By Dr. Catherine Burns, Chief Academic Officer
As the President of Accelerate Institute and a committed educator for over 25 years, I have witnessed the challenges facing K-12 education intensify year after year. Today, the data paints a stark picture: 44% of public school students began the 2023-2024 academic year behind grade level in at least one subject. This crisis demands urgent action—and a clear path forward.
At Accelerate Institute, we are deeply passionate about solving this problem. Our mission is rooted in the belief that every child has the right to high-quality education. For more than three decades, we’ve worked alongside visionary school leaders to push the boundaries of education reform. Now, we are inviting you to join us in this movement to close opportunity gaps faster.
The Challenge: School Leadership and Opportunity Gaps
For school leaders, the most valuable resource isn’t a curriculum or technology—it’s their people. A cohesive, aligned, highly trained, and collaborative team can transform a school’s culture and academic outcomes. Yet, many leaders struggle with burnout and lack the training needed to cultivate and sustain such a team.
This is especially true for assistant principals (APs), who play a pivotal role in school success but are often underdeveloped and overlooked. Research from 2021 highlights actionable recommendations for districts to better support APs, including:
- Developing job standards and tasks consistent with AP responsibilities.
- Creating structured recruitment and mentoring pathways for people of color and women.
- Equipping principals with professional development to mentor and delegate leadership tasks to APs.
When schools lack a comprehensive leadership pipeline, they fall short of their potential. Without intentional talent cultivation, the burden on individual leaders grows, and student success suffers.
The Solution: Customized Support for School Leaders
Building the right team is critical to overcoming the current challenges in K-12 education. At Accelerate Institute, we believe school leaders need customized support to continuously improve their schools and meet the rigorous expectations set by states, districts, and networks.
Our approach is rooted in the Accelerate Model for Cultivating Talent—a proactive, aligned, and collaborative framework for leadership development. Schools with comprehensive leadership pipelines consistently outperform those without them, and we’re here to help you build yours. We co-construct Customized Support Plans for schools that will lead to a sustainable, transformational change.
Through our suite of professional development supports, you can:
- Elevate Talent Cultivation Skills: Access coaching and tools to enhance your ability to manage and develop your team effectively.
- Provide High-Impact Professional Development: Offer your leadership team PD anchored in our Accelerate Framework, co-created with Northwestern University’s Kellogg Entrepreneurial Center, to strengthen core management skills.
- Engage in Strategic Planning: Receive tailored support for your school’s unique needs, including school assessments, strategic planning retreats, 360 feedback surveys, and data analysis.
The Call to Action: Let’s Partner to Make a Difference
At Accelerate Institute, we know that leadership development around change management, relationship building, an equity mindset, and the instructional core impacts not only academic achievement but also school culture and climate. These key areas interconnect to drive improvement. For example, teams with strong change management skills can use systems of prioritizing and using data to drive decisions to improve instruction and culture. Leaders who ignite talent within their teams consistently outperform those who don’t, with student achievement rising by six percentile points in reading and three percentile points in math, creating sustainable success for both students and staff.
We’re inviting school and network/district leaders like you to co-construct a customized support plan with us. Let’s work together to address the challenges of today and build the schools our students deserve. As one of our Ascend Members, Matt Cowan, Executive Director of Believe Memphis Academy, shared: “This PD is winning in the coherence of training from Executive to Principal to Rising Leader.”
Become a Member Today
Join the movement to cut achievement gaps faster. Sign up for a call with me or Erin Brooks, our VP of Partnerships, to discuss your customized Accelerate Institute Membership plan. Individual plans start at $249 per year and school memberships start at $1,500 per year. Together, we can create sustainable, transformational change in K-12 education. The time to act is now.
