave me exposure to multiple options for how to structure time use. It added structure and helped me ensure that I am always spending my time in service of developing others. Before, I was probably pretty good at making sure everything I did took care of the things that everyone needed, but I wasn’t as intentional around making sure the way I was spending my time was also in service of developing other people. That learning resonated.
Hendy: Is there anything else from the cohort that’s stuck with you?
Yes—messaging. Messaging and re-messaging the same ideas using clarity and simplicity. That’s really taken hold, currently, in the design of training. Our summer trainings were more effective this year because we spent a ton of time on: how is our staff hearing the message? How can we message priorities with clarity and consistency? And does our messaging uplift our organizational values and hallmarks? As a result, our main priorities and our main tactics for achieving those priorities were better woven throughout and connected to the fabric of who we are as an organization
I also think about this in terms of feedback I have gotten around the level of information I share with various stakeholders. As a CAO, one of my responsibilities is to be able to speak the headlines while also keeping track of all the details. Depending on the audience, I need to provide just the right level of detail to tell a compelling story or make a convincing argument. The CAO cohort helped me be more intentional around how to deliver headlines while bringing an audience along with the right details.
Hendy: If you were talking to a CAO who was on the fence about joining, what would you tell them about what they’d be missing if they didn’t participate?
For the time commitment and the cost, it really works. I know when you’re signing up for a year-long commitment on top of your year-long commitment to improving student outcomes, you’re thinking, “How much will this take out of me and is it going to be worth it?”
I feel like it was totally worth it! I came away with several enduring understandings that I can now transfer over to essentially all the work I do—that’s one thing.
I’d also say that Erica and Jon were very skilled facilitators and worked well together. They created a community of practice online very impressively, considering that we didn’t meet each other in person—so shout out to them!
Last but not least, the coaching was, as I mentioned, truly great. It was very unexpected. When I joined the cohort, I knew there were going to be these sessions and we’d be going every month, but I didn’t realize how helpful the coaching would be. The differentiated work products we were sharing afterwards—that was excellent.
Hendy: It sounds like the combination of group learning, individual coaching, and peer feedback created something really powerful.
Absolutely. It’s rare to find a professional learning experience that delivers on all those levels.
Thank you, Efrat, for sharing about your experience in the cohort! We look forward to staying connection and hearing about the great work you’re supporting at Explore Schools!
Ready to join a community of practice that will transform your leadership? Applications for the 2026-27 CAO Cohort will open soon. Connect with Hendy Avenue Consulting by emailing Rachel Modica-Russell (rachelmodicarussell@hendyavenue.com) to learn more and be notified when applications launch.
Interview with Hendy’s Own Erica Murphy: CAO Cohort Facilitator
As we launch another year of our Chief Academic Officer Cohort, we sat down with Hendy consultant and CAO Cohort facilitator Erica Murphy to discuss what makes this professional learning community so impactful for senior academic leaders. Erica brings deep expertise in curriculum, instruction, and leadership development, having previously served as Chief of Curriculum and Instruction at Ascend Public Charter Schools. Her thoughtful approach to facilitation creates the kind of authentic learning environment where CAOs can tackle their biggest challenges alongside trusted colleagues.
Let’s start with the big picture—from your perspective, why is the CAO cohort such a valuable learning community for senior leaders?
The CAO position can be lonely. The opportunity to be in community with other leaders who “get it” and who are facing the same challenges and often doing the same work is invaluable. There’s something powerful about sitting in a room with people who understand the unique pressures and complexities of your role.
That resonates so much. Speaking of what happens in those rooms, what is the session you love most to facilitate, and why?
Strategic planning best processes in January! It’s so important to have good processes and systems to set strategic initiatives in a way that brings people into the process, creates buy-in, and creates clarity for the organization. And starting in January sets people up for success—it’s that perfect timing where you can really think intentionally about the year ahead.
I love that timing aspect. Now, we incorporated coaching into the experience last year—what impact did this have on your approach to facilitation?
It was so helpful to have one-on-one time with individual CAOs to hear how they were thinking about incorporating the strategies and resources from sessions into their own context. Knowing exactly what they were gravitating towards and struggling with helped me plan the whole group sessions in a way that really met their needs. It created this beautiful feedback loop between the individual coaching and our collective learning.
That individualized approach is so valuable. Let me shift gears a bit—can you tell me about the biggest leadership lesson you learned while in the Chief Curriculum and Instruction role at Ascend?
