Posts Tagged ‘Leadership’
The Power of Precision: Defining the CAO and CSO Partnership
In many of the systems we support, there are two cabinet-level roles that are critical to student and teacher success: the Chief Academic Officer (CAO) and the Chief Schools Officer (CSO). In many instances, the CAO is the person responsible for curriculum, instruction, and assessment. They might manage the content-area experts who drive instructional quality in specific subjects or areas. They hold responsibility for defining what needs to be taught, and how. The CSO is the person often responsible for the schools themselves. They manage school leaders, and are responsible for ensuring that the systems in schools foster student learning. Both roles are vital, and achieving system-wide excellence requires extraordinary clarity regarding their respective domains.
The ideal in this structure is not just separation of duties and responsibilities, but intentional distinction rooted in alignment, partnership and unity. By establishing clear CAO and CSO ownership and accountability, a school system minimizes friction and avoids duplicating efforts. At the same time, this ownership must be rooted in alignment across departments – both leaders are responsible for different things in service of the same goal: excellent teaching and learning.
When the CAO’s focus on curriculum and instruction is measured by metrics tied directly to the CSO’s oversight of school performance, their efforts become aligned. They are two distinct lanes working toward a common, measurable destination, ensuring that clarity in roles ultimately fuels a powerful, unified pursuit of student success.
Clarity on roles does not mean working in silos. The most effective partnerships thrive on a shared nature that is more specific than just an outcome. This is achieved through implementing shared goals and metrics. This typically means defining what is joint work between the CAO and CSO, and what is distinct in ownership and accountability. For example:
- Joint work: Planning, strategy, priorities, goals, student outcomes, teacher and leader development
- CAO: Program – what we teach, when, and how
- CSO: Implementation – pedagogical moves, accountability, fidelity to the instructional vision
This synergy only happens with clear definition, planning and communication. Teams benefit from articulating a theory of action that defines the joint work and distinct ownership between the two functions, and how that structure will ultimately lead to student achievement. It includes articulating both a shared vision and non-negotiables in the work to ensure alignment. It also requires clear operational strategies – like shared meeting structures and data management – so that the alignment is practical.
Are you interested in exploring ways to strengthen your CAO / CSO focus? Reach out to Jess to talk.
The Heavy Lifting Framework: Getting Kids To Do the Thinking
In our work supporting schools and school systems, we get the honor of visiting classrooms across all grades and subjects. And, regardless of the school system, geography, age of kid, or content, we are seeing similar challenges in all of our visits: kids are too often not being asked to do the rigorous thinking work at the heart of the lesson. Instead, teachers are holding too tight and reducing the cognitive load on kids. The result – a lack of independence in students.
Why is this happening? In almost all systems we support, schools and teachers have adopted and are using high-quality instructional materials (HQIM). That’s a good thing! What we’re seeing, though, is that teachers often hold so tightly to the lesson structure or over-scaffold the work using those materials that students are left merely copying, following steps without genuine struggle or connections, or being guided in a way that stifles independence and problem-solving. This results in “adults doing the heavy lifting,” which prevents students from developing the deep thinking capacity we want to see.
How the Heavy Lifting Framework Can Help
In these classrooms, the ingredients are there: HQIM, productive classroom environments with kids ready to learn, and willing teachers who are working diligently to support their students. We created the Heaving Lifting Framework to support instructional leaders to coach teachers to move from doing the thinking to putting the work on kids. This framework provides coaches and instructional leaders with a clear lens to diagnose this challenge and coach teachers effectively. It focuses on two core components for creating a classroom where students own the thinking: Planning and Execution.
1. Diagnose the Issue (Planning)
Instructional leaders can use the framework to ask:
- Bottom Line: Does the teacher know the precise learning goal—the bottom line—of the lesson, and are all tasks driving directly towards it?
- Exemplary Work: Has the teacher clearly identified exemplary work (written or verbal) aligned to grade-level expectations, which defines the high bar they are listening for during the lesson?
