Chart Your Course with the Right Compass: Creating a Path to Breakthrough

Hi Educational Leaders,

We are halfway through 2025, and we couldn’t help but pause and reflect. What a journey it’s been—not just this year, but over the last several years of immense change, challenge, and, for many, reinvention. While the world has largely stabilized, the field of education continues to evolve at a rapid pace. The question we’re asking is no longer “Can we bounce back?”—but rather, “How do we break through?”

Are you thinking about the future of your school and feeling hopeful? Has the pandemic—and everything that followed—reshaped your view of what’s possible in education? Has it forced you to pause, reassess, and ask: Where are we headed, really? For many, the last few years blurred the line between thriving and surviving. But now, as we begin to reclaim stability, the question becomes: Can we move beyond recovery and create a breakthrough?

We’ve seen schools take incredible steps forward—some small, some transformative. Others are still gathering the energy to define what success should look like. But a breakthrough doesn’t require certainty—it needs clarity. And one of the most powerful ways to achieve this is by aligning your school around a North Star Metric, a single, guiding indicator that defines success for your unique context.

What Is a Breakthrough, Really?

Many school teams still see success as binary: we hit the target or we miss it. But real growth lives in the grey area, in the 10%, 30%, or even 70% gains that reflect movement in the right direction. Breakthrough doesn’t mean perfection. It means finding traction, building belief, and seeing tangible progress. When you frame success through the lens of your North Star Metric, even incremental gains are meaningful because they’re pointing everyone in the same direction.

Do You Have a North Star Metric?

The North Star Metric (NSM) is not just another measure. It’s the one indicator that best captures the core impact your school or district wants to have. It’s clear, measurable, and emotionally resonant. It might be “Percentage of students reading at grade level by third grade” or “Number of graduates with a postsecondary plan.” Whatever it is, it becomes the compass by which decisions are made, resources are allocated, and efforts are evaluated.

When schools identify their NSM, they stop trying to do everything and start doing the right things. It creates coherence across leadership, teachers, and systems. It gives every team member a shared reason to stretch, adapt, and persist.

Breakthrough Starts with a Clear Pathway

You don’t have to overhaul everything to begin. Start with the mindset. Start with clarity. Here are strategies to help align your team around breakthroughs and build traction toward your North Star Metric:

• Strategy: Take Stock of School Wins (Even the Small Ones)

  Think beyond test scores. What practices got better? What innovations came from necessity that you want to keep? Celebrate these wins publicly and use them to build a new foundation of belief in what your school can do.

• Strategy: Define the Direction, Not Just the Fix

  Don’t just react to gaps, but lead with vision. Ask: “What kind of school do we want to be in two years?” From there, chart backwards. Let your goals be aspirational and clear, even if the path isn’t fully mapped yet.

  
  

• Strategy: Build a Culture of Empowering Beliefs

  School culture is shaped by the daily language and beliefs that are prevalent within it. Replace deficit thinking with asset-based language. Replace “this is how we’ve always done it” with “what if?” Your staff and students will mirror the tone you set.

  
  

• Strategy: Lead with Flexibility and Confidence

  The next challenge is already coming—how you lead through it matters most. Flexibility is not weakness—it’s a strength. Confidence is not ego—it’s clarity. Leaders who show up with both invite others to do the same.

Charting a Breakthrough Pathway in Education

Breakthrough doesn’t happen overnight, and it doesn’t look the same for every school. But when you ground your work in a clear, compelling North Star Metric, you unify your team with purpose and precision. You create energy around what matters most. And you give your school community a reason to believe that meaningful, measurable, lasting change is possible.

This is a defining moment in education. Not to return to what was, but to boldly step into what could be. You don’t need a perfect plan. You just need the courage to name your North Star—and the commitment to follow it.

We are with you as you chart your course!

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