There are any number of good decisions you can make at any different decision point—there is never one right, perfect decision. The important thing is to: one, gather information and stakeholder input; two, consider options; and three, make a decision that you can communicate with compelling rationale. It may be wrong, and that’s okay—you’ll learn from it. But being paralyzed because you want to make the perfect next move doesn’t work, and indecision creates lack of clarity and frustration.
That’s such practical wisdom, especially for leaders who often feel the weight of every decision. As we wrap up, what’s one piece of advice you have for folks in CAO-esque roles?
Get in schools. Get in classrooms. Talk to principals, deans, students. It can be easy to get caught up in the network work, the politics, the paperwork, and so on. But the work is the teaching and learning. What is happening between teachers and students, and is it meaningful? Rigorous? Aligned to goals? Supportive and differentiated for all students? Academically engaging? That’s the most important work.
Perfect advice to end on. Thanks, Erica, for sharing your insights and for the incredible work you do with our cohort members!
Interested in learning more about the Chief Academic Officer Cohort? Reach out to Rachel Modica-Russell (email: rachelmodicarussell@hendyavenue.com) to explore how this professional learning community might support the academic leaders in your network.
Beyond the Checklist: Coaching for Impact Using an Arc of the Year Strategy
Imagine this: a new school year begins, and as a teacher, you’re handed a rubric with 16 different instructional practices, all deemed “essential” for excellence. Your coach then informs you they’ll be observing and coaching you on… well, all of them. Sound familiar? If you’re a coach, teacher, or school leader, you probably recognize the immediate feelings that arise from this scenario: overwhelm, scattered focus, and a sense of “where do I even begin?”
At Hendy Avenue, we recognize a fundamental truth about instructional coaching: you can’t effectively coach (or be coached on) 16 different things at once. It’s simply not sustainable.
Here’s why the “all at once” approach falls short:
- Coach Overwhelm: For coaches, trying to observe, provide feedback, and support growth across a vast array of indicators for every teacher is a recipe for burnout. The coaching becomes superficial, lacking the depth needed for true impact.
- Teacher Overwhelm: Teachers, already juggling countless responsibilities, are left feeling inadequate when faced with a long list of “areas for improvement.” This can lead to frustration and a lack of clear direction.
- Not All Indicators Are Created Equal: Some instructional practices are foundational, forming the bedrock of an effective classroom. Others are more advanced, building upon those initial skills. Treating them all with the same urgency neglects this natural cascade of development.
- Lack of Coherence: When every coach is focusing on different aspects of the rubric, and every teacher is getting varied feedback, the school’s PD efforts become fragmented. It’s incredibly difficult to have aligned PD that truly supports the coaching happening in classrooms if there’s no shared focus. This creates a chaotic environment where teachers receive “random” information rather than a coherent, supportive system.
Enter the “Arc of the Year”: A Strategic Approach to Coaching and PD
To combat this potential overwhelm, we advocate for chunking the Hendy Instructional Excellence Rubric and the associated coaching into manageable “arcs” across the school year. This strategy brings focus, coherence, and ultimately, greater impact to your instructional improvement efforts.
The Hendy Instructional Excellence Rubric is organized into four domains, each with an essential question and a set of indicators that describe what an effective classroom looks like. Our “Arc of the Year” strategy aligns with these domains to provide a clear pathway for teacher development. The goal for each teacher is to work toward a rating of “Proficiency” or a “Level 3” during each observation on each Indicator.
Here’s how it works:
Arc 1: Building a Strong Foundation (Domain 1: Classroom Culture)
The beginning of the school year is crucial for establishing a predictable, accessible, and joyful learning environment. How you start is how it is. Therefore, Arc 1 is intensely focused on Domain 1: Classroom Culture.
- PD Alignment: Your school-wide professional development should be specifically designed to reinforce strong routines, cultivate joy, and build positive relationships.
- Focused Observations & Feedback: When a coach enters a classroom, their observations and subsequent feedback are laser-focused on these foundational elements. They’re looking specifically at indicators related to predictable routines, high expectations for all, community and relationships, and academic joy.
- Targeted Coaching: Coaching conversations and support are rooted in these Domain 1 indicators. If a coach observes a classroom struggling with transitions, the coaching will center on strategies for smoother routines, and use the Core Teacher Skills from Domain 1 to help.
