What We Do

Building Leadership Capacity


At CEL, our mantra is: “You can’t lead what you don’t know.” Educational leaders must understand what good teaching is before they can foster best practices in classrooms and raise the bar for student performance. That’s one of our primary jobs at CEL:  to help district leaders and principals develop the vision, the language, and the tools to observe, analyze, and lead for high-quality instruction in every classroom.

Services

  • Strategies to refocus central offices on student learning
  • Teacher and principal evaluation design and implementation support
  • Walkthroughs, coaching, and professional development sessions for district and building leaders in the 5 Dimensions of Teaching and Learning
  • Support for developing common language and vision when using other instructional frameworks
  • Demonstration teaching, studio classroom residencies, content coaching, mentoring, and in-depth subject matter study for teachers
  • Resources, products, and tools
CEL’s services are customized for each partner but we find that districts benefit most when they make a long-term, comprehensive investment in our services. Working system-wide – from boardrooms to classrooms -- we can help the entire district get smarter about quality instruction and maximize the impact of our programs. Visit the Services section of our website to learn more about how CEL can support you.


Our Theory of Action


Strong, learning-focused leadership in the central office will boost the quality of instruction in the classroom and raise the educational bar for every student. Our diagram shows how CEL works system-wide.


   Click on the image to enlarge

CEL’s work rests upon the critical assumption that the single most important factor in supporting student learning is the quality of classroom instruction.   We know that in order to support excellent teaching, school leaders and teachers need to acquire and develop expertise about what constitutes high quality instruction.  To achieve that goal, CEL develops the leadership skills, content and instructional knowledge and abilities of teachers, school administrators, and district leaders. 

Our Track Record


CEL has commissioned research through the UW Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy to analyze the impact of CEL’s professional development work with school districts.  As a result of these studies, we have learned that:

  • Principals and district coaches improve in their ability to analyze instruction and provide specific and meaningful feedback to teachers;
  • Teacher practice improves when administrators and coaches support and model quality instruction; 
  • Student learning increases when schools and districts have focused and intentional instructional leadership.

To learn more about CEL’s research briefs, access our Case Studies page.

Click here to download our Partnership Prospectus.

Contact us for a no-cost consultation of how we can support the improvement of teaching and learning in your district.