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Reinventing the Educator Experience
A MiCSS26 Breakout Theme
December 9–10, 2026 · Detroit Marriott Troy
Sessions in This Theme
The Missing Link in Educator Retention: Instructional Leadership Systems
Dr. Vernon-James Riley, VJR Consulting Firm
Schools continue to invest in professional development, coaching, and collaborative planning — yet many leaders struggle to translate those investments into lasting improvements in teaching and learning. The challenge is rarely a lack of effort; it's the absence of a coherent instructional leadership system. This interactive session introduces the Principal as Instructional Leader™ Framework, a practical model for strengthening the three core components of effective instructional leadership: Vision for Cultural and Instructional Equity and Excellence, the Teacher Development Engine, and Instructional Leadership Architecture. Using a structured diagnostic, you'll assess your current systems, identify strengths and gaps, and pinpoint the highest-leverage opportunities for improvement — leaving not with another initiative, but with a clearer understanding of how aligned systems create better conditions for teacher growth, educator retention, and student achievement.
Session outcomes: evaluate your instructional leadership systems using the Principal as Instructional Leader™ Framework, identify high-leverage opportunities for improvement, and prioritize next steps to strengthen teacher development, educator retention, and student learning.
Debrief Like a Fighter Pilot: The Secret to Elite Team Performance
Shawn Wortham, Charter Connect
What if your leadership team improved after every decision, meeting, or challenge? Fighter pilots don't wait for annual reviews — they debrief after every mission. Inspired by that practice, this session introduces a high-impact framework for continuous improvement, accountability, and alignment: structured, blameless debriefs that identify why challenges occur (perception, execution, and knowledge gaps) and turn reflection into clear, forward-focused "Next Time I Will" action steps.
Session outcomes: implement a repeatable debrief framework, facilitate blameless and accountable conversations, identify root causes, and use debriefs to strengthen enrollment, staff performance, operations, and a culture of continuous learning.
More sessions announcing soon.
