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Beyond Burnout: Rethinking Support for District Leaders
The Cost of Carrying It All
Every few months, a new headline confirms what many district leaders already know: the job of a superintendent is becoming harder to sustain.
RAND’s 2025 State of the Superintendent survey found that fewer district leaders believe the stress is worth it. Only about half of the respondents agreed that the challenges of the role feel worthwhile, representing a sharp drop from previous years, ultimately leading to the question: why stay? It’s a sentiment growing across roles in the education field.
So, what’s happening?
RAND researchers highlight a potential disconnect: many superintendents are spending time on tasks that don’t align with their vision of leadership, such as facility management, budgeting, and addressing daily operational issues that keep districts running. The irony is that while district size and local politics may shape the pressures of the job, the purpose remains the same across contexts: to create the conditions where great teaching and student learning can thrive.
Burnout Isn’t About Weakness. It’s About Structure.
At Mira Education, we often say burnout isn’t a sign that leaders are doing something wrong. Rather, it’s a sign that the system isn’t built to share leadership well. When too many critical functions run through the central office, the system itself weakens. In most districts, even well-run ones, leadership systems are designed around one singular hub, and every challenge, from staffing shortages to school safety, runs through a narrow channel. Unsustainable pressure isn’t a reflection of an individual leader or office, but a system that is stretched too thin.
It’s no wonder the work feels unsustainable. When leadership isn’t shared, that pressure compounds.
But what if the solution isn’t just more self-care or “work-life balance” training? What if it’s reimagining how leadership itself works?
What Sustainable Leadership Looks Like
In our work with districts nationwide, we’ve seen this come to life in three powerful ways:
1. Clarifying Work Structures – Superintendents and cabinet teams co-create decision-making practices that clarify who leads, who contributes, and how information flows. These structures make collective leadership possible without chaos or duplication. They also allow the superintendent to focus on strategic leadership rather than operational triage.
Tool Spotlight: The Collective Leadership Conditions Matrix: Team Discussion Tool helps teams identify where decision-making or communication bottlenecks exist and how to share ownership more effectively.
2. Strengthening Communication Routines – The most effective leaders co-create predictable, shared rhythms for communication, ones that keep teams aligned without constant check-ins. When communication becomes routine rather than reactive, superintendents regain time and mental bandwidth to think deeply about system improvement.
Tool Spotlight: The Inclusive Communications Discussion Tool guides teams in co-creating norms and channels for clear, purpose-driven communication.
3. Aligning Time and Purpose – Time is a mirror of system design. When superintendents spend most of their days putting out fires, it signals that the leadership structure, rather than the individual, is out of balance. By using tools like improvement cycles, role mapping, and self-reflection, leaders can ensure that time and effort align with district priorities.
Tool Spotlight: The Educator Time Tracker guides superintendents through a three-day self-reflection on time use, enabling them to understand better where and how they spend their time. This allows them to identify trends and make adjustments aligned with their daily and weekly priorities.
Collective leadership offers a structural alternative. Rather than concentrating authority and problem-solving at the top, it creates conditions that enable leadership to be exercised across roles and levels.
When a superintendent leads within a collective leadership framework, they don’t carry every responsibility alone. Instead, they build clear, collaborative systems that distribute thinking, decision-making, and communication in ways that make the district more adaptive and far less fragile.
How are district leaders responding?
We’ve asked current and former district leaders in our network to share how they’re sustaining good work even in high-stress contexts. Their reflections reveal a common thread: sustainable leadership is about intentional structure, connection, and purpose—not heroic endurance.
Dr. Almudena (Almi) G. Abeyta, Superintendent, Chelsea Public Schools, emphasized that the work’s meaning sustains her even on the toughest days:
“For me, especially on the hard days, I remember that I choose to do this job—and that it’s a calling. When the days are hard, whether it’s upset community members or difficult negotiations, I remember it’s about the kids we’re able to impact as a team and the lives we’re changing. In our district, we talk about knowing our students by name, strength, and story… and that’s why I continue to fight and do what I do.”
Dr. Shelly Armstrong, Supervisor of Student Support, shared a simple but powerful weekly structure she calls her “three P’s”:
“A routine that I practice weekly is my three P’s: Priorities, People, and Personal.
I look at what actions directly support district priorities such as student achievement, staff development, or family engagement. I intentionally check in with teams or individuals who may need extra support, encouragement, or recognition. Sustaining good work is about maintaining morale and relationships. I exercise daily, practice gratitude, plan trips, and nurture my relationships.
This structure helps keep me grounded, focused on what’s best for students, and hopefully provides a model for other staff.”
Dr. Kevin Gilbert, Assistant Superintendent, Howard County Public School System, noted that consistent reflection and data review are critical to keeping the system aligned:
“Constantly reviewing data like enrollment, budget, academic, discipline, and more helps me stay focused on district priorities.”