A critical nuance: if you’re coaching an experienced teacher who has already established a beautiful classroom culture, the coach shouldn’t waste time on what’s already mastered. Instead, the coach should look ahead within the framework and begin to coach that teacher on what they need, even if it falls outside the general Arc 1 focus. This personalized approach is key.
Arc 2: Deepening Instructional Practice (Domain 2: Lesson Content & Implementation)
Once a significant majority of teachers in a school have established a strong classroom culture, it’s time to move on to the design and implementation of instruction. Arc 2 shifts the focus to Domain 2: Lesson Content & Implementation. This domain addresses whether students are engaged with content that is purposeful, rigorous, and differentiated.
- Data-Driven Decisions: This transition is often informed by school-wide data. Are we seeing issues with student engagement in academic tasks? Are students demonstrating deep understanding, or just surface-level recall? This data guides the specific indicators within Domain 2 that will be prioritized.
- Coaching Alignment: During this arc, coaches are focused on things like lesson alignment, pacing, rigor, and differentiation. The goal is to ensure teachers are spending the most time on the most important concepts and that students are engaging in productive struggle with the content. When coaches enter classrooms, their observations and feedback are centered on these indicators. The majority of a teacher’s coaching should be in this arc unless they have a foundational gap in a prior domain.
Arc 3: Centering Student Thinking (Domain 3: Student Thinking)
After a strong foundation in classroom culture and lesson execution is established, the arc shifts to
Domain 3: Student Thinking. This domain asks to what extent students are responsible for the thinking, speaking, writing, and creating in the classroom.
- Coaching Alignment: When coaches observe during this arc, they are focused on the ratio of teacher to student thinking. Key indicators in this arc include questioning, ensuring students are doing the “heavy lifting,” discussion facilitation, and building content expertise in students. A coach will look to see if the teacher is asking questions at a variety of levels and if students are supporting their answers with evidence and explanation. The focus is on ensuring students are the ones doing the intellectual work.
- PD Alignment: School-wide data from coaching helps to inform school-wide PD. If, in Arc 3, many teachers are struggling with facilitating student discussion, then the school might plan a PD focused on techniques for discussion facilitation. The goal is to ensure that PD is aligned and coherent with support in individual coaching.
Arc 4: Responsiveness to Learning (Domain 4: Responsiveness to Learning)
The final arc of the year focuses on Domain 4: Responsiveness to Learning. This domain addresses how teachers use data and feedback to ensure students are learning and to reteach or provide support for more precise understanding.
- Coaching Alignment: This arc is centered on how teachers actively monitor student learning, use data to make instructional decisions, provide intentional feedback, and teach with purpose. Coaches will observe how teachers circulate to evaluate student progress and how they adjust their teaching based on misconceptions. This is about closing the loop of instruction, ensuring that student learning is continuously being assessed and supported.
The “Arc of the Year” is a framework, not a rigid straitjacket. While the general focus shifts, individualized coaching remains paramount. If a teacher’s classroom management significantly deteriorates, a good coach will still address that immediate need, regardless of the current arc. Conversely, if a teacher is excelling in the current arc’s focus, the coach should proactively move to areas where that teacher is ready for more advanced development. By strategically chunking the rubric into these arcs, schools can transform an overwhelming set of indicators into a clear, coherent, and highly effective pathway for teacher growth and student success.
Want support designing an arc of the year strategy for your school or district? Send us an email!
Unlock Teacher Growth with Hendy Instructional Excellence Rubric Training
The Hendy Instructional Excellence Rubric is more than just a tool for evaluation; it’s a comprehensive framework for professional growth. To ensure schools and districts can effectively leverage this rubric, Hendy provides a range of training and support services tailored to different needs and levels of engagement.
Our trainings can be tailored to your school’s specific needs, and are always a dynamic learning experience for your teachers and leaders. Don’t take our word for it – see below for feedback from Hendy training participants!
I loved all the content and the calibration with the videos and discussion was incredibly helpful. I also LOVE the rubric and am excited to use it!
Director of student services
The first session where we did a deep dive into the rubric was very helpful! We were able to take time to internalize the rubric, understand its purpose and structure, and practiced norming and applying the rubric to different scenarios.
Anonymous
The debrief of the rubric plus the norming and certification tasks were extremely useful and fun!School Dean of Curriculum and Instruction
High School Dean of Curriculum and Instruction
Hendy offers four main types of training and support to help school leaders and teachers master the rubric and integrate it into their daily practice:
- Rubric Training Materials + Train-the-Trainer: This option is ideal for schools that want to build internal capacity. Hendy provides a complete set of training materials, including slides, facilitator guides, and videos, for both school leaders and teachers. Additionally, we offer virtual “train-the-trainer” sessions to empower a school’s own staff to become expert facilitators.
