k-12 leadership strategiesLeading in the midst of funding uncertainty

Built to support confident decision-making in a challenging time, this free K–12 Leadership Toolkit helps K-12 district and state leaders protect what works, make smart trade-offs, and lead with clarity.

Successful planning for the '25-26 school year

The freezing of anticipated Title II-A funds isn’t the only story—declining enrollment, rising costs for special education, and other mounting pressures mean leaders must plan for stagnant or shrinking budgets. Yet teacher quality remains the most powerful lever for improving student outcomes.

Built to support confident decision-making, this free K–12 Leadership Toolkit is for both our current partners and those we haven’t worked with yet. It’s designed to help you focus resources where they matter most and chart a clear path forward.

Budgets are getting tighter.

Declining enrollment, rising costs for special education, and other mounting pressures mean K-12 leaders must plan for stagnant or shrinking budgets.

Yet the quality of instruction remains a critical lever for improving student outcomes.

Built to support confident decision-making, this free K–12 Leadership Toolkit is for both our current partners and those we haven’t worked with yet. It’s designed to help you focus resources where they matter most and chart a clear path forward.

District Toolkit1

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School Leader Toolkit1

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Bi-weekly sessions

biweekly expert-led Q&ANavigating through budgetary challenges with strategic staffing and scheduling

In an era of shrinking funding and increased budget scrutiny, these 45-minute live free sessions will provide K-12 state and district leaders with actionable advice on how to tighten alignment to postsecondary preparation while deploying staff strategically.

>>Save your seat

District Toolkit1

District leader toolkit

Build stakeholder trust, maintain and sustain effective programming, and support learning

Stronger together

Distributed leadership models utilizing current staffing

Sharing_the_Load

Meet demands by sharing the load

Learn how to create a distributed leadership model and do more by collaboratively sharing the guidance and direction of a school

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Personal_Leadership_Philosophy

Creating a personal leadership philosophy

Create and share a leadership philosophy to build transparency and maximize impact

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Leadership_Team_Building

Leadership team building

The work style compass enables leaders to identify, explore and communicate about different work styles

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Building trust

Leadership strategies for communicating with stakeholders in uncertain times

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Difficult conversations

Skills for productive difficult conversations and to cut off unproductive difficult conversations when they arise
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5 steps to increase member buy-in

Equipping leaders with tools and strategies to increase the buy-in required to implement and sustain change
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Mapping your impact

After visioning, map your impact to maximize your role as an instructional leader
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Seeking authentic feedback

We cannot improve what we aren't aware of, so we seek feedback to support our continuous improvement

Building trust

In times of change, transparency and connection matter more than ever. These strategies help leaders build trust, foster authentic dialogue, and bring stakeholders along on the journey.

Skills for productive difficult conversations and to cut off unproductive difficult conversations when they arise
Equipping leaders with tools and strategies to increase the buy-in required to implement and sustain change

After visioning, map your impact to maximize your role as an instructional leader

>>See the strategy

We cannot improve what we aren't aware of, so we seek feedback to support our continuous improvement

Maintaining and sustaining effective programming

Even in a tight budget year, programs like after-school learning, EL support, and targeted interventions remain essential to closing opportunity gaps. These strategies can help leaders protect what’s working—and make the case for sustaining it.

Identifying and celebrating strengths equips students to effectively adopt a growth mindset and set learning goals
 
Narrow your leadership focus to one growth area at a time and track your progress
 

In a self-paced or mastery based learning environment, building a mastery map and a network of student experts can help

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Develop individualized tutoring plans to support students to master competencies
 

Recognizing the potential impact of learning progressions is straightforward; where the challenging and complicated work lies is in creating and implementing a meaningful learning progression plan.

The following tips can help you create a learning progression plan for your school or district. 

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Supporting learning

Strong professional learning systems help districts adapt and grow, even with tighter budgets. These resources support leaders in creating focused, scalable, and measurable PD that drives teacher growth and student success.

 

Share specific evidence of your growth with your stakeholders or broader community
 
Classroom video is a window into a classroom's learning and teaching, free of point of view, open to teacher and coach reflection
 

Setting the course to succeed in a specific learning goal in your school means knowing the direction

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K-12 leaders and educators will use user-friendly data collection tools to transform student data into instructional next steps
 

DEFINE

When engaging in professional learning around student-centered teaching, the first step is to define what student-centered teaching is

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EXPLORE

Build awareness of student-centered strategies in order to build a classroom implementation plan

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BUILD

Once you've explored student-centered strategies, it is time to build and try them to personalize student learning experiences

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leadership consultation sessionApply for a free 1:1 leadership consultation

In recognition of the budget challenges our K-12 state and district leaders are facing, BetterLesson is offering leaders one free executive consultation on navigating this uncertain teaching and learning environment.