2. Support the Teacher (Execution)
The framework offers concrete support for in-the-moment coaching:
- Lesson Structure and Work Time: Does the lesson structure include sufficient, uninterrupted time for students to think, write, discuss, and apply the concepts? Is the teacher circulating during this time to identify trends in student data and to provide feedback on student work?
- Appropriate Scaffolding: Is the teacher providing an appropriate amount of scaffolding? This means offering enough context to launch students into the work, but resisting the urge to overscaffold with too many leading questions or by telling students how to solve the problem. Do students have what they need to get started and try on their own?
Supporting Teachers To Pass Off the Thinking
It’s easy to say that kids should be doing the thinking in the classroom, but we’ve found that it’s a lot more difficult to articulate the teacher moves to make that happen. The Heavy Lifting Framework has proven to be useful for the instructional leaders we support. The framework can be a meaningful tool to guide both planning and instructional walkthroughs to support teachers to shift the balance of cognitive work. This is how we support students to ensure that they build the independence they need to succeed.
Want to learn more about supporting kids to do the heavy lifting? Reach out to Jess to schedule a call.
From 46% to 73% Proficiency: Building a Culture of Mathematical Thinking at Hebrew Public – Hebrew Language Academy
A Case Study in Sustained Partnership and Leadership Development
By Hendy Avenue Consulting
The Challenge
When Hebrew Public’s new Chief Schools Officer reached out to Hendy Avenue Consulting nearly seven years ago, the network was ready to transform its mathematics program. They weren’t just looking for curriculum recommendations or professional development sessions. They needed a partner who could help them fundamentally shift how their schools approached math instruction – from procedures and algorithms to deep understanding and critical thinking.
Changing math mindsets and instructional practices requires more than content knowledge. It demands leadership development, strategic thinking, and sustained support to build capacity at every level of the organization.
The Partnership Approach
What began as a math program evaluation evolved into a comprehensive, multi-year partnership spanning talent strategy, leadership development, and instructional improvement. This case study focuses on one powerful example of that work: Hendy’s coaching relationship with Daniella Steinberg, Head of School at Hebrew Language Academy (HLA).
Building on Strengths
When Hendy consultant Jeremy Abarno began working with Daniella more than five years ago, Daniella had already been a teacher and instructional leader at HLA for many years and brought critical leadership strengths to the role: her decision-making was always student centered, she had a strong eye for quality instruction, a keen ability to consider multiple perspectives, and a balanced approach to communication – kind and direct.
The initial work with Daniella was around clarifying her vision, strategic planning, goal setting, and developing content-based strategies to drive teacher development and student results.
The Coaching Process
Jeremy’s coaching approach centered on three interconnected elements:
1. Clarifying Vision and Strategy They used a theory of action to articulate goals and the strategy to achieve them. This framework became the north star for all decisions about curriculum, professional development, and resource allocation.
2. Making Ideas Actionable Coaching sessions weren’t just about reflection – they were about doing. Jeremy and Daniella worked together on strategic planning, turning ideas into concrete implementation plans with clear measures of success.
3. Building Accountability Systems They established rhythms for measuring progress and adjusting when necessary, ensuring that strategy didn’t just exist on paper but lived in daily practice.
As Jeremy describes it: “Our coaching process was based around goal setting, honest conversations about growth areas and aspirations as well as lots of doing – doing the strategic planning together, helping her articulate and make her ideas actionable and then partnering with her to ensure that she had an implementation plan.”
The Frameworks and Tools: Several key frameworks and protocols drove the work at HLA:
Theory of Action: A clear articulation of goals and the strategy to achieve them, ensuring all stakeholders understood not just what they were doing but why.
Consistent Data Review: Both short and long cycle results allowed the team to study their rate of improvement and make strategic adjustments. This data-driven approach kept the team focused on outcomes rather than falling in love with inputs.
Content-Based Protocols: Intellectual preparation and planning protocols ensured instruction remained at a rigorous level, with teachers deepening their understanding of grade-level concepts and the connections across grade levels.