Dr. Carol Kelley, Superintendent, Salem City School District, shared how staying grounded in her “why” and her support network keeps her centered:
“I think you have to remember your why—literally every moment of the day. And I think it’s probably the number one. And then number two, you really have to depend on your support and be intentional about that. And support means your team, yes, but also that group of people who get it, and are a safe space for you. So, literally every Wednesday morning, I have a call with a superintendent friend of mine. It’s our opportunity just to vent… remembering your why and having that circle of support.”
Dr. Ethan Lenker, former Superintendent and current Mira Education partner through STEM East, spoke to the discipline of decision-making in high-pressure moments:
“During stressful situations, people tend to get tunnel vision and rely on gut feelings. Using all available resources—data, colleagues’ expertise, policies, and networks—brings multiple viewpoints into the process. It leads to more strategic, well-supported decisions and models collaborative leadership. Over time, people feel empowered to contribute ideas and support one another during challenges.”
Patrick Miller, former Superintendent and Mira Education partner through STEM East, reflected on leadership through connection and presence:
“One thing that I always tried to do and push on my leadership team is complain up. I encouraged my team and principals to come to me to discuss or vent, not to their subordinates. [The unexpected], such as COVID, book challenges, and budget constraints, all affect people differently, and they needed a safe place to share. For me, being level-headed helped give my staff reassurance. During tense times, I spent more time in schools and community functions—being visible helped people feel at ease.”
Looking Ahead
If fewer superintendents are saying the job feels “worth it,” maybe that’s not a signal for leaders to leave, but a signal for systems to change.
The future of sustainable leadership isn’t about building more personal resilience. It’s about building collective capacity so that the weight of leadership doesn’t crush the people holding it. Because sustainable leadership isn’t about surviving the job, it’s about building systems where thriving is possible.
References
Peetz Stephens, Caitlynn. 2025. “A Growing Number of Superintendents Say the Job Stress Isn’t Worth It.”
Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/leadership/a-growing-number-of-superintendents-say-the-job-stress-isnt-worth-it/2025/10.
Shapiro, Anna and Heather L. Schwartz, State of the Superintendent: Selected Findings from the Spring 2025 American School District Panel. Santa Monica,
CA: RAND Corporation, 2025. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA956-36.html.
The Invisible Systems That Make Sustainable Leadership Possible
The Practices You Don’t See Until They’re Gone
Some of the most important practices in education aren’t the ones you find in a handbook or see in a school improvement plan. They’re the practices you notice when they aren’t there.
Consider this: when clear communication breaks down, conflict tends to escalate. When norms for collaboration are unclear, meetings tend to drag on, and decisions often stall. When trust is missing, even the best strategies collapse under their own weight.
These “invisible” systems aren’t flashy, but they’re what make leadership collective instead of individual. They quietly hold teams together, keep progress moving, and create the conditions where educators can lead side by side.
What Are “Invisible Systems”?
They’re the routines, norms, and structures that often go unnoticed but fundamentally shape how people work together. Examples include:
- Communication systems: How teams share updates, decisions, and context so everyone stays aligned.
- Norms for collaboration: Agreed-upon ways to handle conflict, give feedback, and celebrate progress.
- Relationship infrastructure: The routines that build and protect trust — like dedicated time for reflection or peer coaching.
When these systems aren’t in place, the cracks show quickly. We’ve seen partners get stuck in cycles of repetitive work or missed opportunities. In one case, a team realized multiple people were tackling the same task while other priorities languished. The missing piece wasn’t effort—it was structure. Without shared processes for communication and feedback, work slipped into silos and results fell short.
Why They Matter for Sustainable Leadership
Leadership thrives when teams don’t have to guess about how to work together.
The right structures:
- Reduce friction by making expectations clear.
- Build predictability, which reinforces trust.
- Ensure each voice has a place and not just the loudest or most senior in the room.
When these systems are missing, it’s easy to fall into silos, turf battles, or decision paralysis. With them, leadership becomes shared, sustainable, and resilient.
One partner learned this the hard way. A leader casually mentioned a new technology tool to a colleague, assuming he would run with the idea. Months later, both were frustrated to realize the suggestion hadn’t landed as intended. What was meant as trust had instead created confusion. The lesson was clear: trust doesn’t mean withholding direction; it means being transparent about decisions and inviting others into the process. As the partner puts it, “[My team] can trust me with the truth.”
Making the Invisible Visible: Practical Examples
Discussion Guides
Tools like Mira Education’s Inclusive Communication Discussion Guide help teams name and address issues that often stay under the surface.
Relationship and Social Norms
Our work on Relationships and Social Norms shows how clarity around collaboration can actually accelerate trust-building. At Horse Creek Academy, teams have invested heavily in norm setting as a foundation for collective work. Far from a box-checking exercise, these norms have become the connective tissue of their collaboration, shaping how colleagues build trust, handle conflict, and sustain progress together. The payoff extends beyond teamwork to teacher satisfaction and long-term retention.