- Rubric Training Facilitation: For schools seeking direct expertise, Hendy’s professional facilitators can lead training sessions. This ensures that leaders and teachers receive in-depth, hands-on instruction from those who know the rubric best.
- Readiness Assessment and Recommendations: Before a full-scale implementation, it’s crucial to understand your system’s current state. Hendy can conduct a thorough readiness assessment, including data collection and a written report with strategic recommendations, to ensure a smooth and successful rollout.
- Evaluation Design, Pilot, and Implementation: This is a highly customized service designed to align the Hendy rubric with your existing evaluation and development processes. It includes personalized support for stakeholder engagement, policy development, rubric customization, and continuous training to guarantee a seamless and effective implementation.
Whether you’re looking to build internal expertise, receive direct training, or get a customized implementation plan, Hendy’s training services are designed to help your educators thrive and create a culture of instructional excellence.
Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School for Excellence: The Hendy Instructional Excellence Rubric in Action
Meet Kendra Salvador, the Executive Director at Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School for Excellence in Springfield, Massachusetts. Kendra was getting feedback from her teachers that coaching was vague or lacked clarity. Teachers were unsure about how the feedback they were receiving from coaches was supposed to look in action in their classrooms. In addition, teachers were evaluated on a different rubric than what was used in their coaching. Teachers were experiencing a disconnect between the coaching they were receiving and the experiences teaching in their classroom.
Kendra discovered the Hendy Instructional Excellence Rubric, and was immediately impressed by the tool’s clarity, simplicity, and coherence. Kendra decided to adopt the rubric in her school, and have it replace the different rubrics in use for coaching and evaluation.
A key factor in her decision was the rubric’s focus on both teacher inputs and student outputs, a feature Kendra believes is crucial for effective instruction. Kendra noted that during initial walkthroughs, teachers saw firsthand how a lesson that appeared successful on the surface might be assessed as less effective when student engagement and learning were also considered. Kendra also appreciates the rubric’s Core Teacher Skills (CTS), which provide concrete and specific language that allows teachers and coaches to collaboratively identify a clear goal for a coaching cycle.
Kendra has taken a thoughtful, phased approach to introducing the rubric to her school.
- Pilot and Buy-in: First, Kendra brought the rubric to her Instructional Leadership Team, which includes leaders and teachers. After reviewing it and conducting a few instructional walks with the Hendy Rubric, the team’s feedback was overwhelmingly positive. They agreed that it was clearer and more practical than their previous tools.
- Strategic Alignment: Before introducing the rubric to the broader staff, Kendra meticulously aligned the Hendy Rubric indicators with the school’s strategic priorities for the year, including their focus on Responsive Classroom principles. This ensured that all school-wide initiatives were cohesive and mutually supportive.
- Gradual Rollout: Kendra previewed the rubric with teachers during summer professional development. This preview included an overview of the plan for coaches to use the rubric after the first observation to co-identify a coaching cycle goal with each teacher.
- Creating a Coherent System: The Instructional Excellence Rubric is now the single tool used for both coaching and formal evaluation. To support the evaluation process, Kendra added a fifth domain to the rubric to encompass professionalism, which includes items like reflection and attendance. The evaluation forms are housed on the Vector platform, ensuring all documentation is streamlined.
Kendra’s plan for the rubric at MLKCS centers on calibration and development to ensure the new system works as intended. This includes:
- Regular Calibration: The academic leadership team will meet at least twice a month to conduct calibration exercises. This is a critical step to ensure that all leaders—from the principal to the director of special education—are using the rubric consistently and providing teachers with a unified message.
- Building a Culture of Transparency: The rubric and calibration exercises will be “live” in meetings with both the academic leadership team and teacher PLCs. This approach is intended to demystify the evaluation process and empower teachers to take ownership of their own professional growth, regardless of who their coach is.
Stay tuned for future installments on the first year of implementation at MLKCS. Thank you, Kendra, for sharing your feedback and experiences with us!
Interested in implementing the Hendy Instructional Excellence Rubric at your school or district? Reach out to Jess or schedule a call!