Walkthrough Protocols with the Hendy Instructional Excellence Rubric: These protocols engaged Daniella’s leadership team in calibrating their observations and then engaging teachers in cycles that balanced support and accountability.
Practicing Crucial Conversations: Repeatedly rehearsing and refining the conversations needed to help people grow – because leadership development isn’t just about knowing what to say, it’s about being able to say it effectively.
According to Jeremy, “The main ingredients that made this approach successful were humility, investment in growth, and a willingness to let the data and outcomes tell us how we were doing rather than falling in love with our inputs.”
The Three Fundamental Shifts
Over the course of the partnership, three key transformations emerged in mathematics instruction at HLA:
1. What Was Valued Changed
From: Valuing correct answers
To: Valuing proof of understanding
This shift was driven by changing assessments and curriculum to focus on critical thinking and problem-solving that required proof and connection-making. Students needed to demonstrate not just that they could arrive at an answer, but that they understood why it worked.
2. Teacher Training and Coaching Evolved
From: Focusing primarily on content delivery
To: Emphasizing thinking for both teachers and students
Teachers engaged in intellectual preparation sessions where they deepened their understanding of grade-level math concepts as well as preceding and following grade levels. This allowed them to understand what foundational knowledge students needed and what connections students could make to future learning.
Student thinking became centered in two ways: teachers anticipated how students might solve problems, and they reviewed student work to understand what students were demonstrating and what they still needed to learn.
3. Student Investment and Engagement Transformed
From: Students as passive recipients of procedures
To: Students as active mathematical thinkers
Students became eager to share their thinking with the class – presenting strategies, defending their thinking, and even critiquing their classmates’ reasoning. Students knew their ideas were valued and that they could learn from each other.
The Results
The numbers tell a powerful story:
- School Year 2021-22: 46% of students in grades 3-8 achieved proficiency on the NYS math exam
- School Year 2023-24: 73% of students achieved proficiency. That’s a 27 percentage point gain – representing hundreds of students who are now on track to meet college and career readiness standards in mathematics.
But the quantitative data only captures part of the impact. The qualitative transformation is equally significant:
- Teachers who now approach math instruction with deeper understanding and confidence
- Students who see themselves as mathematical thinkers, not just answer-generators
- A school culture that values critical thinking across all subjects, not just math
- Leaders equipped with the tools and frameworks to sustain and continue this improvement
HLA has gone from having about 4 out of every 10 students being on track to meet college and career readiness standards to having 7 out of 10 students on track – and they’re not stopping there.
The Most Significant Transformation
While the math gains are impressive, Jeremy identifies something even more important: “The most significant transformation is the connections that leaders and teachers at HLA have made across the curriculum. Comprehension and critical thinking isn’t just a math skill – it is something that the school strives for in every subject.”
This is the power of deep, sustained partnership. What began as mathematics improvement evolved into a fundamental shift in how the school approaches teaching and learning across all content areas.
The Hendy Difference: What Made This Partnership Work Over Nearly Seven Years?
Contextual Expertise Over Generic Solutions
This isn’t consulting where you deliver a manual and move on. It’s partnership where you understand the specific people, culture, and challenges of an organization and adapt proven approaches to fit their reality. “Matching, or meeting folks where they are is just as important as expertise,” Jeremy emphasizes. “You build capacity by understanding context, investing in and clarifying the leader’s goals, and supporting their attainment of those goals.”
This principle shaped every coaching conversation, every framework implementation, and every strategic decision throughout the partnership.
What’s Next
Over 5 years in, and the partnership between Hendy Avenue Consulting and Hebrew Public Charter Schools as a network continues. The work has expanded beyond mathematics at one campus to encompass talent strategy and leadership development across the network.
The foundation built at HLA – the frameworks, the mindsets, the culture of critical thinking – continues to drive results. The HLA team is equipped with the tools, the experience, and the track record to continue pushing toward even more ambitious goals.
And throughout that building, students are defending their mathematical reasoning, critiquing each other’s strategies, and discovering that they are mathematical thinkers capable of solving complex problems.
That’s the real measure of success.
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.