Small Shifts, Meaningful Improvement
Often, it’s not sweeping reforms but small, intentional shifts, such as structured meeting openers or rotating facilitation, that create sustainable improvement.
Across several partnerships, we’ve seen that dedicating time to reflection and coaching isn’t extra. It’s essential. Once teams build collaborative feedback into their routines, it becomes part of their culture and shows up in the results they achieve. It’s what sustains momentum. When collaboration becomes routine, it stops being an “add-on” and instead defines the culture, showing up directly in the results teams achieve.
Trust Lives in the Details
If sustainable leadership is the destination, invisible systems are the road that gets you there. They don’t just support trust. Rather, they are trust in action.
When teams attend to these hidden structures, they create space for educators to lead together, not just alongside each other. That’s how progress becomes lasting and why the smallest details can make the biggest difference.
Start Making the Invisible Visible
Invisible systems don’t build themselves. The sooner teams name and strengthen them, the sooner collaboration becomes second nature. Ready to start? Begin with our Inclusive Communication Guide, or explore how relationships and norms can set the foundation for lasting trust and sustainable leadership.
References
Byrd, P. A., Daughtrey, A., Eckert, J., & Nazareno, L. (2023). Small Shifts, Meaningful Improvement: Collective Leadership Strategies for Schools and Districts. ASCD.
The Future of Educator Growth
Competency-Based Professional Learning
Professional development has long been the Achilles’ heel of school improvement (Harvard University & Annenberg Institute at Brown University & Annenberg Institute at Brown University, 2022). Too often, educators are pulled into sit-and-get sessions that are disconnected from their day-to-day realities. They check the box. They go back to work. Nothing changes.
But the tide is turning.
Competency-based professional learning is gaining traction as a powerful alternative that values what educators know, builds what they need, and puts student outcomes at the center. Unlike traditional PD, this model is flexible, job-embedded, and grounded in real practice. When paired with micro-credentials, competency-based professional learning can fundamentally change how educators grow in P20 education.
At Mira Education, we’ve seen this shift firsthand, across systems, across states, and with partners, drive meaningful change.
What Is Competency-Based Professional Learning?
Competency-based professional learning (CBPL) flips the script on traditional PD. Rather than measuring seat time or compliance, it focuses on evidence of skill. Educators progress once they demonstrate mastery and not just because the calendar says it’s time to move on.
According to EdWeek, more states are allowing teachers to use micro-credentials — a self-paced, competency-based training — to fulfill license renewal requirements and professional development hours. This shift underscores the growing recognition of CBPL’s effectiveness in meeting educators’ needs (EdWeek, 2025).
This approach aligns with what we know about adult learning and improvement science: when professionals are trusted to lead their growth and supported with the right tools, they rise to the challenge (Hatling, 2021).
The Power of Micro-Credentials
Micro-credentials take competency-based professional learning one step further. These bite-sized, practice-anchored certifications are designed for action, not theory. Educators demonstrate skills by solving real challenges in their schools, not by sitting through one-size-fits-all sessions.
And the results? They speak for themselves.
Since January 2024, more than 325 education professionals across 13 organizations have engaged in personalized professional learning through Mira Education’s micro-credentials. Of those enrolled, 73 percent successfully completed a micro-credential, showing a clear commitment to competency-based learning and leadership growth.
This isn’t abstract development. Educators are applying what they learn immediately and impactfully. Here are some of the ways our partners are seeing the positive impact of personalized professional learning in their work:
- Addressing Absenteeism — At Anne Arundel County Public Schools, Assistant Principal Allison Johnson tapped into tools from the University of Maryland School Improvement Leadership Academy (SILA) micro-credential experience to address chronic absenteeism. As a result, attendance jumped from 70.1% to 83.1% in just one year.
- Building Capacity for Problem-Solving — In Baltimore County Public Schools, Principal John Noonan is applying his SILA learning to tackle his school’s most significant challenges through improvement science. “Pursuing an Ed.D. will enhance my understanding of improvement science to help me solve our most significant problem of practice, ultimately improving our school,” Noonan said. By integrating these tools into daily leadership practice, he’s building a foundation for lasting school improvement.
- Systemic Change — At Walker Mill Middle School in Prince George’s County Public Schools, Principal Erin Cribbs credits SILA as a pivotal moment in her leadership journey. “SILA was a turning point—it expanded my understanding of how to lead systemic change and drive meaningful improvements in education,” Cribbs said. “After 20 years in education, I’m ready to tackle critical challenges and make an even greater impact on students and educators.” Equipped with new strategies and a clearer vision, she is leading initiatives that strengthen teaching, learning, and school culture across her community.
But, what are educators choosing to focus on most? Time management. Specifically, the Mira Education Collective Leadership and Cultivating Leadership stacks top the list, with Analyzing Time emerging as the most frequently completed micro-credential, with 126 completions and growing.
