Our Principles

Our Principles ensure we are explicitly working toward our mission and vision of fostering equitable and sustainable organizational change by expanding the individual and collective leadership capacities of the humans within the system. Our Principles have their roots in the Coalition of Essential School’s Common Principles and have evolved over the years to become: Impact, Inquiry, Leadership, Collaboration, and Equity. Our Principles guide our work with schools and districts.

Impact

We believe defining and evaluating impact is critical to ensure our actions lead to maximum learning and growth for each adult and student.

“Know thy impact.” John Hattie

  • Inquiry

    We believe a culture of inquiry empowers individuals to respond to complex problems by challenging assumptions, listening deeply, and reflecting critically. Inquiry inspires organizations to see new possibilities and take collective action to continually improve the human experience for all.

  • Leadership

    We believe leadership is necessary at all levels to sustain change. Distributed leadership, focused on a shared and inclusive vision, deepens learning and agency to increase collective efficacy.

  • Collaboration

    We believe collaboration is necessary to address the complexities of teaching and learning. Valuing a breadth of perspectives enriches adult and student learning, increases authorship and ownership and leads to a more responsive and inclusive culture.

  • Equity

    We believe equity is a deliberate commitment to creating liberatory systems where each member of the community experiences belonging, honor, and dignity. Embodying a mindset of equity means to critically examine biases within ourselves and our systems, center voices from the margins, and collaboratively take action to transform the current educational reality.