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What does it take to make learning meaningful for every student? How do leaders support instruction that resonates? The same “GLEAM” guiding principles and strategies for great instruction hold a secret power for leaders to fuel lasting change.

During the edLeader Panel “Advancing Grade-Level, Meaningful Instruction Through Mindset and System Alignment,” education experts demonstrated how UnboundEd’s free GLEAM® instruction framework can help form an action plan for:

• Building a culture of student-centered, effective instruction
• Re-examining and strengthening how schools approach learning
• Aligning tools, resources, and practices for meaningful teaching and learning

Why GLEAM?

Equitable teaching starts with giving all students access to grade-level work—without lowering the bar—while offering the right support to help them succeed. GLEAM takes this equitable standard up a notch, challenging educators to spark curiosity, reflect students’ backgrounds, and connect to real life.

Successful teaching occurs when mindsets and planning purposefully serve the GLEAM principals—grade-level, engaging, affirming, and meaningful instruction. The approach helps “make sense of what you’re seeing, not by adding more to the plate, but really just making connections between how we teach, how we plan, how we lead,” said Doe Kim, Director of Program Design at UnboundEd.

Four Ps That Drive Great Leadership

Strong leadership sets the stage for effective GLEAM instruction. “The reason why we’re tapping into leadership mindset and planning is that instruction is not something isolated you can fix,” said Valery Dragon, School Improvement Strategist and VP of Strategic Partnerships at UnboundEd. According to the panelists, effective instruction that resonates across all schools and classes must be purposely planned and augmented by leaders, focusing on four key areas:

1. Place
2. People
3. Programs
4. Practices

Kim explained that the Wallace Foundation quantified leadership impact, finding that strong leaders consistently build relational trust, climate capacity, community engagement, and ambitious instruction. She also noted that these qualities align with the GLEAM framework. “A leader who builds trust is shaping the place. A leader who invests in capacity is shaping the people. A leader who engages family and community and plans well is shaping the programs and practices, and, obviously, ambitious, high-quality, effective instruction for all students is the instructional core,” she said.

Why Leadership Hinges on Shifting Mindsets

All four Ps are interdependent, and, for real change, leaders must address the overarching attitudes and beliefs that drive people, places, programs, and practices. “You can’t work on one P, one thing, without bumping into the others. What I mean is that you can have HQIM, but if mindsets don’t align with grade-level expectations, the materials don’t really matter. You can build a strong schedule, but if planning practices aren’t aligned, that time evaporates. You can have talented people in the building, but if the place isn’t consistent or supportive towards collective efficacy, that impact is really limited,” said Kim.

Understanding the attitudes, assumptions, and biases helps leaders address common barriers such as pushback, reluctance, and time constraints. For example, if focusing on grade-level instruction, “Teachers are not going to feel comfortable around providing that if you do not build them so that they can actually foster their own persistence with understanding standards and how to unpack them across the many different needs of the many learners,” said Dragon.

Instead of buying new tools or resources, leaders must think critically through the lens of the four Ps—people, place, programs, and practice. “How do I actually position this thing called curriculum with the people in spaces where they could plan for their own success as a teacher and, then, be able to create the space for students to experience success?” said Dragon.

Using the framework provides a holistic, systems-level approach to high-quality instruction without requiring changes to current goals. Rather, it can be a lens to pressure test current systems and drive improvement. “We’re not saying to change what you have or whatever your north star is, whatever you’re using in whatever role that you have, this is a lens that is applied to all,” said Kim.

Learn more about this edWeb broadcast, Advancing Grade-Level, Meaningful Instruction Through Mindset and System Alignment, sponsored by UnboundEd.

Watch the RecordingListen to the Podcast

Join the Community

Leadership Practices for Innovative Leaders is a free professional learning community where school and district leaders share and collaborate on personal leadership skills, professional learning and support for teachers and staff, student learning and well-being, communication with all stakeholders, and more.

UnboundEd empowers educators to meet the needs of every single student through grade-level, engaging, affirming, and meaningful—GLEAM®—instruction. We work side-by-side with teachers, coaches, principals, and district leaders to ensure the success of your instructional vision for exceptional education and improved outcomes. By cultivating the mindsets, knowledge, and skills at the heart of truly transformative teaching and learning, we can break the predictability of historic achievement patterns so all kids thrive.

Article by Suzanne Bell, based on this edLeader Panel