The message is clear: school and system leaders are hungry for job-embedded, relevant learning that meets them where they are.
Micro-credentials don’t just build confidence, they catalyze change. From increasing attendance to shifting how school leaders manage time and lead improvement, they’re helping educators master high-leverage competencies that matter most for students.
Why This Matters in P20 Education
CBPL and micro-credentials aren’t just good practice. They’re a smart strategy.
In teacher preparation programs, they create alternative pathways that diversify the pipeline. In K–12 systems, they provide targeted, just-in-time support. In higher education and policy spaces, they drive coherence and innovation.
Research backs this up. A 2020 study from Digital Promise found that educators who earn micro-credentials report greater confidence, improved instructional practice, and increased student engagement (Digital Promise, 2020).
In other words, it works and it scales.
Our Approach: Support That’s Strategic, Sustainable, and Systemic
Mira Education partners with states, districts, and organizations to build competency-based systems that are more than just a nice idea. Our work is grounded in:
- Co-creation with local educators,
- De-siloed structures that align with improvement goals, and
- Sustainable systems that keep growing after we’re gone.
You can see it in our Personalized Professional Learning approach, in our design of micro-credentials with CarolinaCred, and in our support for partners like SILA and Modiv EDU.
Ready to Rethink Professional Learning?
If your PD strategy is feeling more like a compliance checklist than a catalyst for growth, then it’s time to shift.
Let’s talk about how competency-based professional learning can help your educators lead with confidence, skill, and purpose.
Contact us to learn more.
References
EdWeek. (2025, May 06). Could This Tool Make Teacher PD More Relevant? EducationWeek. https://www.edweek.org/leadership/could-this-tool-make-teacher-pd-more-relevant/2025/05
Harvard University & Annenberg Institute at Brown University & Annenberg Institute at Brown University. (2022, October 25). Building Better PL: How to Strengthen Teacher Learning. The Research Partnership for Professional Learning. https://rpplpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/rppl-building-better-pl.pdf
Hatling, J. (2021, 12). Teachers’ Perceptions of Professional Development: A Narrative Inquiry Examining Insights From Middle School Teachers. Red Library USD. https://red.library.usd.edu/diss-thesis/6/
Fueling Change Through an Improvement Mindset
This blog is part of our Unlocking Collective Leadership: 7 Conditions for Lasting Impact series, highlighting the conditions that help P20 systems move from individual effort to shared leadership.
How an Orientation Toward Improvement Powers Progress
There is a general understanding that educators want better. They want better systems, better access to support, and a better experience for students. How we shift to better is often where the discourse varies. Positive change can occur as long as there is a desire and orientation to improve.
What is an Orientation Toward Improvement?
The seventh collective leadership condition, orientation toward improvement, is more than a positive attitude; it’s a way of working. It means individuals and teams regularly ask:
- What’s working?
- What could be better?
- What’s our next right step?
This condition supports inquiry, reflection, and risk-taking in the name of innovation and impact. When paired with clear systems for testing, refining, and acting on ideas, it shifts improvement from a hope to a habit.
Across our partner schools and districts, we’ve seen how this mindset leads to more staff-led innovation and sustained growth over time.
Orientation to Improve in Practice
Educators, whether knowingly or not, practice school improvement in all facets of their work. Whether it’s refining a lesson plan or analyzing next year’s budget. School improvement in the work of all educators. What makes the difference between successful school improvement and unsustainable efforts is whether or not schools and districts have the strategy and support to move through improvement cycles together.
One school we partnered with in Berkeley County began its improvement journey by identifying a challenge: inconsistent instructional quality across classrooms. Rather than jumping to a solution, the leadership team facilitated collaborative inquiry walks. Educators across roles observed, reflected, and surfaced patterns together. They co-developed a cross-role improvement plan from that shared learning, grounded in real needs rather than assumptions.
This approach was a product of collaborative thinking and a vision to improve shared outcomes.
Within a year, the school observed an increase in instructional consistency, as indicated by observational data. But more than that, staff shared in a coaching session that they felt “more confident stepping into each other’s classrooms and actually using what we’re seeing to improve our own practice.”
Similarly, Cliffdale Middle School used an improvement lens to reframe culture and leadership through a schoolwide house system. Each house included both student and adult leadership with a designated administrator and teacher leader. This structure didn’t just build student engagement. It created space for deeper teacher collaboration and adult relationship-building. One leader reflected, “We’re seeing teachers step into leadership roles in new ways [like] coordinating events, mentoring colleagues, and showing up differently for each other.”
This is what orientation toward improvement looks like in action: shared problem-solving, not top-down directives. Co-owned change, not merely compliance.
Reflecting on Your Orientation to Improve
Improvement doesn’t happen just because we want it to. It takes attention, alignment, and an ability to reflect honestly about what’s working and what’s not.