Moving to Excellence: The Hendy Instructional Excellence Rubric Implementation Roadmap
Having a great tool is the first step to ensuring a vision for high quality instruction drives all coaching and support for teachers. Implementation, however, is really where the rubber really meets the road. In our 13 years of experience designing and implementing coaching and observation systems, we’ve found that the highest quality tool doesn’t mean much without careful implementation and change management.
Are you considering rolling out the Hendy Instructional Excellence rubric next fall? If yes, the time to start planning is now. Backwards planning with a focus on change management and implementation will help you ensure that your teachers and leaders maximize what the rubric can offer.
Step 1: Define the Criteria for Success
First, define what success looks like. Why are you implementing the Hendy Rubric? What do you want to be true for teachers and leaders as you implement?
By the end of the first half of the 2026-2027 school year, your goal could be for every teacher to:
- Understand the domains, indicators and performance levels of the rubric.
- Receive quality feedback from instructional leaders that is grounded in the rubric’s language.
- Feel empowered, not evaluated, by the rubric’s use.
Success for every leader and teacher coach could be to:
- Internalize the four domains, indicators, and performance levels of the rubric, and be fluent in the rubric’s language when used in coaching teachers.
- Use the rubric in assessing instruction and identifying highest leverage steps the teacher can take to improve.
- Feel empowered to recognize excellent teaching as described in the rubric, and support all teachers to demonstrate excellence in their classrooms.
Step 2: The Immediate Actions (Fall 2025 – January 2026)
Start with the end in mind, then focus on the now. The actions you take in the next few months will determine the success of your entire plan.
- Fall 2025 (Now): Study and Internalize.
- Get to know the rubric: You must deeply understand the rubric’s philosophy and structure. Identify how each domain connects to your school’s current goals and vision. Use the rubric to guide your own observations of classroom practice.
- Identify potential challenges: Reflect on your school’s culture. Are there existing tools or processes that might conflict with the Hendy Rubric? Are there any teachers or teams that might be resistant? Thinking through these now will help you proactively address them later.
- Initial conversations: Have one-on-one or small-group conversations with key teacher leaders and members of your leadership team to gauge interest and gather initial feedback. Start with the change agents who will help you champion this change.
- Winter 2025-2026 (November-January): Strategize the Rollout.
- Decide how you’ll use the rubric: The rubric can be used purely as a development tool, driving feedback and coaching for teachers. The rubric can also be used as an evaluative tool, driving accountability for teachers. It can also be used both ways. Decide how you’ll use the rubric in your school.
- Secure buy-in: Present the rubric to your team. Explain the “why”—its focus on equity, academic rigor, and social-emotional learning.
- Communicate the vision: Introduce the idea of a new instructional tool in staff meetings. Frame it as an exciting opportunity for professional growth and instructional improvement.
- Test the rubric: Invite teams to take the rubric for a spin. Choose one domain or one indicator, and observe a classroom together. Discuss what you see in the classroom and how it aligns to that indicator or domain. Help your colleagues get a feel for the rubric.
- Budget for the change: Allocate funds for professional development, stipends for your design team, and potential support from Hendy. Reach out if you want more information about how we can support you!
Step 3: The Critical Milestones (Spring/Summer 2026)
Spring and summer are the critical times to create and implement your plan to prepare for fall..
- Spring 2026 (February-May): Build the Foundation.
- Form a design team and create a plan: Create a small, representative group of teachers and leaders to co-create the implementation plan. This ensures the plan is practical and widely accepted.
- Training plan: The design team should outline the professional development sequence. This plan should include training on the rubric’s content and how to use it for observation and feedback.
- Pilot Program: Identify a small group to pilot the rubric, or even just one domain or indicator. The group should use the rubric according to the plan created by the design team.
- Training materials: Create training materials to introduce and calibrate leaders and teachers to the rubric. Review Hendy’s training plan options to find out ways we can help.
- Summer 2026 (June-August): Intensive Training & Calibration.
- Summer training: Host a summer training session for all faculty. Engage teachers and leaders with case studies, video examples of teaching, and group calibration exercises where they practice scoring based on the rubric.
- Resource Preparation: Ensure all supporting documents, forms, and observation tools are ready for use on day one of the school year.
By starting today, you’re building the foundation for a sustainable culture of instructional excellence. The backward plan ensures that your Fall 2026 implementation is the culmination of a well-executed and collaborative effort.
Do you want help with implementation planning? Need support in training and norming for your teachers and leaders? Reach out to set up a call!