>>Apply now

Budget uncertainty

Shifting funding sources, stagnant budgets, and declining enrollment make strategic scheduling and staffing critical. These creative approaches can help leaders maximize resources and sustain key programs for professional learning and student support.

With 80% of your operating budget tied to staffing, the annual scheduling process is critical. These 10 fundamental scheduling and staffing levers help districts maximize resources without sacrificing quality.
 

Portland Public Schools boosted college and career readiness by using more efficient scheduling. By 2024, readiness rose to 73%—a 15-point increase since the 2021 dip.

>>Read their story

Student enrollment in schools is of critical importance when it comes your budget. But how do you increase or maintain your student population?

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Even with the current uncertainty around Title II-A funds, many federal and state funds still exist.high-quality professional development remains doable and necessary. Explore your options -- and see how BetterLesson's high-quality professional learning programs can fit with the funding sources you already have.

>>Get the K-12 funding guide

Solution-Oriented-Leadership-Pathway

Navigating budgetary challenges through strategic scheduling & staffing

With 80% of your operating budget tied to staffing, the annual scheduling process is critical. These 10 fundamental scheduling and staffing levers help districts maximize resources without sacrificing quality.
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Portland Public Schools maximizes resources through strategic scheduling

Portland Public Schools boosted college and career readiness by using more efficient scheduling. By 2024, readiness rose to 73%—a 15-point increase since the 2021 dip.
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Navigating student enrollment changes

Student enrollment in schools is of critical importance when it comes your budget. But how do you increase or maintain your student population?
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K-12 funding for professional learning

Even with the current uncertainty around Title II-A funds, many federal and state funds still exist.high-quality professional development remains doable and necessary. Explore your options -- and see how BetterLesson's high-quality professional learning programs can fit with the funding sources you already have.
School Leader Toolkit1

School leader toolkit

Build your educators' capacity to lead and improve instruction through effective professional support

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Supporting learning

When resources are tight, the right systems and content can help leaders build school-based professional learning that improves outcomes without increasing spend. These strategies support collaborative practices, curriculum implementation, and instructional growth across your schools.

These six strategies support leaders with successful implementation of a new curriculum
 
Stay in touch with the teaching and learning in your school with quick classroom visits that enable data-driven decisions and support
 
Common planning time translates teacher will, skill, and time into personalized, responsive, and effective planning structures
 

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By setting clear goals, supporting the PLC’s work, and making room to grow together, you will set your teachers on the path to success
 
 
 
Building a PLC
 
In a Professional Learning Community, many hands make light work. It is important to identify, engage, and empower key faculty members and define the goals of any PLC. This strategy outlines the work of a new, or ongoing, PLC.
 

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Establishing goals and roles for PLCs

Facilitate the instructional community in identifying the most pressing goals and defining their role within the school's structure
 
Regular analysis of student work puts the spotlight on what's actually happening in a school's teaching and learning
 
Lesson study, critical friends, and Learning Walks—together teachers can build their vision for teaching and learning by observing each other
 
 
 

Classroom coaching and support

Coaching remains one of the most effective ways to strengthen instruction—but only when it’s sustainable and strategic. These resources help leaders design a clear, impactful coaching model that fits within existing structures.

Coaching observations focus on using objective classroom data to identify the impact of a teacher's actions on student learning
 
Begin with the end in mind, and you have a roadmap to arrive at your desired destination
 
Change teaching and learning one step at a time using the BetterLesson coaching model
 

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Mastering a step by step coaching conversation structure like GROW will help create a foundation for consistent coaching practices
 
This move supports you to create sustainable and replicable feedback and observation cycles with teachers.

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Teach students the skills to be effective listeners
 

Explore our library of Instructional Coaching materials. Each section contains essential questions to guide you, and is supported by BetterLesson strategies and resources

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Building capacity

New teachers need meaningful support to stay and thrive—even when budgets are constrained. These tools offer targeted strategies for growing early-career educators’ confidence, skill, and impact from day one.

Showing a teacher what a teaching move is or showing a student how to engage in a task creates deeper understanding
 
This strategy will help instructional leaders support new teachers in building strong family engagement to enhance student outcomes
 
This strategy will support leaders to ensure high-quality design and delivery for new teachers
 

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This strategy will support leaders in helping new teachers master classroom management and culture
 
Classroom video is a window into a classroom's learning and teaching, free of point of view, open to teacher and coach reflection
 

>>See the strategy

Narrow your leadership focus to one growth area at a time and track your progress
 

While the task of supporting new teachers through their first years may seem daunting, there are concrete steps leaders can take to support early-career teachers in classroom management

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How BetterLesson can help

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Our three-part analysis tool reveals how better academic scheduling and district resource allocation ensure every student emerges college & career ready—even when resources are scarce.
 
Examine course enrollment and attendance, instructional time, academic scheduling, and key policies to surface disconnects between student needs and district resourcing.