Use these prompts to assess where your team stands:
- Where in our current work do we make time to reflect on what’s not working, and what we can try next? If this doesn’t happen regularly, it’s worth asking: What would need to shift to make this possible?
- When new ideas or feedback emerge, how often do they lead to action? Consider whether your team has the structures to test small changes—and to follow up on what’s learned.
- What’s one small shift we can try this month that could have a big ripple effect? Improvement doesn’t require overhauls. It starts with one thoughtful, visible step that signals, “This is who we are.”
Resources to Support Your Orientation to Improve
Now that you’ve explored all seven conditions of collective leadership, it’s time to zoom out.
This self-assessment tool helps your team identify which conditions are already strong and where focused attention can lead to meaningful change. Use it to clarify your next steps and spark deeper conversations.
Want help bringing collective leadership to life in your system? Learn more about Mira Education’s approach or reach out to start a conversation.
How Shared Influence Moves the Work Forward
This blog is part of our Unlocking Collective Leadership: 7 Conditions for Lasting Impact series, highlighting the conditions that help P20 systems move from individual effort to shared leadership.
The Power of Decisions Made Together
What can happen when a few people make all the decisions for the many? In top-down decision-making, staff disengage, the same few voices dominate every meeting, and improvement efforts often fail to materialize.
It’s not that people don’t care. It’s that they don’t see themselves in the work. Instead of co-owning goals as a team, formal leaders are chasing buy-in.
But when influence is shared, meaning staff across roles have real ownership over decisions, collaboration deepens, silos break down, and solutions get sharper.
This is what shared influence looks like in action. It’s not about everyone agreeing. Rather, it’s about everyone contributing.
What is Shared Influence?
The sixth condition in collective leadership, shared influence, happens when decision-making power and problem-solving responsibilities are distributed across a team and not hoarded at the top.
It honors each person’s expertise and perspective, regardless of their title.
In P20 education, that can look like:
- Teachers designing new assessment strategies
- Paraprofessionals contributing to student support planning
- Counselors leading school-wide wellness initiatives
- Cross-role district teams co-creating improvement plans
When influence is shared, leadership isn’t a job title. It’s a function of your team’s culture.
Shared Influence in Practice
Shared influence doesn’t happen by accident. It’s built through intentional structures and cultural norms that invite people into the work, not just to implement decisions, but to shape them.
When done well, shared influence leads to:
- A team culture where diverse perspectives guide key decisions,
- Systems that elevate expertise beyond formal leadership roles, and
- Opportunities for staff to lead in ways aligned with their strengths.
It also improves the quality of decisions. When multiple voices are at the table, teams are more likely to challenge assumptions, identify blind spots, and build solutions that reflect the real-world needs of their community.
At Blythewood High School, shared influence is an integral piece of the school’s identity. Structures are in place for teachers to take ownership of major school-wide decisions, including the design of the professional development plan. For their team, this means teacher-led sessions and opportunities for staff to choose professional development (PD) aligned with their own goals and growth areas.
That same spirit of shared leadership extends to students, who have helped shape their own learning experiences, influencing the extracurricular offerings available at school.
As Principal Matt Sherman puts it: “Collective leadership is not another thing on your plate; it is the plate.”
As a result, Blythewood has seen staff return year after year, with a rare occurrence of vacancies, and when openings do arise, they’re quickly filled. When staff are invited to lead, they stay.
Are you practicing Shared Influence?
A lack of shared influence can lead to burnout. When team members sense that they have no ability to influence or be influenced by others, they become more isolated, and so does the work.
Use these three questions to reflect on a recent decision your team made that impacted people, time, or resources.
- Who shaped the decision and how?
Whose input was gathered? Who offered ideas? Whose feedback changed the outcome? If you’re not sure, chances are influence wasn’t widely shared. - Was the process transparent and inclusive?
Did everyone understand what was being decided, how they could contribute, and when a decision would be made? Even limited decisions can be made transparently. - Who led the work, and who implemented it?
Shared influence means leadership doesn’t stop at the top. It shows up in facilitation, ownership, and accountability across roles. If the same people always lead, the team may be stuck in hierarchy mode.
Resources for Shared Influence
Want to dig deeper?
This self-assessment rubric helps your team explore where shared influence is working and where it may be absent.
Use this tool to surface strengths, name opportunities, and plan your next step.
Download Assessing Your Current State, Shared Influence Rubric
Want help bringing collective leadership to life in your system? Learn more about Mira Education’s approach or reach out to start a conversation.
From Staff Turnover to Trust
This blog is part of our Unlocking Collective Leadership: 7 Conditions for Lasting Impact series, highlighting the conditions that help P20 systems move from individual effort to shared leadership.
Building School Culture That Lasts
Team culture isn’t just a vibe. It’s the heartbeat of every school and district team. When staff relationships are strong and social norms are clear, collaboration becomes easier, trust builds faster, and leadership spreads further. But when norms are unclear or relationships are strained, progress stalls.
