#100DistrictConversations(opens in new tab) are sometimes just excuses to hang out with talented friends who do incredible work. Conversation #95 with Prospect Schools(opens in new tab) CEO Tresha Francis Ward(opens in new tab) was exactly that! A chance to see my Pahara(opens in new tab)-sister in action, and it was impressive.

"When I took over as network leader, I inherited something that had worked beautifully for years but was quietly reaching a plateau. Prospect Schools was built on a foundation of experienced teachers, and for a long time, that was enough. But COVID showed how much the teaching profession has changed, and we needed real systems for developing our adults, not just our kids.

Our leaders weren't coaching teachers, partly because many of those teachers often had more years of experience than the leaders themselves. When I looked at our data, 72% student proficiency in math and 68% in ELA for SY18-19, I saw something I couldn't ignore: the students not yet proficient were overwhelmingly our Black and Latino students. That gap demanded a structural response.

Four years ago we began rebuilding our talent systems from the ground up, with leadership as the lever.

We reset what it means to be a school leader here. It’s not paperwork and discipline. It’s instructional coaching and content expertise. Leading both culture AND academics is now non-negotiable. We’d previously separated those functions in ways that created a two-tier structure we needed to collapse.

We launched our Summer Leadership Institute, a week-long July intensive built around a multi-day case study where leaders practice the hardest parts of their roles like leading difficult conversations, managing across teams, and driving instructional initiatives. Case studies, fishbowls, triads, and data analysis make it hands-on. That week kicks off a year of PD for leaders that includes monthly principal cohorts and a parallel cohort for directors and associate directors.

Leaders regularly videotape themselves coaching or running content meetings, submit recordings, and receive rubric-based feedback. We aggregate that data and feed it back into our cohort sessions. It keeps our PL grounded in what's actually happening in our buildings. We've largely embraced internal delivery instead of external providers. Coaching quality remains our most variable element, and it's where we're pushing hardest right now.

We define the base competencies every leader must master, then celebrate when leaders innovate on top. Next year's academic focus is intervention, because we've gotten most students to proficiency (78% in Math and 79% in ELA SY24-25) and now need to close gaps for our most marginalized and struggling learners.

For AI, we have an internal team studying it and building the policy and guidance docs we need to shape how we leverage it and how we won’t. Our community is engaged with several teachers at each campus beginning to pilot select tools in ways that intentionally center discourse and feedback. More to come on that journey ahead!"