The Power of Partnership
A central feature of our work with clients is close partnership with the project manager. We say we walk arm-in-arm with our clients, and it really is true. These close partnerships yield innovative solutions that lead to results for kids and adults in schools. One partnership that exemplifies this innovation is the work that Hendy’s Erica Murphy did with Katie Carpenter during Katie’s leadership tenure at a large CMO. Erica and Katie’s work focused on developing a robust instructional excellence rubric, which eventually became the foundation for the Hendy Instructional Excellence Rubric. While the creation of the rubric itself was a complex undertaking, the success of the work was a direct result of Erica and Katie’s complementary skills, mutual trust, and shared commitment to the vision.
The Challenge: Unifying Across a Complex System
The network faced a significant challenge: three disparate instructional rubrics across the state, leading to fragmented coaching practices and a lack of alignment in instructional vision. The network’s goal was not merely to create a new rubric, but to establish a single, anchor document that articulated excellence. This required building buy-in and investment from four different regions, each with their own preferences and expectations regarding quality.
A Partnership Built on Trust and Complementary Strengths
Erica and Katie recognized that a strong partnership was crucial for navigating the organizational dynamics and ensuring that the rubric they developed reflected the vision and values of the organization. Their working relationship was characterized by four key elements that are consistent across Hendy’s projects:
- Defined Lanes and Mutual Trust: Katie and Erica articulated and relied on a clear division of labor, built on mutual trust and respect for each other’s strengths. Erica typically prepared the content and built the foundational elements of the rubric, leveraging her expertise in instructional design. Katie excelled at organizational navigation, facilitation, and driving decisions. She understood the internal dynamics of the network, including key influencers, and effectively pushed the project forward. Katie also provided critical feedback on the rubric at each step, bringing her own instructional expertise to bear. This trust allowed Erica and Katie to operate efficiently and effectively despite the complexities of the work.
- Consistent Follow-Through and Accountability: Both Katie and Erica demonstrated a strong commitment to follow-through. If they said they would do something, they did it. This consistent accountability, both to each other and to the project, ensured momentum and fostered a sense of reliability within their partnership.
- Strategic Stakeholder Engagement: Katie’s understanding of the organizational structure and key decision-makers was paramount. Katie strategically formed a diverse steering committee, including representatives from various departments (academics, finance, analytics, talent) to inform the creation of the rubric. This ensured broad input and buy-in to the development of the rubric. Katie and Erica also focused on bringing critical stakeholders into the process early and consistently, ensuring agreement and ownership over the final product.
- Persistent and Purposeful Collaboration: The development of the rubric involved numerous iterations and challenges, but Katie and Erica maintained a persistent and purposeful approach. Their regular standing meetings fostered a rhythm of collaboration, allowing them to continuously refine ideas, make difficult decisions, and keep the project moving forward. They often explored multiple possibilities and potential outcomes, meticulously analyzing options and making decisions rooted in feedback from stakeholders.
The Product of a Strong Partnership: A Strong and Impactful Tool
The network’s Instructional Excellence Rubric, a direct outcome of Erica and Katie’s effective partnership, was deemed a strong and impactful tool. Its most meaningful aspect was the emphasis on student impact – shifting the focus from merely teacher actions to the resulting student learning outcomes. This ensured that the rubric was not just about what a teacher did, but what students learned. Furthermore, the rubric intentionally included language insisting on consideration for exceptional learners, ensuring that all students, regardless of their needs, were addressed in the instructional framework. The clear and actionable core teacher skills provided concrete guidance for coaching and development. The tool also balanced the need to be comprehensive but also lean and user-friendly.
The successful two-year arc of its design, pilot, and initial implementation were a testament to the powerful working relationship between Erica and Katie. Their ability to effectively collaborate, leverage individual strengths, and strategically engage stakeholders ultimately resulted in a highly impactful instructional tool that fostered alignment and development across the network.
Are you interested in learning more about what a partnership with Hendy Avenue Consulting can do for you and your school system? Contact Jessica Wilson at jessicawilson@hendyavenue.com.