Want to build a team culture that supports, not stifles, leadership? Start with intentional relationships and inclusive norms.
What are Relationships and Social Norms?
As the fifth condition of collective leadership, Relationships and Social Norms form the foundation of a school’s culture. They influence how teams communicate, solve problems, and show up for one another in the daily work of improvement.
In collective leadership, this looks like:
- Building trust across roles
- Making space for honest dialogue
- Co-creating behavioral expectations that support collaboration
When these elements are in place, schools see the difference: clearer communication, stronger team identity, and higher staff retention.
One school that’s seen this firsthand is J.C. Lynch Elementary, where relationships became the starting point for a bold shift in culture.
Relationships and Social Norms in Practice
At J.C. Lynch, a Collective Leadership Initiative school, the team set out with a bold but essential goal: improve staff culture by strengthening trust and relationships across the building.
They started by listening. Staff were invited to share honest, anonymous feedback to name frustrations, surface ideas, and shape next steps together. The result was a shared commitment to shift the culture, not just through values, but through action.
Teacher and student advisory councils were created. An open-door policy between staff and administration took hold. Professional learning was redesigned to elevate teacher leadership.
“Besides us being leaders, students have their own [committees], and they feel comfortable enough to reach out to [the principal] and let him know what’s going wrong and what’s going well with the school,” said Sherena Brown, 4th Grade Math and Science teacher. That sense of shared voice and mutual respect became a cultural norm.
Three years in, the work is paying off: the school now holds a 92% staff retention rate, has expanded participation in leadership roles, and earned national recognition for student growth.
Reflecting on Relationships and Social Norms
Culture will always factor into the decision-making process, whether positively or negatively. As you begin adopting collectively led practices, use these prompts with your team to reflect on current culture and identify opportunities for growth:
- Are we a group of individuals or a unified team? What evidence supports your answer?
- What defines our team identity—roles or shared purpose? What do our conversations and behaviors suggest?
- Are our communication channels clear and inclusive? How do we support open, two-way communication?
Resources for Relationships and Social Norms
Ready to align your team around shared communication norms? This tool guides small, cross-functional teams through a simple process to clarify expectations, create consistent communication protocols, and build stronger connections across staff.
Download this tool to foster deeper relationships and stronger social norms
Want help bringing collective leadership to life in your system? Learn more about Mira Education’s approach or reach out to start a conversation.
Work Smarter, Not Harder
This blog is part of our Unlocking Collective Leadership: 7 Conditions for Lasting Impact series, highlighting the conditions that help P20 systems move from individual effort to shared leadership.
The Role of Work Structures in Collective Leadership
A solid strategy won’t get far without the right structures in place to support it. Educators are expected to collaborate, lead, and improve, but even the best efforts stall out when the systems around them don’t support that work. Work structures, such as how we schedule time, set priorities, and make decisions, are what make sustainable improvement possible. In collective leadership, those structures are intentionally designed to support shared ownership of the work.
Time and effort are precious. The right structures protect them. Here’s how to build routines that make school improvement work possible.
What is Work Structures?
Work Structures are the fourth condition of collective leadership. They include the rhythms and routines that guide how a school or team functions, such as calendars, schedules, meeting structures, planning processes, and communication norms.
In collective leadership, these structures are designed to support shared priorities. That means:
- Protecting time for collaboration
- Aligning day-to-day operations with long-term goals
- Reducing friction and confusion in how work gets done
When this condition is in place, teams gain clarity, coherence, and the capacity to lead well, without burning out. Work feels purposeful. Meetings get smarter. And people can spend less time navigating logistics and more time driving improvements.
One school that has put this condition into action is Maryville Elementary, whose intentional focus on instructional improvement has led to increased staff and student engagement, as well as a decrease in student referrals.
Work Structures in Practice
At Maryville Elementary, sustainable work was about more than managing busy schedules. It began with aligning around shared priorities for feedback and instructional expertise. The staff came together to reimagine observation practices, increasing two-way informal feedback among teachers. This shift strengthened staff culture and had a clear, positive impact on students.
Through behavioral learning walks, the school cultivated a culture of vulnerability and shared learning, intentionally focusing on improving student engagement and outcomes.
The results speak volumes: academic performance rose from Below Average to Average on the 2024-2025 School Report Card, and student referrals dropped by more than 76 percent.
When teams prioritize collaboration and continuous learning, meaningful change follows. This is the power of collective leadership in action.
Pressure or Progress? A Team Check-In on Work Structures
Gather the team and ask the following prompts:
- What gets prioritized in our schedule—and what consistently gets squeezed out?
- How do our routines and meetings support (or stall) meaningful work?
- Which structures help us work collaboratively, and which reinforce silos?
Resources for Work Structures
Ready to take a closer look at how your team’s work structures support shared leadership? Use this reflection tool to track your time, identify misaligned routines, and find one shift you can make toward stronger collaboration.
Want tools, examples, and reflection prompts delivered straight to your inbox? Subscribe to the Unlocking Collective Leadership email series to dig deeper into each condition and explore how to bring collective leadership to life in your school or district.
Building the Foundation for Sustainable School Improvement
This blog is part of our Unlocking Collective Leadership: 7 Conditions for Lasting Impact series, highlighting the conditions that help P20 systems move from individual effort to shared leadership.
Making Capacity and Resources Work for Your Team
A bold vision means little without the capacity to act on it. Educators are often asked to lead, innovate, and improve without the time, tools, or staffing to do it well. The result? Frustration, burnout, and stalled momentum.
Collective leadership doesn’t mean doing more with less. It means building the conditions that make school improvement not just possible, but sustainable. This means starting with real investment in time, tools, and support.
Let’s break down what this means and how it shows up in practice.
What is Capacity and Resources?
Collaboration becomes more than a buzzword when schools have the right resources in the right places and the flexibility to use them well. It becomes a daily habit.
Capacity and Resources is the third condition of collective leadership. It’s about how people, time, funding, space, and expertise are leveraged to support shared goals. When this condition is off, progress can feel like pushing uphill.
Some questions to consider:
- Do your structures match your goals?
- Are you investing in people’s ability to lead, or asking them to figure it out on the margins?
Without a clear foundation for support, even the strongest teams can’t sustain momentum.
One school that tackled this head-on was Walker-Gamble Elementary, where rethinking how time was used became a breakthrough for both student growth and teacher collaboration.
Capacity and Resources in Practice
When schools rethink how they use what they already have, like time, talent, and trust, big things can happen. In our partner work, we’ve seen how capacity unlocks stronger collaboration and smarter problem-solving.
Walker-Gamble, a school we’ve partnered with through the South Carolina Department of Education’s Collective Leadership Initiative, was committed to seeing its students grow. For their team, this meant prioritizing the amount and quality of instructional time in each day’s schedule. Through a time auditing process, their team reimagined their bell schedule together to protect planning time and provide additional time for cross-team collaboration.
The result? A sharper focus on instruction, stronger team cohesion, and national recognition. Walker-Gamble was named a 2023 National ESEA Distinguished School for Exceptional Student Performance and Academic Growth and continues to see steady gains in student outcomes and staff engagement.
Curious what this looks like in practice? Read more about Walker-Gamble’s collective leadership journey.
Pressure or Possibility? A Team Check-In on Capacity
When the work starts to feel unsustainable or stalled, it’s often a signal that something deeper needs adjusting. Use these questions to reflect as a team:
- Where does leadership work currently happen in our schedule, and where does it get squeezed out? Naming this openly can reveal the invisible toll it’s taking on your team.
- Do our structures and staffing models support distributed leadership or reinforce traditional hierarchies? You might find it’s time to rethink who has protected time, decision-making power, or access to information.
- What are the “unspoken” resource barriers our team faces, and how are we addressing them? Whether it’s time, tech, PD, or trust—naming these gaps is the first step to closing them.
Collective leadership requires shared effort, but it also requires shared investment. These questions can help you identify what’s missing and where to begin making real, structural shifts.
Resources for Capacity and Resources
Ready to take a closer look at your own team’s capacity and resources? Use this tool to explore the structures that support or limit your team’s capacity. We recommend using this tool with a cross-role group and identifying one small shift you can make to increase shared leadership by reallocating time, tools, or support.
Want tools, examples, and reflection prompts delivered straight to your inbox? Subscribe to the Unlocking Collective Leadership email series to dig deeper into each condition and explore how to bring collective leadership to life in your school or district.
Leadership that Moves School Improvement Forward
This blog is part of our Unlocking Collective Leadership: 7 Conditions for Lasting Impact series, highlighting the conditions that help P20 systems move from individual effort to shared leadership.
Driving Change through Supportive Administration
Educators are constantly navigating a flood of shifting demands. New initiatives. Urgent needs. Limited time. In all this churn, collaboration helps, but it’s not enough. Collective leadership thrives when leaders don’t just “allow” change, but actively support and champion it.
Supportive administration isn’t about checking boxes or offering an open-door policy; it’s about fostering a culture of trust and respect. It’s about ensuring every educator knows their work is seen, valued, and aligned to shared goals.
What is Supportive Administration?
Supportive Administration is the second condition of collective leadership. It refers to the visible, formal support that leaders provide to staff across all roles.
In collective leadership, this looks like:
- Aligning on shared goals
- Creating clear, coordinated plans
- Backing teams with the resources and structures they need to lead
It’s about more than agreement—it’s about shared direction and active reinforcement. When formal leaders and staff are moving together with clarity and consistency, schools are better positioned to turn ideas into action and make improvement stick.
One district that’s seen the impact of this approach firsthand is Clarendon County, where leaders prioritized formal supports to grow teacher leadership across their schools.
Supportive Administration in Practice
Over the last several years, the Clarendon County School District has undergone multiple consolidations, resulting in shifts in both its district identity and the way school teams work together. Despite this unexpected change, the district continues to experience growth.
During the 2023–2024 school year, the number of teachers who saw themselves as leaders jumped by 78%, speaking to the power and impact of a supportive leadership team.
When administrators model trust, make space for teacher voice, and follow through on shared decisions, leadership doesn’t just expand; it sticks. Clarendon County’s experience shows what’s possible when support isn’t just offered, but embedded.
Making Leadership Visible
Being a supportive administrator takes more than good intentions. It requires visible, tangible practices that help staff feel seen, supported, and aligned. Use these questions with your team or as part of an individual reflection to examine how leadership shows up in your daily work.
- What does visible support look like to your team, and are they experiencing it consistently?
- How is space created for others to lead?
- Are your systems and routines reinforcing collective ownership, or working against it?
- What’s one tangible thing you can do this week to show alignment and trust?
Resources for Supportive Administration
Inviting others into your practice allows you to see the work from a different perspective. You can build trust across teams and invite others into the improvement process by fostering intentional feedback loops. This tool walks leaders through a simple process to invite others into decision-making, starting with small steps and building to deeper, sustained collaboration. Use it to build trust, create feedback loops, and shift the leadership culture in your school.
Download the facilitation tool to make your leadership more inclusive, visible, and trusted.
Want help bringing collective leadership to life in your system? Learn more about Mira Education’s approach or reach out to start a conversation.
What is Collective Leadership?
This blog is part of our Unlocking Collective Leadership: 7 Conditions for Lasting Impact series, highlighting the conditions that help P20 systems move from individual effort to shared leadership.
A Lever for School Improvement
Long-lasting change doesn’t come from a program binder. It comes from people. At Mira Education, we’ve learned that unlocking a team’s full potential starts with how leadership is shared and supported.
Every school has untapped wisdom and expertise. What if we stopped overlooking it and started organizing leadership around it? Collective leadership isn’t a new program. Instead, it’s an approach that reimagines how teams work together.
From Buy-in to Co-ownership
Collective leadership allows educators to share the work in a way that builds ownership rather than buy-in. It’s more than task delegation. It unleashes educators’ collective expertise to solve problems and serve each student better.
Leadership thrives in schools where staff culture supports shared responsibility across roles, not just titles. In this approach, a team of educators shares leadership work in ways that move learners and learning communities toward improvement and innovation.
The Mira Education collective leadership development model aligns school and systems teams’ practice to support the following seven conditions shown to build collective efficacy, educator retention, and effective instructional and leadership practice:
- Vision and strategy
- Supportive administration
- Capacity and resources
- Work structures
- Relationships and social norms
- Shared influence
- Orientation toward improvement
Collective Leadership in Practice
Since 2017, Mira Education, in partnership with the South Carolina Department of Education, has supported schools across the state through the Collective Leadership Initiative (CLI). By building systems rooted in collective leadership, participating schools have seen measurable improvements in both staff and student outcomes.
Notably, between 2018 and 2023, the percentage of teachers who identified as leaders increased by 71%. In the 2023–2024 school year, 94% of CLI schools improved teacher retention.
These shifts in staff culture are translating into stronger student outcomes. Three CLI schools have earned national recognition for student achievement, and one school reduced office referrals by more than 75% within two years of joining the initiative.
This approach is not just about improving schools. It’s transforming how they work.
Small Shifts to Activate Collective Leadership
The best way to start reframing and reimaging your approach to leadership isn’t with a full rollout plan, but honest dialogue. The goal isn’t to have all the answers. It’s to surface the expertise already in the room and think differently about how you work together.
Here are some small but impactful next steps:
Gather a team of educators in different roles (administrators, teachers, instructional coaches, etc.) to discuss the following prompts:
- What untapped expertise already exists in our school/district? What evidence do we have about the presence of that expertise? (Note: Avoid relying on word-of-mouth.)
- Where and in what ways do we leverage expertise, and how can we expand those opportunities for others?
- What ongoing challenge do we face that would benefit from leveraging expertise to explore potential solutions?
Use the conditions matrix and this discussion tool to identify a condition your team wants to focus on to address your identified ongoing challenge.
Resources for Collective Leadership
Creating change and improvement is complex, challenging work. Collective leadership provides mutual support toward shared goals, allowing teachers and administrators to build collective efficacy and work better together. This discussion tool is a reflection guide to help you approach and navigate the Collective Leadership Conditions Matrix to gain insight into your team’s work.
Want help bringing collective leadership to life in your system? Learn more about Mira Education’s approach or reach out to start a conversation.